Here's how Monero (XMR) keeps transactions and wallet addresses private and secure.
Monero (XMR) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency.
In this blog post, we will take a closer look at how Monero achieves this privacy and security.
Ring signatures
To start with, Monero uses a technology called "ring signatures" to keep your transactions private.
A ring signature is like a group of people who all sign a letter, but you don't know which one actually wrote it.
In Monero, this means that when you make a transaction, it's signed by a group of people (or rather, their private keys).
But you don't know which one actually sent the transaction.
This makes it very difficult for anyone to trace your transactions back to you, because there's no way to tell which private key belongs to you.
Monero also uses something called "stealth addresses" to keep your receiving addresses private.
Stealth addresses
A stealth address is like a P.O. box that you can give out without revealing your real address.
When someone sends you Monero, it's actually sent to a one-time use address that's created just for that transaction.
So even if someone knows your stealth address, they can't see how much Monero has been sent to it before or after that transaction.
It's these two key privacy features make Monero a very private and secure digital currency.
Preventing XMR double spending
Double-spending is when someone tries to spend the same Monero twice, which can be a big problem for digital currencies.
To prevent double-spending, Monero uses a technology called "ring signatures" combined with something called a "key image".
When you make a transaction in Monero, your digital signature is linked to a key image that proves you haven't spent the same Monero before.
This key image is generated using a mathematical formula that's unique to each transaction and it can't be used again.
So if someone tries to spend the same Monero twice, their key image won't match up with the previous transaction's key image and the network will reject the transaction.
This makes it virtually impossible to double-spend in Monero.
Ultimately keeping XMR private, secure and trustworthy.