CoinDesk data shows that Monero (XMR) was in the top ten of best performing crypto token in the past 30 days (March 12 to April 12, 2022). It continues to hold its position despite the overall decline of the market. On April 10, XMR hit a three-month top of $244. At the time of this writing, XMR is at $236.35. It has grown to $4.3 billion in market capitalization and crypto analysts say that there are indications of more growth during the second quarter of the year.
Crypto investors are showing renewed interest in the top privacy coin since a series of political events took place in the first quarter of 2022–US President Biden’s executive order on crypto, the freezing of accounts following the Freedom Convoy protests, the Ukraine-Russia war, and EU’s new rule against non-hosted crypto wallets. Increasing regulations and the uncertainty of geopolitical events may continue to strengthen XMR.
More and more people realize the value of financial privacy. Many privacy-centric critics have been trying to put Monero and other privacy coins in an unpleasant light. They often refer to privacy tokens as tools that are only used by criminals. Despite the bad press and because of geopolitical developments, there has been a steady uptick of Monero holders since the beginning of the year.
Governments recognize individual privacy as a right and even provide privacy-related legal protection to people. Businesses are entitled to privacy as well in the name of fair competition and to avoid market manipulation. Somehow, regulators seem to be threatened by the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency worldwide and more so with privacy coins. Hopefully, they will not overstep boundaries, especially when its economy will be at stake. Growing cryptocurrency adoption, the beginning of Web 3.0, and the general distrust of traditional financial institutions and centralization may be signs that a new system of money and accounting is emerging. It will be a grave mistake to overlook the evolution taking place right now.
Why hold Monero (XMR)?
Monero is best-known in the cryptocurrency world for its privacy, security, untraceability, and fungibility. Its users are individuals who value confidentiality, especially in their transactions online. Regulators worldwide have been wary of XMR and other privacy coins. As such, some centralized exchanges have de-listed Monero.
The cryptographic technologies that Monero uses to maintain privacy are:
RingCT – obscures the amount of transaction
Ring signatures – shields the sender by concealing which output was spent
Stealth address – guarantees that recipient’s address is not on the blockchain
Kovri – cuts the link between transactions and your physical location
Monero’s software remains open-sourced. This means that anyone can inspect, audit, and study the source code. As a result, Monero has developed into a robust community that continues to develop and improve the foundation it was built on.
XMR has a unique coin supply limit. It has dynamic supply issuance as an incentive mechanism. Currently, the circulating supply is 18,107,150.32. When the total number of XMR coins hits 18.3 million, the issuance will be reduced to 0.3 XMR per minute. This demonstrates that Monero is sound money.
Get XMR from crypto exchanges using fiat or another crypto. You can also acquire Monero from crypto brokers or you can mine XMR for yourself. It doesn’t require sophisticated ASIC hardware, making it more energy-efficient.
Everyone has the right to keep any personal and financial information confidential to protect themselves. Privacy is every human being’s right. If you value privacy, adding XMR to your digital portfolio makes sense. Apart from using VPNs or Tor, decentralized exchanges, and privacy-centric coins, a secure wallet is also of vital importance. Use XMRWallet, an open-source, free web-based Monero wallet that allows you to send and receive XMR instantly while remaining in complete control of your coins and keys.