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Launched in April 2014, Monero (XMR) uses ring signatures, ring confidential transactions and stealth addresses to provide anonymous and untraceable transactions. These privacy features were a key factor that saw Monero rise from around US$10 at the start of 2017 to reach US$350 by the end of the year.
However, in a crowded privacy coin market, does Monero have the features and functionality needed to achieve further growth, or is its price headed for a dip?
Learn more Where to buy Monero (XMR)
Coin name | Monero |
Symbol | XMR |
Algorithm type | CryptoNight |
Mineable | Yes |
Launch date | 18 April 2014 |
Predicting the future price of any cryptocurrency is a tricky business. Not only are digital currencies highly volatile, but their prices are also influenced by a wide range of internal and external factors.
Some of the issues that could potentially drive price rises or prompt a drop in the value of Monero are outlined in the table below.
New tech upgrades and releases could potentially have an impact on the price of Monero, so let’s take a look at some of the key developments coming up in Monero’s roadmap. The next items on the list include:
The level of adoption Monero can achieve will in part be influenced by the actions of its competitors, which could have a positive or negative effect on the price of XMR. Some of the other main contenders in the privacy coin sphere include:
Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, Monero is private by default and has been designed with private and anonymous transactions at the top of its list of goals. This fact alone should stand it in good stead, as history has shown that there’s certainly demand for a coin that allows secret transactions.
However, Monero’s privacy is something of a double-edged sword. While its untraceable nature makes it an attractive proposition for anyone who wants to transact anonymously, this also makes the coin a suitable choice for anyone who operates outside the law. This could severely hamper the mainstream public perception of Monero, while it also raises the risk of potential regulatory changes.
The other main challenge for Monero looks to be scalability. While transaction sizes could prove a problem as the network increases in size, there are plans in place to help overcome this problem. If Bulletproofs can reduce Monero’s transaction size and fees as planned, there’s plenty of potential upside for this popular privacy coin.
The most important thing to remember with Monero, or any other cryptocurrency for that matter, is that nothing is certain. There’s a big market for privacy coins and Monero is a leading player, but it’s far from the only fish in this crowded sea.
However, as an established coin with a solid reputation for providing secure and anonymous transactions, it’s well positioned for the battle that lies ahead. If the Monero community can successfully tackle scaling issues before they become major problems, and without impacting on XMR’s privacy features, this should mean good things for Monero moving forward.
Just make sure that you thoroughly research Monero’s pros, cons and influencing factors before deciding whether you should add any XMR to your cryptocurrency portfolio.
Images: Shutterstock
At the time of writing, the author holds IOTA and XLM.
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