Monero: The Ups and Downs of an Anonymous Currency
Anonymous cryptocurrency Monero has jumped in value over the past couple of months. More recently though, the price has declined from its highs as the community experienced unexpected rumors. Throughout this, Monero has remained a valued asset with the sixth–highest market capitalization. It also continues to have significant trading volume.
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The Oasis Exit Scam
The darknet marketplace (DNM) Oasis has gone offline, and many believe the administrators left with the escrow holdings. This includes a rumored 150 BTC and some Monero (XMR) as well. During the time Oasis went offline, the dark web’s AlphaBay, Hansa and Dream also went down for short periods. All these marketplaces minus Oasis have since come back online.
Immediately after, the markets suffered hiccups, many in the cryptocurrency community and some crypto-publications tethered the Oasis exit to Monero. Because Oasis was one of the first to announce Monero integration, some skeptics accused the XMR community of involvement. The Monero community and developers such as Riccardo Spagni, a.k.a. FluffyPony, have openly disputed these rumors.
XMR Integrations Continue
However, since the cryptocurrency’s dip in price and negative news, the community also received positive news. On October 11, multi-currency wallet Jaxx announced it will soon integrate Monero.
Early that morning Jaxx CEO Anthony Di Iorio stated, “Great news for Monero! My Apple contact called to say Monero (XMR) is officially approved for App Store.” Following Di Iorios’ tweet, Jaxx announced it would integrate XMR on all nine platforms, including iOS.
Another XMR integration announced on October 10 is the popular darknet email service provider “SIGAINT.” This platform is a widely used service on the dark web and developers have initiated a Tor relay for Monero transactions.
SIGAINT protects a user’s data with encryption techniques and anonymous protection using the Tor network. There is a free service for SIGAINT as well as a paid subscription. The platform had accepted Bitcoin and Litecoin in the past, and now accepts XMR.
Anonymous Currency: The Road Towards Privacy & Fungibility
Privacy and fungibility were hot topics for attendees at the recent Scaling Bitcoin event in Milan. Many cryptocurrencies are trying to achieve true anonymity — including Dash, DarkSilk, Zcash and more. Monero developers believe their project is on the right path and the community is continuing its efforts.
Furthermore, last week a new video called “What Is Monero?” launched, describing the cryptocurrency’s functionality. While Monero has certainly had a few bumps in the road since its recent price climb, the community and developers remain unphased.
On October 11 Dash announced its users can now top up their Shake Debit Cards with the token, giving the network more merchant accessibility. Additionally, the much-anticipated Zcash is expected to launch publicly at the end of the month. Meanwhile, in crypto-land, the search for the holy grail of powerful anonymity in cryptocurrency continues.
What do you think about Monero’s drop in price and the recent headlines surrounding the cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: r/darknetmarkets, Twitter, DarkWebNews, and Shake
Images via Shutterstock, My Monero, Jaxx, and SIGAINT
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