• Development, Releases, and Technology

• General News

• Events and Meetings

• Exchanges and Merchants

• Community Crowdfunding

• Trading and Speculation

• Network Metrics

• Entertainment

Development, Releases, and Technology

The CARROT addressing upgrade for Monero has successfully passed an audit by security firm Cypher Stack. The audit found that the carrot_core implementation closely follows the protocol specification and that the expected security properties are present, with only minor differences noted that were considered mathematically redundant. CARROT is a proposed upgrade to Monero’s addressing system designed to improve privacy, security, and usability while remaining fully compatible with existing Monero addresses.

The Monero Research Lab (MRL) has been progressing work toward the upcoming FCMP++ upgrade. Developers reported that all major pull requests for FCMP++ integration are now open, with plans to contact audit firms for quotes before launching a Community Crowdfunding System proposal to fund a multi stage audit of the code. The FCMP++ alpha stressnet also continues running smoothly with no major new issues reported, while a separate audit of the carrot core library found only minor differences from the specification that were considered safe within Monero’s implementation. You can follow the Monero Research Lab (Unofficial) X page for regular updates.

Baltsar has released monero-mcp, an early open source bridge that lets AI agents interact with the Monero network and manage their own wallet through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The tool allows compatible agents to check balances, generate addresses, and optionally send XMR while emphasizing security through features like read only defaults, address allowlists, two step transfer confirmations, rate limits, and audit logging designed to mitigate prompt injection attacks. The project is MIT licensed and self hosted, and developers are inviting feedback and security review as the early alpha evolves.

Haveno v1.2.3 has been released, bringing several improvements to the decentralized peer to peer exchange software used for trading Monero without centralized exchanges. The update focuses on improving reliability when taking trades, better wallet syncing, and general user experience updates such as clearer trade timers and improved offer management. Haveno continues to develop as a decentralized marketplace where users can buy and sell XMR privately using fiat or other cryptocurrencies.

Cake Wallet and Monero.com Wallet v6.0.1 have been released, bringing a complete redesign of the wallet along with new features. The update introduces a refreshed interface aimed at making the app cleaner and easier to use, while also adding support for fast Bitcoin payments through the Spark Lightning protocol. Despite the visual overhaul, the release also focuses on improving performance under the hood to keep Monero syncing and transactions running smoothly.

The Monerujo team has released an experimental preview build of Monerujo M2, giving users an early look at the next generation of the popular mobile wallet. The standalone test APK includes fixes for QR based wallet restoration, optional immersive mode, and improvements to the send screen, while allowing users to test the redesigned new version without overwriting their existing installation. Developers are encouraging the community to experiment with the preview build and provide feedback before the update moves into official beta channels.

Skylight Wallet, a lightweight Monero wallet focused on simplicity and accessibility, is now available on the Apple iOS App Store. The release expands access to Monero mobile wallets on iOS, allowing users to send, receive, and manage XMR from their phones using a light wallet setup. More details and the download are available here.

telliandev has created a prototype Monero hardware wallet that runs on the Critical Decentralisation Cluster badge, a small device with an e paper screen and keypad. The gadget can generate and store your Monero keys locally, show your wallet address as a QR code for receiving payments, and export a standard 25 word seed phrase so the wallet can be restored in apps like Cake Wallet. The project is open source and still experimental, but it shows another simple hardware option for people who want to hold their own XMR keys offline.

P2Pool v4.14 has been released, bringing several updates to the decentralized Monero mining pool software. The release adds support for configurable SOCKS5 proxy types, HAProxy PROXY Protocol v2 for improved networking setups, and new worker stats showing sidechain and stratum shares. Additional improvements include IPv6 support for ZMQ connections, dependency updates, and various bug fixes, continuing development on one of the most popular ways for miners to mine Monero in a decentralized way without relying on centralized pools.

Gupax v2.0.0 has been released, bringing a major update to the popular graphical interface used for running Monero nodes, P2Pool, and XMRig mining software. The release integrates features from the former Gupaxx fork, adds a new update manager, renderer selection with fallback support, and various usability improvements while simplifying the default interface to focus on P2Pool and XMRig. The update also includes numerous bug fixes and internal improvements, with users currently required to manually download the release due to a known updater issue. More details and downloads are available here.

P2Pool Starter Stack v0.2 has been released for Monero miners who want an easier self hosted setup for running a Monero node. The update adds a smart routing system that can automatically switch hashrate between P2Pool and XMRvsBeast to chase better rewards, along with a rebuilt dashboard that shows real time stats, worker activity, and historical hashrate charts. It also includes new command line tools and worker setup scripts to make managing and expanding a mining setup much simpler. Check it out here.

A developer in the Monero subreddit has shared Onyx Escrow, an experimental browser native non custodial 2 of 3 Monero escrow system that uses FROST threshold signatures and client side WebAssembly signing so users do not need to install software or run a wallet locally. The server acts only as a relay coordinating signing rounds and monitoring transactions with a view key, while spending funds mathematically requires two of the three parties buyer, seller, or arbiter. The project is early and community members urged caution while testing it out, with the developer publishing the code and protocol specification here.

A new decentralized trading network called Haveno Nova has launched, built on the Haveno protocol. The network operates as a Tor native, non custodial peer to peer exchange similar to other Haveno based networks like Retoswap, allowing users to trade Monero without accounts or KYC while experimenting with different network parameters such as lower trading fees. Developers say the goal is to increase decentralized exchange infrastructure and competition within the ecosystem, though community members noted the project is still very new and advised users to proceed cautiously while liquidity and trust develop. More information here.

ProbeLab has published a new analysis of the Monero network using its Nebula crawler to map the P2P layer and provide a snapshot of the network’s structure and health. The report highlights a large and globally distributed node network, while also showing that nearly half of legitimate nodes appear to enforce the community ban list designed to isolate suspected surveillance infrastructure. The research offers a detailed look at Monero’s network topology and the ongoing efforts by the community to strengthen privacy and resilience at the P2P layer. Check it out here.

A developer has released a proof of concept Monero facilitator for the x402 payment protocol, designed to let websites, apps, or AI services accept XMR micro payments using the standard HTTP 402 “Payment Required” flow. The Rust based daemon runs alongside your own monero-wallet-rpc, generates unique subaddresses for each invoice, verifies payments using the transaction secret key (tx_key), and can even unlock resources instantly by detecting transactions in the mempool. The project aims to provide a self hosted, privacy preserving alternative to corporate payment facilitators, allowing developers to accept Monero while keeping full control over their own node, wallet, and view keys.

It is highly recommended you run a node to help secure the Monero network. You can also solo mine via the official Monero GUI wallet which can be found here or partake in the decentralized and permissionless P2Pool. The official Monero website GetMonero.org or SethForPrivacy.com are fantastic places to find help to get started running a node or mining. You can also check out the YouTube video below.

General News

A new explainer video titled “What is Monero and how does it work?” has been published by the YouTube channel Breakdownvideos. The video gives a simple overview of Monero’s core privacy features, explaining how ring signatures, stealth addresses, and hidden amounts work together to keep the sender, receiver, and transaction value private by default. It also contrasts Monero with most cryptocurrencies where transactions remain permanently public and traceable. Watch the video here.

The Monero Talk podcast released Monerotopia episode 253, featuring the weekly Monero price report, news discussion, and community conversation. The livestream includes a market update from bawdyanarchist, commentary on recent crypto and economic news, and a viewers on stage segment where community members join the discussion. The full episode is available on YouTube for those wanting a deeper look at the week’s Monero related developments and broader crypto news.

Monero Talk also released a MoneroTopia 2026 conference debrief, discussing highlights from the recent conference. Check it out here.

Xenu presented a talk titled “The Aura of Darknet Adoption” at Monerotopia 2026, arguing that darknet markets act as a real world stress test for cryptocurrencies functioning as peer to peer cash. In the presentation, Xenu explains that Monero’s built in privacy, open source culture, and resistance to censorship have made it the dominant currency across many darknet markets. He also discusses the concept of “aura” in crypto, suggesting that real world usage in adversarial environments strengthens the credibility of a digital currency beyond speculation alone. Watch the talk here.

There are also many other videos from the Monerotopia 2026 conference circulating on X that are well worth checking out. One standout is a talk from Monero Core Team member ArticMine discussing the challenges of scaling blockchain surveillance, which you can watch below on X.

You can find the entire Monerotopia 2026 conference to stream on the Monero Talk YouTube channel here.

CypherGoat published a new issue of This Week in Monero, covering the latest news across the Monero ecosystem. You can check out the latest issue here.

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs has published a new report looking at Monero’s activity and network behavior in 2025. The report claims Monero usage has remained steady despite widespread exchange delistings, with transaction levels staying above pre 2022 levels and nearly half of newly launched darknet markets in 2025 supporting XMR only. It also discusses research suggesting around 14 to 15 percent of nodes on the Monero peer to peer network behave in non standard ways, which researchers say could influence how transactions propagate across the network, though the report notes Monero’s on chain cryptography itself remains intact.

Events and Meetings

An upcoming Monero meetup will take place in Prague on March 27. The two hour event will introduce attendees to how Monero works in practice for private payments and cross border transfers, while discussing its role in preserving financial privacy in an increasingly monitored financial system. Tickets and event details are available here.

Monerun aka MoneroRun 2026 is set to take place on April 18, as the community once again organizes its annual grassroots proof of reserves event. Participants are encouraged to withdraw their XMR from centralized exchanges and hold it in their own wallets for the day, both as a reminder of the “not your keys, not your coins” principle and as an informal audit of exchange solvency. The yearly tradition also doubles as a celebration of Monero’s birthday and a show of support for self custody across the ecosystem. More information can be found here.

MoneroKon 2026 is officially on, with OrangeFren stepping in to organize this year’s event after earlier plans fell through. MoneroKon is the annual meeting of privacy advocates, cypherpunks, researchers, and developers focused on sharing scientific and technical work on Monero, privacy enhancing technologies, and distributed systems. MoneroKon will run June 5 to 7 in Warsaw, alongside the Bitcoin Film Fest next door. The call for presentations, panels, workshops, and artworks is now open, with submissions due by April 24, 2026. Tickets and more information can be found on the MoneroKon website.

Exchanges and Merchants

The privacy focused casino monero.win has launched version 2 of its platform, adding faster same block betting along with a new dice game. The site requires no accounts, KYC, or tracking, letting users place bets simply by sending XMR from a wallet address, while games such as coinflip, roulette, and dice use provably fair verification. The update also lowers roulette’s house edge to around 3.23 percent and introduces a public bet mempool showing live totals for each round, while the platform reports processing over 6,000 XMR across more than 27,000 bets during its first version.

MoneroPriceNow.com is a new tool that shows the real time price of Monero across multiple instant swap services in one place. The site pulls live API data from several swap platforms and displays the current buy and sell rates, allowing users to quickly compare where they can get the best deal when swapping into or out of XMR. Instead of manually checking different swap sites, users can simply leave the page open and watch the live prices update as markets move.

The crypto swap service Tristero has added support for buying Monero using other cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, and SOL. Users can select a quote, send the source asset to a deposit address, and receive XMR directly to their Monero wallet, with the team claiming competitive exchange rates compared to similar services. As with any new platform, community members advised caution and encouraged users to test the service carefully before using it with larger amounts.

A developer on the Monero subreddit has launched VeiledSwap, a new XMR to DAI swap service currently in a two week public testing phase. The project aims to offer fast conversions between Monero and the stablecoin DAI, with swaps reportedly completing in minutes and requiring only a simple username and password without email or KYC. The creator notes the service is centralized and still experimental, and community members have encouraged users to proceed cautiously while testing the platform.

ShopinBit has shared new payment statistics showing Monero accounting for 73% of all transaction volume on the platform. The result marks one of Monero’s strongest months on the site, approaching the platform’s previous record of 74.54 percent reached in June 2024.

Advertising network MellowAds has added support for Monero as a payment option. MellowAds is a long running crypto advertising platform used by websites to buy and sell banner ad traffic, commonly in crypto and privacy focused niches.

Community Crowdfunding

Several crowdfunding proposals are awaiting community feedback before they can start accepting funds through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). For now, they are just proposals, but if they receive some positive feedback from the community they will be moved to a “Funding Required” stage so that they can accept Monero donations through the CCS.

CCS proposals currently open:

Funding required:

All approved proposals have been fully funded.

Trading and Speculation

After Monero’s strong run at the end of last year, the initial sell off has been followed by several weeks of sideways price action while still holding above the weekly cloud. This type of consolidation above support is generally constructive, allowing the market to cool off and build a base before potentially making the next move higher.

On the weekly XMR/BTC chart, Monero is still above the Ichimoku cloud after a long downtrend and is now consolidating just above it, suggesting a potential trend shift with the cloud acting as support if the sideways structure holds.

Network Metrics

Total Monero in Circulation : 18,723,738 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap: $6,674,123,770

Coinmarketcap Ranking: #14

XMR ‘street price’ from RetoSwap: $333 (-6%)

XMR/USD Price: $357

XMR/BTC Price: 0.005111 BTC

Monero Network Hashrate: 5.84 Ghash/s

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution:

Entertainment

If you enjoy the newsletter and want more of this content, shout me a beer by donating some spare Monero you didn’t lose during your boating accident. I’m completely independent and rely solely on donations, with no sponsorship. A massive thank you to everyone who supports my work!

8C2xtdsCmJGhUgvMWYLayRR1wFgrjtQ2wNvzgFfrAfbjW7gatQDiNjUfFX7K5cm9UVefrVPFmxiM4jhhybsLQGpG1aeRzfD

Have we missed something?

If we’ve missed something important, let us know! As this is our first issue after a few months, we might have overlooked some news. Feel free to DM if there’s anything you’d like included in a future issue.

Support Monero

Want to contribute to the Monero Project? Developers, marketers, event coordinators, translators, Instagram personalities, meme creators, and public speakers — whatever your skills may be, it is extremely likely there is something you can do to assist. Reach out to the Monero community on Reddit, IRC/Matrix, GitHub, Twitter, or Telegram. The official Monero website is GetMonero.org.

Past Issues

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DISCLAIMER: This publication contains opinions for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions; use it solely at your own risk. The author of this publication and/or the authors of articles linked to or from this site may have financial investments that could bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. No website, service, or product mentioned in the newsletter constitutes an endorsement; use them at your own risk. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties without verifying their credibility.

• Development, Releases, and Technology

• General News

• Events and Meetings

• Exchanges and Merchants

• Community Crowdfunding

• Trading and Speculation

• Network Metrics

• Entertainment

Development, Releases, and Technology

A new alpha stressnet update for Monero has been released, rolling out v1.6 of the FCMP++ and Carrot stressnet software. This lets the community try out two major proposed upgrades before they ever reach mainnet: FCMP++, which replaces ring signatures with full-chain membership proofs, and Carrot, a new address format aimed at improving privacy and usability without breaking existing addresses. The release also introduces tx relay v2, significantly reducing bandwidth usage, along with several daemon fixes. This is early, experimental software and not meant for real funds, and developers are encouraging the community to test it thoroughly and report issues to help ensure a smooth eventual upgrade. More information here.

Monero developers are gathering real-world benchmarks for the upcoming RandomX v2 update, with a call for users running newer Intel CPUs to test and share results. A simple Linux script has been posted to standardize testing, with results being collected publicly to help understand performance changes and how newer and older hardware may be affected. More information and a link to the script here.

Updates from the unofficial Monero Research Lab X page have continued to provide a steady stream of Monero dev insights. The team recently agreed to fund a third independent review of a critical FCMP++ math component, bringing in zkSecurity for extra assurance after two prior audits, while Cypher Stack proposed a mitigation for a Generalized Bulletproofs issue that slightly increases proof sizes but isn’t seen as a major blocker. Discussions around CARROT’s Outgoing View Keys highlighted clear usability gains for wallets and multisig setups alongside concerns about potential exchange pressure, and a review of the BulletCT paper found no meaningful performance gains for Monero, shifting focus toward alternatives like SwiftRange or Flashproofs.

A MAGIC Monero Fund research project is raising $19,000 to speed up Bulletproofs+, the cryptography Monero uses to hide transaction amounts, making transactions faster to create and easier for the network to verify without increasing data size. The 13-week project is being led by CSIRO researchers Dr Nan Wang and Dr Dongxi Liu and is designed to support future upgrades such as FCMP++, with all code released open-source. The fundraiser is currently 28% funded after a $5,000 seed donation, with full details and donations available here, and the technical proposal here.

Grease is an early proof-of-concept that’s trying to bring payment channels to Monero, so you could make instant, private payments off-chain and only settle back to the Monero base layer when you’re done. The idea is to improve everyday UX for things like point-of-sale payments and micro-transactions, without turning Monero into a smart contract chain or leaking channel metadata on a public ledger. The project uses a ZK rollup style chain for off-chain state management, and the repo has been getting active updates recently. Check it out here.

FerrySwap is coming soon. It’s being built as a Monero-first swap interface on top of Serai DEX, designed to enable direct cross-chain swaps without centralized bridges or custody. More information here and here.

Haveno has released v1.0.2 of its Android app. Haveno is a peer-to-peer trading app that lets people buy and sell Monero without accounts, custody, or centralized exchanges. This update adds more flexible trading fees, clearer explanations when a trade isn’t available, and some general bug fixes to make the app more reliable overall. More information here.

Stack Wallet has released v2.4.3, with a mix of new features, fixes, and performance improvements across mobile and desktop. Stack Wallet is an open-source, self-custody wallet that supports Monero and many other cryptocurrencies, letting users hold and swap coins without giving up control of their keys. Check it out here.

A new Monerujo release is landing in under two days, just in time for the Monerotopia conference. Monerujo, the first ever mobile wallet for Monero, should be available via their website or the Google Play Store once the update drops.

MAGIC Grants has released Skylight Wallet v1.0.7 with a bunch of small fixes and improvements. Skylight is a modern, open-source Monero wallet that lets you hold and use XMR yourself without running a full Monero node or trusting a third party with your keys. This update improves stability on Windows and Linux, makes sending XMR smoother, and adds better QR code scanning for connecting to light wallet servers. More information and downloads here.

P2Pool is now available in the TrueNAS app store, making it easier to run a Monero mining node on TrueNAS. XMRig support is expected to follow, which would round out a simple self-hosted mining setup.

Monero Superbrain is now live on Umbrel, making it dead simple to mine Monero with a single click. Built by SirJamzAlot, the app bundles P2Pool, XMRig, and a clean dashboard into one plug-and-play setup that turns your Umbrel into a decentralized mining hub. It supports both P2Pool Mini and Main, tracks earnings in real-time, and even lets you connect extra machines on your network to boost hashpower. It’s still in beta, but if you want to help nourish P2Pool and mine without touching the command line, this is worth checking out.

It is highly recommended you run a node to help secure the Monero network. You can also solo mine via the official Monero GUI wallet which can be found here or partake in the decentralized and permissionless P2Pool. The official Monero website GetMonero.org or SethForPrivacy.com are fantastic places to find help to get started running a node or mining.

CypherSage posted a step-by-step guide on DeusOp showing how to run your own Monero node, mine on P2Pool, and use XMRig on a headless Linux setup. It walks through everything from installing Monero and enabling Huge Pages to running P2Pool Mini on low-power hardware.

Bitrequest released a small JavaScript library that makes it easier for apps and websites to work with Monero. It handles things like generating Monero addresses, creating subaddresses, reading mnemonics, and checking transactions, all directly in the browser without extra software. It’s open-source and already used in Bitrequest’s point-of-sale app for accepting Monero payments, but since it’s new, it’s something users should review carefully before using with real funds.

xNOTHINGx built a new Monero Stagenet faucet to help people test wallets and transactions without using real XMR. The privacy-focused faucet that lets users grab stagenet coins for testing, with both a regular site and a Tor onion version available. It’s early and pretty bare bones, but it fills a real gap for developers and newcomers experimenting on Monero’s stagenet. Check it out here.

A new tool called openresolve was shared by lunar-sh, a simple OpenAlias CLI resolver written in C that turns a website name into a Monero address without needing scripts or extra setup. You just enter the domain and it gives you the XMR address, which can be handy for quick checks. Since it’s new, it’s advised to use it with caution.

Excellent-Ostrich107 posted a browser-based Monero escrow prototype called Onyx Escrow that runs fully in your browser, using a non custodial 2 of 3 setup where buyer and seller can release funds, or an arbiter can step in for disputes. It claims FROST threshold signatures in WASM, with a server that coordinates the flow but can’t spend the funds. It’s live and mainnet tested at onyx-escrow.com, but it’s very new so treat it with caution, especially until source code is shared. More information here.

A project to turn a Nintendo 64 into an offline wallet address generator has made progress over the past month. Developer Bowler Bear now has the app running on real N64 hardware, with recent updates fixing memory issues, improving text readability, and adding smoother controller controls. More information here.

General News

Monero Talk went live from the Monerotopia 2026 venue in Mexico City for episode 251 of the Monero Talk, joined by Monerotopia speaker Ray Youssef, CEO of Noones. The episode covers on-the-ground vibes, a Monero price check, weekly news, and a long-form discussion with Youssef ahead of his upcoming conference talk. It’s a good listen if you want a feel for the event before doors open and some context on where Monero conversations are heading this week.

Anti Moonboy News episode 60 is out, with a wide-ranging episode that digs into the latest Epstein-related headlines touching parts of the crypto industry, looks at Monero’s continued dominance on darknet markets, breaks down recent XMR drama, and shares updates on Monerotopia 2026. Check it out here.

CypherGoat published a new issue of This Week in Monero, covering the latest news across the Monero ecosystem. You can check out the latest issue here.

An article from the Mises Institute breaks down why transparent digital currencies come with real risks for freedom, safety, and everyday commerce. It explains how fully visible blockchains enable surveillance, price discrimination, and even physical targeting of holders, while arguing that privacy-by-default money like Monero preserves fungibility and personal autonomy. The piece makes the case that financial privacy isn’t about hiding wrongdoing, but about protecting people, markets, and voluntary exchange in an increasingly cashless world.

Events and Meetings

Monerotopia 2026 is this week and will be held from February 12–15, 2026, at Huerto Roma Verde in Mexico City, bringing four days of talks, workshops, and hands-on Monero use focused on privacy, freedom, and real-world adoption. Alongside a stacked speaker lineup including Monero Research Lab contributors, wallet builders, and OG cypherpunks, the event features an open air XMR bazaar where vendors accept Monero for food, drinks, and merch, creating a live circular economy. The conference also includes Spanish language talks, workshops, live music, and heavily discounted or free access options for local attendees. Tickets and details are available at the Monerotopia website. Additional information here.

In case you can’t make it to the event, the Monerotopia conference will be live streamed on the Monerotopia X account!

A Monero focused meetup is being held in London on February 20, featuring a practical talk on using Monero to protect transaction privacy amid tightening crypto regulations. The event covers real-world methods for chain hopping, obfuscating funds, and integrating Monero into broader crypto and business structures, followed by networking with others. Full details and tickets are available here.

A Tampa Privacy Pop up is happening on February 20 at the Tampa Innovation Center, bringing together privacy and Monero focused projects for an evening of talks, demos, and casual discussion. The free event will feature live demos and presentations from tools like EigenWallet, Cake Wallet, Edge Wallet, RoninDojo, NymVPN, XMRBazaar, and more, with a focus on real world privacy tech people can actually use. You can register and find more information here.

MoneroKon 2026 is officially on, with OrangeFren stepping in to organize this year’s event after earlier plans fell through. MoneroKon is the annual meeting of privacy advocates, cypherpunks, researchers, and developers focused on sharing scientific and technical work on Monero, privacy enhancing technologies, and distributed systems. MoneroKon will run June 5 to 7 in Warsaw, alongside the Bitcoin Film Fest next door. The call for presentations, panels, workshops, and artworks is now open, with submissions due by April 24, 2026. Tickets and more information can be found on the MoneroKon website.

The next Monero Research Lab meeting should take place on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 17:00 UTC in the #monero-research-lab channel on Libera IRC and Matrix. Logs from the previous meeting should be found here soon.

The next Cuprate Meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at 18:00 UTC in the #cuprate channels on Libera IRC and Matrix. Agenda items can be suggested on GitHub, and logs will be posted there after the meeting.

Exchanges and Merchants

FerrySwap is coming soon. It’s being built as a Monero-first swap interface on top of Serai DEX, designed to enable direct cross-chain swaps without centralized bridges or custody. More information here and here.

A new site called ViewAndRate.com is being tested as a way to build portable, verifiable reputations for Monero users by signing contracts and reviews with XMR addresses or PGP keys. The idea is that even if marketplaces go offline, reputations can be verified and reused elsewhere. More information here.

A developer has shared early details of BazaarBay, a proposed non custodial P2P marketplace where vendors control their own funds and buyers can choose between direct payment or escrow, and is asking the Monero community for feedback ahead of a planned v0.1 launch. The proposal sparked debate around what counts as truly decentralized, with commenters questioning the use of a centralized server, admin based dispute resolution, and how the project differs from existing platforms like XMRBazaar. The full discussion and concept overview are here.

QuantumProxies has added Monero as a payment option. QuantumProxies sells residential and datacenter proxy services used for things like web access, automation, and location based browsing, and now accepts XMR payments via NOWPayments. More information here.

A merchant called reader-dict.com now accepts Monero after TheFuzzStone directly contacted the creator and asked for XMR support. The site sells offline dictionaries and language tools for e-ink readers and other devices. More information here.

A privacy focused service called SilentAPI now lets users access major AI models like GPT-5.2, Gemini 3.0, Kimi K2.5, and DeepSeek R1 using Monero, with no KYC, no accounts, and no prompt logging. The platform acts as an API proxy and private chat interface, supports Tor via a new hidden service endpoint, and charges pay-per-use rather than subscriptions or credit cards. More information here and here.

Search stats from OrangeFren.com for January show Monero firmly in the lead, taking 42.31% of all searches. Bitcoin follows at 25.71%.

Community Crowdfunding

Several crowdfunding proposals are awaiting community feedback before they can start accepting funds through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). For now, they are just proposals, but if they receive some positive feedback from the community they will be moved to a “Funding Required” stage so that they can accept Monero donations through the CCS.

CCS proposals currently open:

Funding required:

All approved proposals have been fully funded.

Trading and Speculation

After Monero’s strong run last month, price has pulled back to retest the top of the weekly cloud. Ideally this turns into a period of sideways consolidation, setting the base for the next move higher.

Network Metrics

Total Monero in Circulation : 18,711,339 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap: $6,268,241,591

Coinmarketcap Ranking: #16

XMR ‘street price’ from RetoSwap: $371 (+10%)

XMR/USD Price: $333

XMR/BTC Price: 0.004870 BTC

Monero Network Hashrate: 5.95 Ghash/s

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution:

Entertainment

If you enjoy the newsletter and want more of this content, shout me a beer by donating some spare Monero you didn’t lose during your boating accident. I’m completely independent and rely solely on donations, with no sponsorship. A massive thank you to everyone who supports my work!

8C2xtdsCmJGhUgvMWYLayRR1wFgrjtQ2wNvzgFfrAfbjW7gatQDiNjUfFX7K5cm9UVefrVPFmxiM4jhhybsLQGpG1aeRzfD

Have we missed something?

If we’ve missed something important, let us know! As this is our first issue after a few months, we might have overlooked some news. Feel free to DM if there’s anything you’d like included in a future issue.

Support Monero

Want to contribute to the Monero Project? Developers, marketers, event coordinators, translators, Instagram personalities, meme creators, and public speakers — whatever your skills may be, it is extremely likely there is something you can do to assist. Reach out to the Monero community on Reddit, IRC/Matrix, GitHub, Twitter, or Telegram. The official Monero website is GetMonero.org.

Past Issues

Issue 87 / Issue 86 / Issue 85 / Issue 84 / Issue 83 / Issue 82 / Issue 81 / Issue 80 / Issue 79 / Issue 78 / Issue 77 / Issue 76 / Issue 75 / Issue 74 / Issue 73 / Issue 72 / Issue 71 / Issue 70 / Issue 69 / Issue 68 Issue 67 Issue 66 / Issue 65 / Issue 64 / Issue 63 / Issue 62 / Issue 61 / Issue 60 / Issue 59 / Issue 58 / Issue 57 / Issue 56 / Issue 55 / Issue 54 / Issue 53 / Issue 52 / Issue 51 / Issue 50 / Issue 49 / Issue 48 / Issue 47 / Issue 46 / Issue 45 / Issue 44 / Issue 43 / Issue 42 / Issue 41 / Issue 40 / Issue 39 / Issue 38 / Issue 37 / Issue 36 / Issue 35 / Issue 34 / Issue 33 / Issue 32 / Issue 31 / Issue 30 / Issue 29 / Issue 28 / Issue 27 / Issue 26 / Issue 25 / Issue 24 / Issue 23 / Issue 22 / Issue 21 / Issue 20 / Issue 19 / Issue 18 / Issue 17 / Issue 16 / Issue 15 / Issue 14 / Issue 13 / Issue 12 / Issue 11 / Issue 10 / Issue 9 / Issue 8 / Issue 7 / Issue 6 / Issue 5 / Issue 4 / Issue 3 / Issue 2 / Issue 1

Socials

If you have suggestions, corrections, or feedback, please contact me on X @johnfoss69 or Reddit u/johnfoss68.

DISCLAIMER: This publication contains opinions for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions; use it solely at your own risk. The author of this publication and/or the authors of articles linked to or from this site may have financial investments that could bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. No website, service, or product mentioned in the newsletter constitutes an endorsement; use them at your own risk. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties without verifying their credibility.

• Development, Releases, and Technology

• General News

• Events and Meetings

• Exchanges and Merchants

• Community Crowdfunding

• Trading and Speculation

• Network Metrics

• Entertainment

Development, Releases, and Technology

Rucknium has shared an update from Monero Research Lab introducing a new spy node ban list after a large cluster of suspected surveillance nodes moved to fresh IP ranges in late 2025. Node operators can opt in by manually enabling the list to reduce the chance of connecting to clustered spy nodes that could weaken Dandelion++ transaction privacy. The ban list is cryptographically signed by multiple Monero developers and researchers and is offered as a voluntary privacy defense rather than a default network level block.

The Monero Research Lab has been quietly making steady progress across several core upgrades, with no drama and no major setbacks. Work on RandomX v2 is nearing completion, aiming to keep Monero friendly to CPU miners while reducing the effectiveness of specialized ASIC hardware, with a potential activation window around August 2026. Major privacy upgrades like FCMP++ and CARROT continue to move forward through audits and testing, with a beta stressnet close to launch after recent stability fixes. Alongside this, a small research proposal is gaining support to significantly speed up Bulletproofs, which could improve performance across wallets in a future update. More in-depth info can be found here.

Luke Parker announced that monero-oxide, an audited set of Rust libraries used to build Monero wallets and services, has shipped a major upgrade to its RPC system. Monero-oxide provides the low level building blocks that let apps create Monero transactions, talk to nodes, and manage wallet data safely. The new RPC design is faster, safer, and more modular, making it easier for developers to plug Monero into different backends or future services, with the whole project backed by an active Immunefi bug bounty and open to community feedback. More information can be found here.

MoneroDroid has pushed a new update with v1.0.11, fixing a crash related to Orbot on Android 14 and newer, making it more stable for users running Tor alongside their node. MoneroDroid is an Android app that lets you run a full Monero node directly on your phone, with support for pruned mode, external storage, background syncing, and automatic monerod updates. It’s a simple way to contribute to Monero’s decentralization without needing a desktop or server, especially for users who want a always on node in their pocket.

SirJamzAlot shared a sneak peek of Monero Superbrain, a new P2Pool mining app built for Umbrel that aims to unlock dormant CPU power across tens of thousands of home servers. The app makes it trivially easy for Umbrel users to point idle machines at P2Pool, aggregate hashpower across local networks, and strengthen Monero’s decentralized mining while earning XMR, with early tests already producing payouts. Still in development with audits to come, it’s a promising step toward turning everyday infrastructure into real network security for Monero.

Monero One is a new non custodial iOS wallet aiming to make using Monero feel simple without compromising on privacy. Built by Joe IO, the app focuses on self custody, no tracking or analytics, background sync on iOS, and a clean UI, with the full code released as open source. Monero One is currently available via TestFlight for early access, positioning itself as a privacy first, user friendly option for sending, receiving, and storing XMR on iPhone.

Skylight Wallet v1.0.4 has been released for Android and Linux, bringing new Tor configuration options, editable light wallet server settings, and auditable builds via GitHub Actions. Skylight is a self custody, open source light wallet developed by MAGIC Grants that syncs instantly across devices by relying on a light wallet server you run yourself, trading convenience for stronger control and privacy. The update also notes that iOS builds are in progress and will be announced once approved, continuing the project’s focus on transparency and user run infrastructure rather than third party reliance.

Cake Labs has released v5.8.0 of Cake Wallet and the Monero.com wallet, continuing its steady focus on improving the Monero experience while expanding broader multi coin tooling. The update includes performance and stability improvements, refinements to Zcash support, expanded EVM compatibility, and new swap options via Arbitrum and Solana’s Jupiter, giving Monero users more flexible onramps and swap routes without leaving the wallet. For Monero purists, the Monero.com wallet remains a Monero only option.

PerpetualCow’s wagyu.xyz bridge has kicked off a lot of discussion across Reddit and X, with people debating whether it’s a useful stopgap or something to treat very carefully. Critics point out the obvious risks around a trusted setup, synthetic XMR1 exposure on Hyperliquid, unclear reserves, and some marketing lines like “zero risk” that raised eyebrows. Supporters argue the swaps do work, rates are sharper than most instant swap services, and that PerpetualCow has said the bridge is custodial for now, telling users to withdraw their XMR immediately. He’s since acknowledged the concerns, explained the launch was about proving demand first, and outlined plans to move toward a multisig design with trusted Monero developers. As with any new and evolving service, exercising caution and limiting exposure remains the sensible approach.

Rumours have been circulating after a THORChain Community Weekly Recap video suggested Monero support could be added if a former core developer returns to work on the integration. While nothing is official yet, the idea has gained traction, with parts of the community openly hoping to see the developer come back and make it happen.

It is highly recommended you run a node to help secure the Monero network. You can also solo mine via the official Monero GUI wallet which can be found here or partake in the decentralized and permissionless P2Pool. The official Monero website GetMonero.org or SethForPrivacy.com are fantastic places to find help to get started running a node or mining. You can also check out the YouTube videos below.

General News

Ungovernable Misfits have released a new Freedom Tech Friday episode, sitting down with Riccardo Spagni for a wide ranging, live discussion on privacy, Bitcoin, Monero, and broader cypherpunk ideas around digital sovereignty. Episode 26 keeps the show’s loose, unscripted format, touching on freedom tech, financial privacy, and where BTC and XMR overlap and diverge, making it a solid listen.

They also dropped a fresh Monero Monthly episode, again joined by Riccardo Spagni, this time narrowing the focus to Monero itself. Episode 13 revisits the chaotic Bytecoin origins, the early forks that shaped Monero, and the almost accidental formation of the Monero Research Lab, before moving into delistings, antifragile culture, and why Monero has stayed centered on usable privacy rather than price narratives.

Monero Talk recently streamed Monerotopia episode #248, featuring special guest Daniel from PirateChain alongside the regular Monerotopia crew. The show covered a full Monero price update, a broad roundup of the week’s news, and community discussion, with segments led by Bawdy and Tux.

The latest episode of Anti Moonboy News is out, taking a wide ranging and characteristically blunt look at crypto culture in 2025. Hosted by Xenu, Episode 57 covers Monero price discovery, the sudden Zcash core team resignations, AI related controversies, and wraps up with tongue in cheek awards like Moonboy of the Year, Cypherpunk of the Year, and Crypto Publication of the Year. As always, it mixes sharp commentary with community interaction, superchats, and plenty of Monero centric takes. The bloke loves his mom so give it a listen!

A new Monero magazine has launched. Monero Magazine has released its first issue with a beginner friendly introduction to Monero, and it’s already seeing organic traction. You can read the first issue right now via screenshots shared on X, and for those who prefer something tangible, physical copies are also available to buy on XMRBazaar. Future weekly editions are planned to go deeper into Monero development and the wider ecosystem, with longer term plans for a dedicated web or app hub to host all issues.

CypherGoat published a new issue of This Week in Monero, covering the latest news across the Monero ecosystem. You can check out the latest issue here.

It was reported that a $282M social engineering theft drove Monero’s recent price spike, alleging the attacker swapped large amounts of BTC and LTC into XMR, but the claim has since been heavily disputed. On chain analysts and Monero contributors argue most funds instead moved through THORChain into assets that ultimately settled on major exchanges like Binance, with critics saying there is no evidence of the scale of Monero buying implied, while ZachXBT maintains those critics are misreading cross chain flows and arbitrage mechanics. Either way, it highlights why Monero continues to be seen as the reference standard for on chain privacy.

A new Monero and privacy themed board game is in development, designed to introduce players to Monero and privacy concepts through gameplay set in a dystopian surveillance state where in game transactions happen using XMR. The creator is currently looking for writers and video creators to help produce content around the project, with a press kit available outlining the concept and plans, and potential interest in expanding to a web based version if the game gains traction. More information here and here.

Events and Meetings

MoneroTopia 2026 is just around the corner, and will be held from February 12–15, 2026, at Huerto Roma Verde in Mexico City, bringing four days of talks, workshops, and hands-on Monero use focused on privacy, freedom, and real world adoption. Alongside a stacked speaker lineup including Monero Research Lab contributors, wallet builders, and OG cypherpunks, the event features an open air XMR bazaar where vendors accept Monero for food, drinks, and merch, creating a live circular economy. The conference also includes Spanish language talks, covers topics like opsec and travel freedom, and offers standard and VIP tickets. Get your tickets from the Monerotopia website before it sells out!

MoneroKon 2026 is officially on, with OrangeFren stepping in to organize this year’s event after earlier plans fell through. MoneroKon is the annual meeting of privacy advocates, cypherpunks, researchers, and developers focused on sharing scientific and technical work on Monero, privacy enhancing technologies, and distributed systems. MoneroKon will run June 5 to 7 in Warsaw, alongside the Bitcoin Film Fest next door. The call for presentations, panels, workshops, and artworks is now open, with submissions due by April 24, 2026. Tickets and more information can be found on the MoneroKon website.

The next Monero Research Lab meeting should take place on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at 17:00 UTC in the #monero-research-lab channel on Libera IRC and Matrix. Logs from the previous meeting should be found here soon.

The next Cuprate Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at 18:00 UTC in the #cuprate channels on Libera IRC and Matrix. Agenda items can be suggested on GitHub, and logs will be posted there after the meeting.

Exchanges and Merchants

Monerica just turned four years old, growing into the largest directory of merchants, services, and nonprofits that accept Monero and support a circular economy. The project started as a community effort, is now listed on the official Monero site, and continues to expand with guides and videos showing how to actually use XMR in everyday life. Worth a look if you’re wondering where you can spend your Monero.

The team behind XMRBazaar has launched a new multi coin spin off called AnonBazaar, expanding the original concept beyond Monero only listings. AnonBazaar is a peer to peer marketplace for privacy coins like XMR and FIRO, letting users buy and sell goods, services, and even rentals directly with each other, Craigslist style, without the platform holding funds or acting as a middleman. Check it out here.

Mynymbox shared updated payment stats showing Monero firmly holding the top spot, accounting for 42% of all payments on the platform. According to Mynymbox, Monero’s lead has been consistent for months, reinforcing its role as the preferred payment option for privacy focused users.

Monero closed out 2025 as the most used coin on ShopinBit, taking the top spot for six months in a row and finishing number one in eight months overall, ahead of Bitcoin and USDT. Note the 69.69% for XMR.

As briefly discussed earlier in this newsletter, Wagyu is a decentralized orderbook exchange built on Hyperliquid, aiming to offer native XMR deposits and withdrawals with CEX style liquidity and execution. PerpetualCow says Wagyu 3.0 is already handling large XMR volumes and withdrawals, positioning it as an alternate way to acquire Monero, though as always it’s worth doing your own research, exercising caution, and choosing the exchange or swap service that best fits your needs.

It was reported recently that fake Casascius coins were listed for sale on XmrBazaar, with a scammer using low quality AI generated images to try and pass them off as genuine collectibles. Community members quickly spotted visual inconsistencies and highlighted another major red flag with the seller refusing to use a known, trusted escrow.

Community Crowdfunding

Several crowdfunding proposals are awaiting community feedback before they can start accepting funds through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). For now, they are just proposals, but if they receive some positive feedback from the community they will be moved to a “Funding Required” stage so that they can accept Monero donations through the CCS.

CCS proposals currently open:

Funding required:

All approved proposals have been fully funded.

Trading and Speculation

Monero pushed to a new all time high last week, briefly trading up to $799 USD on Kraken. It has since pulled back and is now retesting the previous all time high around $500, with traders watching to see if this level can flip into support before the next move higher.

The weekly chart paints a strong picture for the XMR/USD pair, with continuation looking likely.

Network Metrics

Total Monero in Circulation : 18,703,540 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap: $9,654,771,421

Coinmarketcap Ranking: #12

XMR ‘street price’ from RetoSwap: $550 (+6.84%)

XMR/USD Price: $515

XMR/BTC Price: 0.005768 BTC

Monero Network Hashrate: 6.76 Ghash/s

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution:

Entertainment

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Have we missed something?

If we’ve missed something important, let us know! As this is our first issue after a few months, we might have overlooked some news. Feel free to DM if there’s anything you’d like included in a future issue.

Support Monero

Want to contribute to the Monero Project? Developers, marketers, event coordinators, translators, Instagram personalities, meme creators, and public speakers — whatever your skills may be, it is extremely likely there is something you can do to assist. Reach out to the Monero community on Reddit, IRC/Matrix, GitHub, Twitter, or Telegram. The official Monero website is GetMonero.org.

Past Issues

Issue 86 Issue 85 / Issue 84 / Issue 83 / Issue 82 / Issue 81 / Issue 80 / Issue 79 / Issue 78 / Issue 77 / Issue 76 / Issue 75 / Issue 74 / Issue 73 / Issue 72 / Issue 71 / Issue 70 / Issue 69 / Issue 68 Issue 67 Issue 66 / Issue 65 / Issue 64 / Issue 63 / Issue 62 / Issue 61 / Issue 60 / Issue 59 / Issue 58 / Issue 57 / Issue 56 / Issue 55 / Issue 54 / Issue 53 / Issue 52 / Issue 51 / Issue 50 / Issue 49 / Issue 48 / Issue 47 / Issue 46 / Issue 45 / Issue 44 / Issue 43 / Issue 42 / Issue 41 / Issue 40 / Issue 39 / Issue 38 / Issue 37 / Issue 36 / Issue 35 / Issue 34 / Issue 33 / Issue 32 / Issue 31 / Issue 30 / Issue 29 / Issue 28 / Issue 27 / Issue 26 / Issue 25 / Issue 24 / Issue 23 / Issue 22 / Issue 21 / Issue 20 / Issue 19 / Issue 18 / Issue 17 / Issue 16 / Issue 15 / Issue 14 / Issue 13 / Issue 12 / Issue 11 / Issue 10 / Issue 9 / Issue 8 / Issue 7 / Issue 6 / Issue 5 / Issue 4 / Issue 3 / Issue 2 / Issue 1

Socials

If you have suggestions, corrections, or feedback, please contact me on X @johnfoss69 or Reddit u/johnfoss68.

DISCLAIMER: This publication contains opinions for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions; use it solely at your own risk. The author of this publication and/or the authors of articles linked to or from this site may have financial investments that could bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. No website, service, or product mentioned in the newsletter constitutes an endorsement; use them at your own risk. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties without verifying their credibility.

• Development, Releases, and Technology

• General News

• Events and Meetings

• Exchanges and Merchants

• Community Crowdfunding

• Trading and Speculation

• Network Metrics

• Entertainment

Development, Releases, and Technology

Monero developers have released version 0.18.4.5 of both the Monero GUI and CLI wallets, bringing important fixes and small improvements. This update resolves a Ledger hardware wallet crash, adds support for the new Ledger Nano Gen5, updates P2Pool to v4.13 in the GUI, and includes stability and reliability fixes across the daemon and wallet. While not a major feature release, it is a recommended update for Ledger users and anyone running Monero day-to-day, with verified downloads available via getmonero.org.

sech1 provided a RandomX v2 update confirming the upgrade is not abandoned and is still planned for the next Monero network upgrade. The change focuses on making mining more efficient on modern CPUs by removing bottlenecks in the current algorithm and adding new RandomX commitments that make block verification faster. Regular computers should get more useful work done per unit of power, while specialised Bitmain X9 machines are expected to lose around 30 percent of their efficiency, with development aiming to finish in January ahead of an early 2026 release. More information can be found here and here.

The Monero Research Lab continues steady, behind-the-scenes work on network privacy, resilience, and long-term scaling. Recent meetings covered improvements to spy node detection and monitoring, ongoing FCMP stress testing that is already pushing Monero far beyond today’s transaction limits, and efforts to stabilize the alpha network before broader testing. Importantly, researchers reached consensus that the upcoming FCMP++ upgrade will not include a hard block size cap, instead relying on Monero’s long-term median block growth to scale naturally over time, giving developers years of headroom if usage accelerates. Alongside this, the focus remains firmly on reliability, decentralization, and privacy-first design, with longer-term scaling ideas being explored in parallel. You can follow the unofficial Monero Research Lab X page to stay informed if reading chatlogs is somewhat cumbersome for you.

Rucknium has confirmed that the updated Monero network monitoring site moneronet.info is now live and working. The refreshed webapp follows recent fixes to the network scanner and database issues, and better integrates the finalized spy node ban list once signatures are complete. The tool gives users clearer visibility into remote Monero nodes and network health, supporting ongoing efforts to strengthen privacy and resistance to surveillance.

freigeist-m released the Monero Multisig GUI v0.1.3, bringing a round of usability improvements aimed at making multisig easier to use. The update adds clearer warnings and labels, better defaults for first-time users, the ability to choose signing order, and simple wallet creation directly in the app, with the full changelog available on GitHub. Two short walkthrough videos were also published covering basic multisig setup and transfers, plus a merchant style setup with trusted peers and notifications. Watch them here and here.

A new Android release of Haveno App v1.0.1.1 is now available, bringing small but important fixes for mobile users. The update is compatible with Haveno v1.2.2 and mainly patches the build system while following on from recent improvements to startup reliability, default node connections, and remote Monero node support. Multiple APK builds are available. More information can be found here.

woodser has released small but useful updates to core Monero developer libraries monero-java and monero-ts. The latest monero-java-v0.8.41 update allows connection status to be set externally, while monero-ts-v0.11.8 improves error and stack trace handling in the thread pool, making debugging more reliable for apps built on top of Monero. These libraries are widely used across the Monero ecosystem, so even modest changes like this help improve stability for wallets, services, and developer tooling.

Forward_Science released XMRCheckout, an open source Monero checkout designed to be simple, non-custodial, and easy to self host. It lets merchants accept XMR with funds sent straight to their own wallet, never touches a spend key, and uses view-only detection to confirm payments, while also offering a BTCPay compatible API. The project is fully open source with code on GitHub. More information can be found here.

SlowBearDigger has also released an open source Monero point of sale system called XMRetail POS. The project runs entirely in your browser, never touches your spend key or seed, and uses a watch only setup to generate fresh subaddresses and monitor payments directly on the Monero network, with no servers, no middlemen, and no fees. The code is MIT licensed and available on GitHub. More information can be found here.

Monero miner VijitSingh97 shared a new open source setup that makes running your own mining stack much simpler. It bundles a Monero node, P2Pool mining, Tari merge mining, and a basic dashboard into one Docker install, with traffic routed through Tor by default. It is aimed at home users who want to mine privately and keep things simple, and the full setup is now available on GitHub.

RealAleNet shared a new public mining pool called xmr.pw that focuses on a clean, modern dashboard and better visibility for miners. The pool is currently in beta, has around five miners connected at the time of writing, and not yet found a block at the time of writing. It supports Tari merge mining, allowing miners to earn XTM alongside XMR without splitting hashrate, and during testing the operator is renting hashrate and redistributing those rewards back to pool participants to help smaller miners get started.

DarkFi Squad announced that merge mining with Monero is coming soon, allowing miners to secure DarkFi while leveraging Monero’s existing network. The approach keeps mining peer-to-peer and private, without the security risks that come with launching and bootstrapping a brand new standalone blockchain.

Bitmain is claiming its new Antminer X9 can mine Monero at up to 1 MH/s, but the announcement mostly reinforces why RandomX exists in the first place. Monero’s proof of work is deliberately designed to favor general purpose CPUs and make specialized mining hardware expensive, inefficient, and risky. Many in the Monero community see the X9 less as a true ASIC breakthrough and more as a costly custom CPU attempt dressed up as an ASIC. With RandomX continuing to evolve specifically to resist vendor driven centralization, Bitmain’s move looks like another reminder that Monero is built to resist the control of a single hardware manufacturer.

It is highly recommended you run a node to help secure the Monero network. You can also solo mine via the official Monero GUI wallet which can be found here or partake in the decentralized and permissionless P2Pool. The official Monero website GetMonero.org or SethForPrivacy.com are fantastic places to find help to get started running a node or mining. You can also check out the YouTube videos below.

General News

Chainalysis published a new report in January 2026 titled “Crypto Crime Reaches Record High in 2025 as Nation-State Sanctions Evasion Moves On-Chain at Scale”. The report highlights a growing reality of the crypto landscape: stablecoins now dominate illicit on-chain activity, despite being easy to track, blacklist, and freeze at the issuer level. That same feature set should concern everyday users too. Funds held in assets like USDT or USDC can be frozen or seized with a single instruction, sometimes without meaningful due process.

Monero is fundamentally different. There is no issuer, no blacklist, and no mechanism for arbitrary freezes. How someone chooses to use their XMR is their own responsibility and no one else’s business, just as it is with physical cash. Monero’s design prioritizes lawful privacy, fungibility, and user autonomy, not surveillance. As financial controls tighten, the contrast becomes clearer: stablecoins trade convenience for control, while Monero preserves the principle that private money should remain private.

The Free Software Foundation announced it received nearly $900,000 in anonymous donations paid entirely in Monero, one of the largest private gifts in its history. The FSF says the funds will strengthen its technical infrastructure and advocacy work, highlighting how privacy-focused digital cash aligns with free software values like user control and ownership.

Monero Talk streamed Monerotopia episode #247 this week, featuring special guest Xenu alongside the regular Monerotopia crew. The show covered a full Monero price update, a roundup of the week’s news, and community discussion, with segments hosted by Bawdy and Tux.

Monero Talk episode #374 featured a deep dive into trustless atomic swaps between Monero and StarkNet with Omar Espejel from the StarkNet Foundation. The discussion explored a new swap design, allowing peer-to-peer Monero ↔ StarkNet swaps without bridges, KYC, or wrapped assets, using open-source code from the Monero ecosystem.

In case you missed it, Xenu’s Anti Moonboy News 56 dropped just before the end of the year with a packed rundown of privacy and crypto news. The episode covers the Samourai Wallet situation, ongoing attacks on privacy tech, Monerotopia 2026, FCMP++ scaling progress at the Monero Research Lab, the return of spy node monitoring, major Monero donations to free software, and plenty of sharp commentary along the way. It’s a solid catch up if you want a broad snapshot of where things stood heading into 2026.

If you want a clean way to track Monero data in real time or simply learn more about it, check out monero-pulse.com. The site pulls together live XMR pricing, market stats, network information, and Haveno DEX data into a fast updating dashboard.

thankful_for_xmr wrote a post praising RandomX on the Monero subreddit, calling it one of the smartest mining designs in crypto. They explained how RandomX is built to run best on everyday CPUs, making it hard and expensive for specialized mining hardware (ASICs) to gain an advantage, while also refreshing parts of the system regularly to keep things fair. The post credits Monero devs for turning deep technical ideas into a practical way to keep mining open, decentralized, and resistant to control. Check it out if you want to learn more about RandomX.

Monero Ecosystem v7.9 has been released, bringing a broad round of updates to the community maintained directory at monero.eco. The update adds new projects like MoneroDroid, restores Monero Moon, refreshes and redesigns multiple logos across the ecosystem, fixes links and naming inconsistencies, and updates the status of several tools as they move toward beta or stable releases. Check out the update notes here.

Mav announced the launch of XMR Hub, a new website aimed at making Monero easier to understand, use, and discover. The project aims to bring buying, storing, learning, and community resources into one clean place. They are actively seeking feedback for an upcoming v1.1 update.

A Monero user shared a new tool called Le Bon XMR, a website that helps French speaking people compare XMR exchange rates in real time. Built to solve the common problem of hidden price differences, it checks rates from ChangeNow, StealthEX, and FixedFloat side by side so you can quickly see which one offers the best deal. The site is free to use, has no tracking or cookies, shows potential savings in euros, and is French first while still working for anyone. The creator is upfront about using affiliate links and is also publishing French language Monero guides to help grow local adoption. Check it out here.

CypherGoat published a new issue of This Week in Monero, covering the latest activity across the Monero ecosystem. You can check out the latest issue here.

Giallo has published a roundup of the most notable Monero news and developments from January 2026. The post pulls together key ecosystem discussions and launches, including debates around block size changes tied to FCMP++, renewed attention on RandomX and proposed v2 improvements, new privacy focused tools like GoXMR, emerging merge mining pools with Tari, the launch of monero.jobs, and community hubs such as xmrhub.org. It serves as a broad snapshot of how Monero is heading into 2026. Check it out here.

Voting is now open for the MAGIC Monero Fund 2026 committee election. Community members can vote up until January 20 to help decide who will fill one open committee seat for a two year term, guiding how Monero focused grants are reviewed and funded. Details on voting, candidates, and participation are available via the MAGIC Monero Fund election page, with results expected later in January.

Much of the Zcash development team quit this week following internal governance disputes, exposing deep cracks in how the project is run. From a Monero perspective, it highlights the risks of privacy coins being tied to centralized organizations and leadership structures, where internal politics can derail development overnight. Monero’s community driven and decentralized model avoids this single point of failure, keeping protocol development resilient even when individuals come and go.

A Monero Instagram account has popped up recently. If you’re active on Instagram, you may want to check it out and give it a follow. At this stage, it’s not clear who runs the account or whether it’s officially affiliated with the Monero project, so treat it as community run unless confirmed otherwise.

Events and Meetings

MoneroTopia 2026 is just around the corner, and will be held from February 12–15, 2026, at Huerto Roma Verde in Mexico City, bringing four days of talks, workshops, and hands-on Monero use focused on privacy, freedom, and real world adoption. Alongside a stacked speaker lineup including Monero Research Lab contributors, wallet builders, and OG cypherpunks, the event features an open air XMR bazaar where vendors accept Monero for food, drinks, and merch, creating a live circular economy. The conference also includes Spanish language talks, covers topics like opsec and travel freedom, and offers standard and VIP tickets. Get your tickets from the Monerotopia website before it sells out!

A Monero and privacy focused meetup is taking place at Tip Top Daily Market in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, January 16, 2026. Hosted by WebWipe, the free event will feature demos and talks covering Monero wallets, privacy tools, decentralized exchanges, and projects like EigenWallet, Cake Wallet, XMRBazaar, and Monerotopia. It runs from 6pm to 9pm EST and is aimed at anyone interested in Monero, Bitcoin privacy, and practical tools you can actually use.

The next Cuprate Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at 18:00 UTC in the #cuprate channels on Libera IRC and Matrix. Cuprate is an ongoing effort to build an alternative Monero node implementation, and this meeting will cover contributor updates, the current project roadmap, and any new proposals from the community. Agenda items can be suggested on GitHub, and logs will be posted there after the meeting.

The next Monero Research Lab meeting should take place on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 17:00 UTC in the #monero-research-lab channel on Libera IRC and Matrix. Logs from the previous meeting can be found here.

The next Monero Tech Meeting is likely to take place on January 19, 2026, at 18:00 UTC in the #no-wallet-left-behind channels on IRC Libera and Matrix. Logs from the previous meeting can be found here.

Exchanges and Merchants

XMRBazaar has now passed 7,000 users and 11,000 listings, showing steady growth in real world Monero commerce beyond charts and price action.

A listing on XMRbazaar has appeared offering a fully operating PEMEX gas station and attached commercial land in Mexico for direct payment in Monero. The seller is advertising a 5,000 square metre property in Morelos that has been active since 2003, priced at roughly 6,500 XMR with the transaction handled in person and paid entirely in XMR. While it is a striking example of Monero being proposed for large real world asset purchases, caution is warranted. There is always a risk the listing is illegitimate, and any in person crypto transaction carries serious personal safety risks including the possibility of a wrench attack.

OrangeFren shared its 2025 search stats showing Monero as the clear standout across the entire year. Data from OrangeFren shows XMR accounting for 42% of all searches in 2025, well ahead of Bitcoin at 25%, with every other asset trailing far behind. The numbers highlight sustained grassroots interest in Monero relative to the broader crypto market, not just short term hype.

Mute shared data suggesting growing real world demand for Monero privacy through cross chain swaps. According to Mute, their backend is seeing large inflows into Monero from multiple chains, with Ethereum to Monero swaps being the most common. The team says this reflects a broader shift toward privacy awareness, with an upcoming Monero focused cross chain swap planned to further expand XMR usage.

Nym shared its 2025 payment stats for NymVPN, showing Monero as the most used payment method, ahead of Bitcoin, USDT, Zcash, and Litecoin. The data highlights how strongly privacy minded users continue to gravitate toward Monero when paying for real world privacy tools.

Community Crowdfunding

Several crowdfunding proposals are awaiting community feedback before they can start accepting funds through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). For now, they are just proposals, but if they receive some positive feedback from the community they will be moved to a “Funding Required” stage so that they can accept Monero donations through the CCS.

CCS proposals currently open:

Funding required:

Trading and Speculation

XMR looks primed for an upside move when stacked up against gold.

XMR/BTC weekly chart. Monero has reclaimed the cloud, nailed the retest, and now the real move higher is underway.

Aksel Kibar, a well respected chart technician, continues his bullish calls for XMR, targeting $900.

Network Metrics

Monero hit new all time highs this week, recently peaking at over $660 USD.

Google Trends for “Monero” just jumped sharply. People are paying attention to Monero.

Monero transactions are spiking at the time of writing, sitting at over 37,000 transactions for the day.

Total Monero in Circulation : 18,699,245 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap: $12,163,391,700

Coinmarketcap Ranking: #12

XMR ‘street price’ from RetoSwap: $583 (-11%)

XMR/USD Price: $674

XMR/BTC Price: 0.007303 BTC

Monero Network Hashrate: 6.82 Ghash/s

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution:

Entertainment

To finish up, here’s a hilariously good Monero meme video from Tux. Click the image below to view it on X.

If you enjoy the newsletter and want more of this content, shout me a beer by donating some spare Monero you didn’t lose during your boating accident. I’m completely independent and rely solely on donations, with no sponsorship. A massive thank you to everyone who supports my work!

8C2xtdsCmJGhUgvMWYLayRR1wFgrjtQ2wNvzgFfrAfbjW7gatQDiNjUfFX7K5cm9UVefrVPFmxiM4jhhybsLQGpG1aeRzfD

Have we missed something?

If we’ve missed something important, let us know! As this is our first issue after a few months, we might have overlooked some news. Feel free to DM if there’s anything you’d like included in a future issue.

Support Monero

Want to contribute to the Monero Project? Developers, marketers, event coordinators, translators, Instagram personalities, meme creators, and public speakers — whatever your skills may be, it is extremely likely there is something you can do to assist. Reach out to the Monero community on Reddit, IRC/Matrix, GitHub, Twitter, or Telegram. The official Monero website is GetMonero.org.

Past Issues

Issue 85 / Issue 84 / Issue 83 / Issue 82 / Issue 81 / Issue 80 / Issue 79 / Issue 78 / Issue 77 / Issue 76 / Issue 75 / Issue 74 / Issue 73 / Issue 72 / Issue 71 / Issue 70 / Issue 69 / Issue 68 Issue 67 Issue 66 / Issue 65 / Issue 64 / Issue 63 / Issue 62 / Issue 61 / Issue 60 / Issue 59 / Issue 58 / Issue 57 / Issue 56 / Issue 55 / Issue 54 / Issue 53 / Issue 52 / Issue 51 / Issue 50 / Issue 49 / Issue 48 / Issue 47 / Issue 46 / Issue 45 / Issue 44 / Issue 43 / Issue 42 / Issue 41 / Issue 40 / Issue 39 / Issue 38 / Issue 37 / Issue 36 / Issue 35 / Issue 34 / Issue 33 / Issue 32 / Issue 31 / Issue 30 / Issue 29 / Issue 28 / Issue 27 / Issue 26 / Issue 25 / Issue 24 / Issue 23 / Issue 22 / Issue 21 / Issue 20 / Issue 19 / Issue 18 / Issue 17 / Issue 16 / Issue 15 / Issue 14 / Issue 13 / Issue 12 / Issue 11 / Issue 10 / Issue 9 / Issue 8 / Issue 7 / Issue 6 / Issue 5 / Issue 4 / Issue 3 / Issue 2 / Issue 1

Socials

If you have suggestions, corrections, or feedback, please contact me on X @johnfoss69 or Reddit u/johnfoss68.

DISCLAIMER: This publication contains opinions for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions; use it solely at your own risk. The author of this publication and/or the authors of articles linked to or from this site may have financial investments that could bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. No website, service, or product mentioned in the newsletter constitutes an endorsement; use them at your own risk. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties without verifying their credibility.

• Development, Releases, and Technology

• General News

• Events and Meetings

• Exchanges and Merchants

• Community Crowdfunding

• Trading and Speculation

• Network Metrics

• Entertainment

Development, Releases, and Technology

SChernykh released P2Pool v4.13. The update adds --log-file and --params-file support for cleaner node management, removes gupax.io seed nodes from the default list, improves peer connection behaviour by prioritising manually added peers, and speeds up RPC calls in --no-randomx mode by sending the RandomX seed directly. Full release notes and downloads are here.

Over the past few weeks, the Monero Research Lab finalized dynamic block scaling parameters for the post-FCMP++ hard fork, opting for 8x short-term median, 16x block weight, and 1.2x long-term median multipliers to allow growth without hard caps. Work also progressed on FCMP++ alpha stressnet testing ahead of v1.5, alongside discussions on spy node bans, failed selfish mining attempts by Qubic, and longer-term scalability ideas like sharding and quorum-based consensus. Read more about it here.

An Android app for Haveno has been released and is now considered stable enough for mainnet use, bringing Monero-focused P2P trading to mobile for the first time. The app supports both a standalone mode that runs the Haveno backend locally and a remote mode that connects over Tor to a VPS, trading off storage and battery use for flexibility, though feature parity with desktop is still in progress. The project is community-built and not officially endorsed by the Haveno developers, with APKs available on GitHub. If you find any bugs, report them here.

Mute has announced plans to actively fund Monero development as its treasury grows, framing privacy scaling as a core responsibility. The team says Monero cross-chain swaps are launching in roughly two weeks, enabling swaps from 70+ chains and immediately exposing thousands of existing users to Monero based flows. Mute also plans to roll out a Monero-focused security widget in Q1 that AI agents can integrate to add privacy and protection by default.

Cake Wallet and Monero.com wallet v5.6.3 have been released. This release fixes QR code scanning issues, includes UI polish, and rolls up a set of general bug fixes. The full release details and downloads are available on GitHub.

A reminder has gone out for Monero users to help test the upcoming FCMP++ and Carrot upgrades on the public alpha Stressnet. FCMP++ replaces ring signatures with full chain membership proofs, expanding Monero’s effective privacy set from 16 decoys to over 100 million outputs across the entire blockchain, while Carrot introduces a new addressing system with added privacy and usability features that remain backwards compatible. Users are encouraged to test and report issues on stressnet to help harden the upgrade before release, with full details and downloads here.

HashVault, one of the larger Monero mining pools, experienced an outage this week after being hit by a DDoS attack, temporarily disconnecting the pool and taking its website offline. Operators confirmed mining continued in the background, though some users reported delays in balance confirmations while the attack was ongoing. Services now appear to be back to normal.

Monero.fail’s network map shows over 14,000 discovered Monero peers, offering a rough but useful snapshot of the network’s size and global distribution. It’s not a complete view, but it gives a solid sense of how large and geographically spread the Monero peer-to-peer network is.

A new European Monero mining pool called EuroXMR has launched, offering 0% pool fees, low latency EU servers, a low 0.005 XMR payout threshold, SSL support, and a fully open source codebase. The pool also introduces a weekly hashrate lottery, where miners earn bonus XMR on top of normal rewards based on their contributed hashrate, even if no block is found that week. More information can be found here and here.

It is highly recommended you run a node to help secure the Monero network. You can also solo mine via the official Monero GUI wallet which can be found here or partake in the decentralized and permissionless P2Pool. The official Monero website GetMonero.org or SethForPrivacy.com are fantastic places to find help to get started running a node or mining. You can also check out the YouTube videos below.

General News

Ungovernable Misfits released a new podcast episode, Monero Monthly 12: Most Used, Least Perused, with hosts Max and Seth walking through recent weeks in the Monero ecosystem. The episode covers XMR continuing to dominate crypto-native merchant usage, CCS proposals, progress on EVM atomic swaps, the launch of SkyLight Wallet, Cake Wallet passing one million downloads, and recent Monero software releases. Full podcast, show notes, and links are available here.

Monero Talk interviewed JW Verret, a former SEC lawyer and law professor, about the SEC’s landmark 2025 Roundtable on Financial Surveillance and Privacy, a rare moment where regulators openly aired pro-privacy arguments. Verrett explained how the limits of AML KYC break down when no third party custodian exists, strengthening the legal case for peer-to-peer systems like Monero, while warning that these privacy gains need to be secured before the regulatory climate shifts again. Around the 14-minute mark, JW notes that there is no clear legal reason why exchanges should not be able to list Monero.

Monerotopia episode #243 featured MoneroTopia 2026 speakers Mike Hassard and Tor Ekeland, alongside the usual price report, weekly Monero news, and community updates. The stream covered everything from CCS funding and block size debates to Monero Bazaar listings, legal developments, and where people can earn or spend XMR. It’s a long one so strap in and check it out!

Building on that discussion, Anti Moonboy News dissected the same SEC Roundtable in episode 55, expanding the focus to potential pardons for Samourai Wallet developers and the wider emergence of a so called privacy season. The episode pulled out key panel moments, including pro privacy arguments from JW Verrett, criticism of digital ID creep, and warnings about the risks of programmable compliance and the tyranny of policy embedded directly into smart contracts.

Revuo Monero Issue #252 was recently published. Check it out for a dose of Monero news.

CypherGoat published a new issue of This Week in Monero, covering the latest activity across the Monero ecosystem. You can check out the latest issue here.

Lark Davis, a crypto YouTuber with over 600k subscribers, recently mentioned Monero on a livestream, briefly highlighting why it remains the premier privacy-focused cryptocurrency.

Events and Meetings

The next Monero Tech Meeting is taking place on December 22, 2025, at 18:00 UTC in the #no-wallet-left-behind channels on IRC Libera and Matrix. Logs from the previous meeting can be found here.

The next Cuprate Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at 18:00 UTC in the #cuprate channels on Libera IRC and Matrix. Cuprate is an ongoing effort to build an alternative Monero node implementation, and this meeting will cover contributor updates, the current project roadmap, and any new proposals from the community. Agenda items can be suggested on GitHub, and logs will be posted there after the meeting.

You can check here on GitHub for updates on any scheduled meetings taking place over the Christmas and New Year period.

MoneroTopia 2026 will be held from February 12–15, 2026, at Huerto Roma Verde in Mexico City, promising four days of talks, workshops, and community events centered on financial privacy and Monero adoption. Hosted by Sunita and Douglas from Monero Talk, the conference features speakers such as Rucknium, Diego Salazar, Paul Puey, and Amir Taaki. Tickets are available on monerotopia.com, including discounted and free local options.

Exchanges and Merchants

Another car has popped up for sale on XMR Bazaar. For just over 8 XMR, you can pick up a 2009 Toyota Corolla sedan, local pickup only in Houston, Texas. XMR Bazaar is a peer-to-peer marketplace where goods and services are bought and sold using Monero, making it a practical example of private digital cash in everyday use without relying on custodial platforms or surveillance based payment rails.

phloatingman shared an updated printable you can use over the holiday period to gift Monero to friends and family, with the latest version adding handy P2P links for onboarding. The printable PDF and editable source files are available on GitHub, making it easy to customize and pair with a traditional gift if needed.

Proton has quietly enabled Monero payments via its official reseller ProxyStore, allowing users to pay with XMR through a recognised Proton partner rather than directly on Proton’s own checkout. More information can be found here.

Vettontide has launched 0xNull, a Monero-only, privacy-first prediction market offering live markets across major crypto assets and sporting events with no KYC and no stablecoins. Built using Monero wallet rpc and automated deposit addresses, the project positions itself as a private alternative to platforms like Polymarket, aiming to prove that prediction markets can function without identity checks or traceable on-chain assets. More information can be found here and here.

UEX.US, a US-based instant crypto exchange, has announced Monero trading is now live, offering XMR spot trading and making it one of the few centralized exchanges in the United States currently listing Monero. The platform is operated by Wyoming-based UEX Capital Corp and is available only in a limited set of US states due to state-level regulatory requirements. More information can be found here.

Monero perpetual futures are now live on Hyperliquid via a permissionless deployment by Felix Protocol, using Hyperliquid’s HIP 3 market factory that allows independent teams to launch perp markets without an official exchange listing. The XMR/USDH market provides leveraged price exposure to Monero without requiring spot XMR custody, marking a notable step for Monero derivatives on a fully onchain order book, with early metrics showing roughly $1M in 24 hour volume and around $1.1M in open interest.

PerpetualCow has launched HyperWagyu, a new bridge designed to make acquiring Monero easier directly from Hyperliquid, without touching HyperEVM or navigating complex multi-step swaps. The project offers a simple deposit in, receive XMR out flow and is positioned as early infrastructure for a future trustless atomic swap model, highlighting continued demand for Monero access after widespread exchange delistings, though the current implementation still relies on intermediary trust assumptions and should be treated as experimental rather than trustless today.

ShopinBit reported that Monero was the most used payment currency on its platform not just in November, but across 2025 as a whole, topping Bitcoin and USDT by transaction volume. According to ShopinBit’s data, XMR led usage in seven months this year, reinforcing its role as the preferred spendable crypto for real world purchases.

Wondering how you can actually spend your XMR in the real world? Check out the Monerica YouTube channel, which focuses on practical ways to live using Monero day to day. The channel covers merchant walkthroughs, product and service reviews, exchange breakdowns, step by step guides, and real order demos, making Monero usage feel concrete rather than theoretical.

A new open source project called XMRMeet has launched, aiming to make Monero more usable in the real world by helping users find others willing to meet locally for peer to peer XMR and cash exchanges. The site features a simple listing based directory and is fully community run, though users should consider personal safety and privacy before participating.

Community Crowdfunding

Several crowdfunding proposals are awaiting community feedback before they can start accepting funds through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). For now, they are just proposals, but if they receive some positive feedback from the community they will be moved to a “Funding Required” stage so that they can accept Monero donations through the CCS.

CCS proposals currently open:

Funding required:

Trading and Speculation

The XMR/BTC weekly chart is showing a notable technical shift, with Monero moving above the cloud for the first time since early 2023. A confirmed close has signaled a bullish reversal, with a large inverted head and shoulders pattern suggesting this could mark a major trend change.

Network Metrics

Monero continues to grind higher in the CoinMarketCap rankings and, at the time of writing, sits at #13, ahead of both Hyperliquid and Zcash.

Total Monero in Circulation : 18,689,758 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap: $8,848,495,452

CoinMarketCap Ranking: #13

XMR ‘street price’ from RetoSwap: $582 (+23%)

XMR/USD Price: $472

XMR/BTC Price: 0.005284 BTC

Monero Network Hashrate: 6.38 Ghash/s

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution:

Entertainment

If you enjoy the newsletter and want more of this content, shout me a beer by donating some spare Monero you didn’t lose during your boating accident. I’m completely independent and rely solely on donations, with no sponsorship. A massive thank you to everyone who supports my work!

8C2xtdsCmJGhUgvMWYLayRR1wFgrjtQ2wNvzgFfrAfbjW7gatQDiNjUfFX7K5cm9UVefrVPFmxiM4jhhybsLQGpG1aeRzfD

Have we missed something?

If we’ve missed something important, let us know! As this is our first issue after a few months, we might have overlooked some news. Feel free to DM if there’s anything you’d like included in a future issue.

Support Monero

Want to contribute to the Monero Project? Developers, marketers, event coordinators, translators, Instagram personalities, meme creators, and public speakers — whatever your skills may be, it is extremely likely there is something you can do to assist. Reach out to the Monero community on Reddit, IRC/Matrix, GitHub, Twitter, or Telegram. The official Monero website is GetMonero.org.

Past Issues

Issue 84 / Issue 83 / Issue 82 / Issue 81 / Issue 80 / Issue 79 / Issue 78 / Issue 77 / Issue 76 / Issue 75 / Issue 74 / Issue 73 / Issue 72 / Issue 71 / Issue 70 / Issue 69 / Issue 68 Issue 67 Issue 66 / Issue 65 / Issue 64 / Issue 63 / Issue 62 / Issue 61 / Issue 60 / Issue 59 / Issue 58 / Issue 57 / Issue 56 / Issue 55 / Issue 54 / Issue 53 / Issue 52 / Issue 51 / Issue 50 / Issue 49 / Issue 48 / Issue 47 / Issue 46 / Issue 45 / Issue 44 / Issue 43 / Issue 42 / Issue 41 / Issue 40 / Issue 39 / Issue 38 / Issue 37 / Issue 36 / Issue 35 / Issue 34 / Issue 33 / Issue 32 / Issue 31 / Issue 30 / Issue 29 / Issue 28 / Issue 27 / Issue 26 / Issue 25 / Issue 24 / Issue 23 / Issue 22 / Issue 21 / Issue 20 / Issue 19 / Issue 18 / Issue 17 / Issue 16 / Issue 15 / Issue 14 / Issue 13 / Issue 12 / Issue 11 / Issue 10 / Issue 9 / Issue 8 / Issue 7 / Issue 6 / Issue 5 / Issue 4 / Issue 3 / Issue 2 / Issue 1

Socials

If you have suggestions, corrections, or feedback, please contact me on X @johnfoss69 or Reddit u/johnfoss68.

DISCLAIMER: This publication contains opinions for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions; use it solely at your own risk. The author of this publication and/or the authors of articles linked to or from this site may have financial investments that could bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. No website, service, or product mentioned in the newsletter constitutes an endorsement; use them at your own risk. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties without verifying their credibility.

• Development, Releases, and Technology

• General News

• Events and Meetings

• Exchanges and Merchants

• Community Crowdfunding

• Trading and Speculation

• Network Metrics

• Entertainment

Development, Releases, and Technology

Monero v0.18.4.4 Fluorine Fermi has been released, with new CLI and GUI binaries available on Getmonero and GitHub. This recommended update fixes a Ledger bug related to rejecting secret view key export, improves wallet scanning to identify spends in the pool, refines daemon sync height logic, and updates the GUI to P2Pool v4.12.

There’s an ongoing discussion about adding a temporary upper safety bound to Monero’s block size during the transition to FCMP++. The idea is to prevent rare edge cases that could break the network under current code, while still preserving Monero’s adaptive scaling model. Some community members feel any limit should be minimal, temporary, and removed once the underlying systems are improved, while others see it simply as a protective measure to ensure a smooth upgrade. You can follow updates regarding this in the relevant IRC channels (e.g MRL) or here on X.

Cyrix126 released Gupaxx v1.12.0, adding daemon mode, desktop notifications, a dark or light theme toggle, and several fixes plus dependency updates. The release ships with updated P2Pool 4.12 and Monerod 0.18.4.4, with downloads available on GitHub. Gupaxx is a Gupax fork that integrates the XMRvsBeast raffle, and the project is currently seeking development funding.

woodser released monero ts v0.11.7, monero cpp v0.8.17, and monero java v0.8.40, each updated to Monero v0.18.4.4. The ts update adds a proper shutdown method and improved error traces, the cpp update fixes a segfault and makes tests optional, and the java update refreshes spend detection tests and improves VSCode launch configs. Releases are available on monero ts, monero cpp, and monero java.

PiNodeXMR v6.25.11 was released by shermand100, bringing a long list of fixes and quality of life improvements across the Raspberry Pi based Monero node project. The update introduces better web UI security with basic password auth, new hardware features like PWM fan control and a device reset button, improved Tor and P2P connectivity, locally served assets, HTML and PHP fixes, and smoother online updates that no longer require manual PiNodeXMR updates before module changes.

hinto janai released Cuprate v0.0.8, the latest version of the Rust based Monero node, marking the removal of the long standing killswitch after eight months of stable operation. The update improves fast sync, tightens Unix file permissions, adds a dry-run option, and fixes network zone configuration. hinto janai is making major progress toward future milestones, including a significant reduction in disk usage, upcoming wallet sync support in the v0.1.0 beta, and ongoing preparations for the Carrot and FCMP++ hard fork.

d4ndox released Monero Named Pipes v0.1.7, a lightweight Unix shell wallet that monitors incoming payments by using named pipes inside a chosen working directory. Users are reminded to review the code themselves since MNP is a hobby project.

nahuhh released basicswap bash v0.15.1, a suite of scripts that helps users install and manage BasicSwapDEX, a cross chain noncustodial atomic swap platform that lets users trade coins directly without intermediaries. The update improves addcoin by allowing remote node selection and fixes several Mac related workflow issues while updating dependencies. Installation instructions are on GitHub, and users can support the project through the donation address listed in the README.

MAGIC Grants has released Skylight Wallet, a modern open source Monero light wallet for Android that keeps spending keys on device and requires users to connect their own light wallet server for scanning. The app supports automatic Tor protection, OpenAlias, address book and subaddresses. More information and download links can be found here.

Cake Labs released Cake Wallet v5.6.1, which also powers the XMR-only Monero com app, delivering faster performance, a rebuilt data system based on SQLite, smoother UX, and expanded airgapped security tools. The update tightens Monero specific reliability with better automatic node switching, improved AliasPay support for .xmr domains, and stronger privacy safeguards like a new duress PIN that wipes the wallet if entered under pressure. Litecoin MWEB support was also added to Cupcake, Cake’s offline signing companion app, while EVM wallets and AnyPay integration received quality of life upgrades. Full release notes are available on GitHub.

Specific-Sport-3460 posted an update on r/Monero highlighting that Monero’s official website getmonero.org redesign is now under active development, with a JavaScript free, Tor friendly beta already live at beta.monerodevs.org. The new design, created by Diego Salazar, adds automatic light and dark mode, modernizes the layout, and keeps privacy as the core principle.

The MAGIC Monero Fund has launched its second fuzzing project, aimed at strengthening some of the most under tested parts of the codebase, including the wallet, P2P layer, and FCMP++. Ada Logics, the security team that previously achieved full RPC fuzzing coverage and uncovered multiple vulnerabilities, will build new fuzzing harnesses and submit improvements directly to Monero’s repository. The goal is to raise code coverage, catch edge case bugs early, and harden the network ahead of major upgrades.

A research proposal from Emanuele Scala has been merged, aiming to explore a next generation proving system that could significantly speed up verification in Monero’s future FCMP++ era. The work investigates applying “folding” techniques to Bulletproofs based proofs, with the goal of reducing verification costs from linear to roughly logarithmic when many proofs are combined. If successful, this could enable cheaper multi input transactions, more uniform transaction sizes for better privacy, and even long term ideas like batch proving or rollup style systems. The proposal covers six months of research and carries some uncertainty, but even partial results are expected to advance Monero’s proof design and inform future upgrades. Check it out here.

A new analysis of Qubic’s recent selfish mining campaign shows that despite aggressive tactics and several coordinated withholding intervals, Qubic never came close to sustaining the hashrate needed to threaten Monero’s consensus. Their share briefly spiked into the 23 to 34 percent range, but both classical and modified selfish mining models show they earned less than they would have through honest mining, while Monero’s chain remained stable throughout. The study reinforces how Monero’s network incentives and tie breaking behavior blunt real world selfish mining attempts, even when publicly advertised by the attacker. You can find the paper here.

It is highly recommended you run a node to help secure the Monero network. You can also solo mine via the official Monero GUI wallet which can be found here or partake in the decentralized and permission-less P2Pool. The official Monero website GetMonero.org or SethForPrivacy.com are fantastic places to find help to get started running a node or mining. You can also check out the YouTube videos below.

General News

Monero Observer announced they are taking a break after more than four years of near daily reporting, with creator escapethe3RA stepping back to recover from long term exhaustion after roughly 780 days of work. The post explains the plan for a full disconnect with no reporting or communication and hints at future changes like moving away from Jekyll, redesigning the site, and expanding the project’s journalistic goals. Readers can subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified when the outlet returns.

MAGIC opened voter and candidate applications for the 2026 MAGIC Monero Fund election, with one committee seat available for a new two year term. MAGIC is a US based nonprofit that supports open source privacy tech and funds Monero development through community directed grants. Nominations run until December 31, voting opens on January 6, and results are expected around January 23 before the new member joins on January 31. Anyone interested in applying as a voter or committee member can do so through the official election page, and tax deductible donations to support the fund can be made here.

A WIRED article recently covered Phreeli, a new US mobile carrier created by longtime privacy advocate Nicholas Merrill, which lets users sign up with nothing more than a ZIP code and even pay anonymously with Monero or Zcash. The service functions as a privacy shield on top of T Mobile’s towers and stores almost no identifying data, aiming to break the long standing link between phone activity and real world identity. Phreeli uses a zero knowledge cryptographic system called Double Blind Armadillo to verify payments without tying them to accounts. Check it out here.

Monero Talk sat down with Paul Puey from Edge Wallet to break down why privacy is emerging as crypto’s next major narrative, with Monero sitting at the center of it. Puey chats about Edge’s early 2018 Monero integration, critiques Bitcoin’s broken privacy model, and contrasts Monero’s mandatory privacy with Zcash’s optional approach while highlighting incoming upgrades like FCMP and improved light-wallet server privacy. Check it out here.

Monerotopia’s latest episode features MoneroTopia26 speaker Aaron Day, including Bawdy’s price report update, weekly news, and community discussions on topics like the proposed Monero block size cap and recent developer proposals. Catch the full episode here.

In the latest episode of Anti Moonboy News, Xenu digs into the state of FCMP++ development, highlighting the need for more senior contributors, ongoing technical debt, and the broader block size debate unfolding in Monero Research Lab discussions. Check it out here.

In case you missed it, CypherGoat recently launched a new Monero news publication called This Week in Monero, covering the latest activity across the Monero ecosystem. The updates recap recent development progress, community news, infrastructure changes, and upcoming events. You can check out the latest issue here.

Events and Meetings

The next Monero Research Lab meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at 17:00 UTC in the #monero-research-lab channel on Libera IRC and Matrix. The agenda includes updates from contributors, new work on Bulletproofs*, discussions on spy nodes, and two recent academic papers covering Qubic related selfish mining and a new graph based framework for analysing illicit activity in Monero. The meeting will also revisit FCMP++ scaling parameters, review a proposal to cap blocks at 32 MB, and check progress on the FCMP alpha stressnet. Comments or agenda additions can be submitted on GitHub, and logs will be published there after the session.

The next Cuprate Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 18:00 UTC in the #cuprate channels on Libera IRC and Matrix. Cuprate is an ongoing effort to build an alternative Monero node implementation, and this meeting will cover contributor updates, the current project roadmap, and any new proposals from the community. Agenda items can be suggested on GitHub, and logs will be posted there after the meeting.

The next Monero Tech Meeting is likely to take place on December 15, 2025, at 18:00 UTC in the #no-wallet-left-behind channels on IRC Libera and Matrix. Logs from the previous meeting can be found here.

MoneroTopia 2026 will be held from February 12–15, 2026, at Huerto Roma Verde in Mexico City, promising four days of talks, workshops, and community events centered on financial privacy and Monero adoption. Hosted by Sunita and Douglas from Monero Talk, the conference features speakers such as Rucknium, Diego Salazar, Paul Puey, and Amir Taaki. Tickets are available on monerotopia.com, including discounted and free local options.

Exchanges and Merchants

RetoSwap reported a record breaking month, hitting 122,606 XMR in October volume and surpassing 15,000 total trades on its permissionless, no KYC, peer to peer exchange. The update highlights growing demand for decentralized off ramps and the rising usage of P2P Monero trades.

monerobull highlighted an ongoing phishing and misinformation campaign on r/Monero that is targeting RetoSwap. A viral post falsely claimed a user lost 120 XMR through a Revolut swap, even though RetoSwap’s Revolut limits make the story impossible, revealing it as part of the broader Porkswap phishing effort that has been pushing fake swap sites and bot amplified FUD for months. Users were warned to avoid impersonation subreddits and scam domains tied to the campaign and to rely only on verified decentralized tools rather than manipulated posts or phishing links.

ShopinBit launched a new lightweight privacy focused web app at app.shopinbit.com that lets users buy cars, travel, electronics and more with Monero natively, with no email, no customer account, and no extra verification. The app provides a six word restore key instead of identity data, accepts XMR directly through BTCPay Server, and includes an Ultra Privacy Mode that wipes all local storage for maximum anonymity. It is designed to work smoothly on privacy hardened phones like GrapheneOS. More information here.

Monero was again the most used currency on ShopInBit in October, making up almost half of all transactions.

NanoGPT’s November payments statistics show Monero strengthened its dominance, climbing to 52 percent of all payments and extending its clear lead as the preferred private settlement rail.

XMR perps have quietly appeared on Hyperliquid through a permissionless deployment by Felix Protocol, using the chain’s HIP 3 market factory that lets independent creators spin up their own perp markets without an official exchange listing. The XMR USDH market now appears on the Hyperliquid interface, but with no ability to trade it yet.

CypherGoat reported and shut down a phishing clone within 24 hours after spotting traffic from a typo squat domain mimicking their site. CypherGoat is a privacy focused instant exchange that lets users swap Monero with no accounts, no tracking, and no custody risk. The fake domain hosted a pixel perfect copy but had no backend and simply forwarded requests, allowing the team to block it instantly by detecting its host and returning an access denied message. Cloudflare and Nicenic removed the domain shortly after, and CypherGoat urged users to bookmark the website and stay alert to phishing attempts.

MAGIC Grants has launched an official Monero Fund merch store, offering shirts, hoodies, stickers, and more to help support ongoing Monero development and community funding. Crypto payments aren’t integrated yet, but supporters can request store credit via a Monero invoice by emailing the fund. It’s a small but growing storefront that doubles as both fundraising and Monero promotion.

CR1337 will soon be launching monero.jobs, a new job board focused on roles that pay directly in XMR. The platform will let companies and projects post free basic listings, with optional paid featured spots, aiming to make it easier for employers and job seekers to connect inside Monero’s growing ecosystem.

Community Crowdfunding

Several crowdfunding proposals are awaiting community feedback before they can start accepting funds through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). For now, they are just proposals, but if they receive some positive feedback from the community they will be moved to a “Funding Required” stage so that they can accept Monero donations through the CCS.

CCS proposals currently open:

Funding required:

Trading and Speculation

Monero just had its highest monthly close on record at ~$435.

Monero has also outperformed Bitcoin and Gold year-to-date. XMR 105%, Gold 58%, Bitcoin -2%.

Monero’s ride in the top ranks of CoinMarketCap has been a wild one over its 11+ years. It’s surged to as high as #5 and slipped down to lows of #40+. XMR has now climbed back up to #16.

Network Metrics

Total Monero in Circulation : 18,684,570 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap: $7,452,310,761

Coinmarketcap Ranking: #16

XMR ‘street price’ from RetoSwap: $420 (+6%)

XMR/USD Price: $398

XMR/BTC Price: 0.004299 BTC

Monero Network Hashrate: 6.36 Ghash/s

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution:

Entertainment

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Table of Contents:

• Development, Releases, and Technology

• General News

• Events and Meetings

• Exchanges and Merchants

• Community Crowdfunding

• Trading and Speculation

• Network Metrics

• Entertainment

Development, Releases, and Technology

The Monero Research Lab shared a new update on FCMP++, explaining they are getting much closer to a stable and efficient version of the next major upgrade. Developers have been fixing crashes, cleaning up the code that handles transaction proofs, and reducing the amount of memory needed to verify FCMP++ transactions on the stressnet. RAM usage has already dropped from around 1.2 GB to about 800 MB, with experiments showing it could go even lower, and the team is now testing these changes on very low-memory machines to make sure everyday users will be able to run the upgrade without issues. The goal is to ship one last alpha version before moving to the beta stressnet, where the final scaling decisions will be made. The full conversation is in the MRL logs here.

Monero v0.18.4.4 Fluorine Fermi has been tagged for release for both CLI and GUI, with binaries expected shortly and a changelog that includes spend identification improvements, cleaner tx pool handling, a ledger view key export fix, and updated GUI components. More information can be found here.

SChernykh released P2Pool v4.12 with full Tor support along with faster sync times, memory savings, FCMP++ address checks, and a fix for a Windows startup crash. Miners can download the new build, read the updated docs, and verify the release with SChernykh’s GPG key before running it, and the full changelog is available on the project’s GitHub. The release notes also remind users to sync their system clock and use a fresh wallet for mining because P2Pool makes all mining addresses public.

sukunetsiz released Cuzdan, a simple local web interface for managing Monero RPC wallets that lets users view transactions, manage multiple addresses, send XMR with balance checks, and generate QR codes for easy receiving. It is built with Flask and Python, aimed at developers who already run Monero wallet RPC for payment systems, and is not a standalone wallet like Cake or Feather. The code, screenshots, and setup guide are available in the project’s GitHub repository here.

SlowBearDigger released Monero PayQR, a privacy focused Monero QR payment tool that lets users generate clean payment QR codes directly in the browser without sending any data to a server. The page supports addresses, amounts, and payment IDs, updates the QR code instantly, and is built as a lightweight static tool so everything runs locally. It is now open source and available on the developer’s site here.

atsamd21 released the first stable Haveno Android app now live on mainnet, bringing updates to fees, passphrase handling, NuGet packages, and trade amounts while keeping the project active across testnet and stagenet. The app connects users over Tor to manage Haveno multisig trading and can run in standalone mode with a built-in daemon or through a remote node, with Android support today and possible iOS support through remote node later. Users can download the APK or make their own build from source through the project’s GitHub.

Rosen Bridge released new research outlining a path to add Monero support while preserving full user privacy. Rosen is a cross-chain bridge for Ergo that aims to connect multiple networks, and the team claims XMR can be integrated without weakening Monero’s principles.

MAGIC Grants announced that Monero’s Node RPC endpoints now have full fuzzing coverage, thanks to ADA Logics and Google OSS-Fuzz. Fuzzing blasts software with unpredictable inputs to expose crashes and vulnerabilities early, and the new harnesses already uncovered three RPC issues that developers patched fast. This continuous testing boosts Monero’s security long-term by catching bugs before attackers ever see them. More information can be found here.

jeffro256 posted the final progress report for their recent Monero dev work, noting improvements to Carrot and FCMP++ stressnet performance through upstreaming, mempool input verification cache work, bug fixes from live node debugging, and early foundations for better hardware device support. jeffro256 followed this by submitting a new CCS proposal to continue full-time through Q4 2025 on Carrot and FCMP++, aiming to push Carrot toward audit ready status while helping drive the Beta Stressnet. The new proposal can be read and discussed here.

j-berman posted his third progress report after five hundred and fifty hours of work on Monero, saying the FCMP++ alpha stressnet has reached v1.44 and that fixing out of memory crashes and improving transaction relay are the next big steps before beta. He has been fixing issues that caused big transactions to fail, speeding up wallet scanning, improving how proofs are checked, tightening p2p and daemon behaviour, and reviewing work from other core devs. The full update is available here.

vtnerd posted his second progress report after three hundred and twenty hours of work, saying most of his time went into testing and fixing bugs in the big Carrot and FCMP++ pull request, with spending support being the last major missing piece. He also worked on LWS improvements, the official Docker build, fee fixes, and early investigations into out of memory issues, node banning, and SSL behaviour, and he noted that xmrchat and btcpayserver users should be ready for the coming upgrade. The full update is available here.

hinto janai posted the first progress report for their full-time Cuprate and FCMP++ CCS work, saying their time is split between PoWER (Proof of Work Extended Result), Cuprate, and FCMP++ reviews, with PoWER getting extra focus so it can be tested on the stressnet soon. They are currently implementing and testing PoWER for both Monero and Cuprate, continuing ZMQ work while drafting a proposal, and have restarted regular Cuprate meetings. The full update is available on Gitlab here.

selsta posted their October dev report, noting the release of v0.18.4.3, work on v0.18.4.4, coordination on a HackerOne security fix, and investigations into updating the macOS build environment for the Monero GUI. This update completes the second milestone of selsta’s part-time CCS and the full list of their recent changes can be found on GitHub through the Monero and GUI pull requests. The full progress report is available here.

hbs posted a progress update for their EVM to Monero atomic swaps CCS, saying the code is now live on Codeberg under an MIT license and the GUI is at a point where users can view, create, and manage swaps through a beta site on IPFS. The project is ready for community testing and hbs plans to run “swappy sundays” in the Matrix room to gather feedback on the user experience. The full update is on Gitlab here.

MomboteQ introduced Send XMR, a free web tool that lets Monero users map long wallet addresses to simple aliases with a shareable page and QR code. The service aims to make sending and receiving XMR easier without signups or tracking, but the Monero subreddit discussion raised strong concerns about centralization, possible address switcheroos, Cloudflare blocking Tor, and the project becoming a hacker target, with several users urging the developer to add message signed alias management and open source the code to build more trust.

Monero.town is planning to move away from Lemmy after a recent outage exposed the risks of relying on a single server. The admin said Nostr has matured enough to serve as a better long-term home for the community and is seeking suggestions for which Nostr frontend to host. The Lemmy instance will stay online for now while a replacement is chosen.

Monero Observer has published a new Monero Dev Activity Report to provide a big-picture view of Monero’s development activity throughout the past week. If you’re interested in the nitty gritty, check it out here.

General News

Cake Wallet recently celebrated one million downloads, and founder Vik Sharma posted a thank you message on r/Monero reflecting on the project’s journey since its launch in early 2018. He highlighted the community support that helped Cake grow from the first iPhone Monero wallet into a major contributor to events, meetups, CCSs, giveaways, travel sponsorships, and new tools like Cupcake, Cake Pay, Bluetooth Ledger support, and upcoming Trezor integration. Vik said Cake will remain Monero first and keep building despite exchange pressure and wallet churn, thanking the community for helping the project reach this milestone.

BawdyAnarchist appeared on the Threadguy Podcast to talk through Monero’s strengths, its use on dark markets, and how it compares to Zcash, along with the broader bull case for private digital cash. The discussion introduced Monero to a larger mainstream audience thanks to Threadguy’s 23,000 subscriber reach. Check it out here.

The Meritocrat shared a piece on the explosive rise of the Monero circular economy, tying XmrBazaar’s fast-growing user base to ideas from The Sovereign Individual. They highlight how real peer to peer commerce is accelerating, why exponential adoption blinds governments until it’s too late, and why early Monero users are already building the foundation for a larger, freer digital marketplace.

The Meritocrat

Monero Circular Economy: From Cypherpunk Hundreds to Sovereign Millions

“One person after another, each in his own way, senses that time is running out on a dying way of life…

Read more

6 months ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · AilliA

Monero Talk interviewed Cake Wallet founder Vik Sharma to mark the wallet’s milestone of 1 million downloads and 450,000 monthly active users, touching on open source origins, digital cash principles, and the balance between Monero loyalty and multi coin support. The discussion moves through the privacy coin landscape, Monero versus Zcash attention, real world vendor integrations, and ecosystem growth from FCMP++ to atomic swaps and Thorchain, before closing with Vik’s vision of a global peer to peer marketplace where people can live fully on Monero. The full episode is available here.

Monero Talk hosted Monerotopia Episode 240 featuring guest segments with upcoming MoneroTopia 2026 speakers İrem Kuyucu and Laurynas Četyrkinas, followed by Bawdyanarchist’s price report, Tony’s weekly news roundup, and a broad mix of community topics. The show also covered node setup questions, Haveno updates, and a long open stage segment with live viewer participation. Watch the full episode here.

Citizen Web3 hosted the first X Spaces session in its new Freedom Forum series, focusing on Privacy vs the Surveillance Nightmare. The panel featured well known privacy advocates including Seth for Privacy, Nick Svyaznoy, Sterlin Lujan, and fluffypony, with the conversation touching on digital rights, personal sovereignty, and the growing risks of surveillance tech. Listen to the full recording here.

CypherGoat recently launched a new Monero news publication called This Week in Monero, covering the latest activity across the Monero ecosystem. The updates recap recent development progress, community news, infrastructure changes, and upcoming events. You can check out the latest issue here.

Revuo Monero Issue #250 was recently published. Check it out for a weekly dose of Monero news.

Looking to learn more about Monero? CR1337’s free XMR 1337 Guide shows you how to use XMR as your shield and sword for financial privacy, from buying Monero without KYC and hardening your OpSec to running your own node, earning or mining XMR, and staying ahead of regulators. It also covers upcoming FCMP++ upgrades and finishes with a packed directory of wallets, exchanges, tools, and merchants for anyone serious about living more of their life on XMR. Check it out here.

AilliA recently shared a cool story about her Necklace Puzzle that hides a full BIP39 seed phrase, along with a 0.5 XMR bounty for anyone who can crack it. It’s a fun mix of crypto nostalgia, ciphers, and privacy lessons, and the puzzle is still unsolved if you want to take a shot.

Letters from AilliA

The Necklace Puzzle

About half a year ago, I pledged on X to pay 0.5 XMR to “anyone who writes a 100% correct (spelling and order) English BIP39 seed phrase words in the comments”, encoded in a necklace I made as a kid from spare beads. Since I still can’t use my X account (though there’s been a positive development…

Read more

6 months ago · 3 likes · AilliA

Nikita Zhavoronkov launched Privacy.Watch, a new tracker that ranks privacy coins by their total shielded supply instead of market cap. Monero sits at the top, followed by Zcash, Zano, Pirate Chain, and Litecoin’s MWEB, with more assets coming soon.

XmrBazaar launched a community banner design competition after users roasted its original AI banner, inviting creators to submit fresh designs that better match the marketplace’s friendly, mainstream vibe. Submissions are already rolling in, with the winning banner to be chosen through tips, comments, and community feedback. More information here.

Bank of England plans to impose temporary £20,000 caps on individual stablecoin holdings as part of a stricter UK regulatory framework compared to the US. The BOE’s latest proposal would let issuers hold up to 60 percent of backing assets in short-term government debt, with the remaining 40 percent kept as non-interest-bearing reserves at the central bank. More information can be found here and here.

Events and Meetings

Michael Fitzgerald announced they will be speaking at the Australian Crypto Convention at ICC Sydney on November 22 and 23, delivering two sessions titled “Crypto Mythbusters” and “The Monero Standard.” The talks will cover media narratives, scams, FUD, and Monero’s role in the future of private digital cash, with the speaker noting that mainstream attention is finally arriving.

The next Monero Research Lab meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at 17:00 UTC in the #monero-research-lab IRC and Matrix channels. Logs from a previous meeting are available on Monero Observer and more info can be found here.

The next Monero Tech Meeting will take place on November 24, 2025, at 18:00 UTC in the #no-wallet-left-behind channels on IRC Libera and Matrix. Chaired by rbrunner72, the discussion will cover updates on Seraphis/Jamtis, FCMP++, and other long term Monero development priorities, with logs from previous meetings available via Monero Observer.

The next Cuprate Meeting will likely be held on November 25, 2025, at 18:00 UTC in the #cuprate channels on IRC Libera and Matrix. Logs and details from past meetings are available through Monero Observer.

The next Monero Community Workgroup Meeting is set for November 22, 2025, at 16:00 UTC in the #monero-community channels on IRC Libera and Matrix. Moderated by plowsof, the meeting will cover community highlights, CCS proposal updates, and workgroup reports. Logs from prior meetings are available on Monero Observer.

Exchanges and Merchants

RetoSwap just posted a massive month with 122,606 XMR traded in October and more than 14,000 no KYC swaps completed, marking a new all time high for the platform. To celebrate, they’re giving away $75 in XMR to both a buyer and seller who complete a Cash by Mail trade. Trade, get matched, and you’re in the draw.

eigenwallet recently shared a screenshot of a wild atomic swap offer showing someone trying to swap more than 33 BTC worth of Monero in a single trade. It’s a reminder of how huge the peer to peer swap market has become, with massive orders now popping up even on Tor.

Vik from Cake Wallet shared a clip of himself buying a drink with Monero at a SPAR convenience store in Switzerland. The payment was made straight from Cake Wallet through OpenCryptoPay, showing XMR working smoothly in the real world.

SlowBearDigger has launched a privacy focused web development service offering fast, minimal static sites built without tracking, bloat, or ongoing fees. The project includes landing pages, multi page sites, and custom builds, all delivered with a domain, hosting, SSL, and corporate email for the first year, with pricing listed in XMR and a workflow built around confidential communication. Check it out here.

Obscura VPN has added Monero as a payment option. Obscura markets itself as a privacy-first VPN that cannot log user activity, so adding XMR fits neatly into its mission of enabling a truly private and open internet.

CypherGoat shared its October recap, highlighting a packed month of launches and Monero ecosystem involvement. The team rolled out CypherGoat Shield, a new swap-protection program offering up to 0.1 BTC coverage for users, and introduced CypherGoat Payments, a tool that locks rates and simplifies exact-amount transfers for things like donations and invoices.

Alexis Roussel shared that Monero was the most used cryptocurrency to purchase Nym VPN. Nym VPN is a privacy focused mixnet powered service that hides metadata and defeats traffic analysis, so it makes sense users prefer paying with XMR.

NanoGPT, a privacy friendly AI chat platform that lets users pay with crypto instead of accounts or tracking, shared its October payment stats showing Monero made up more than half of all payments on the service.

SirJamzAlot shared an update from a farmers market in LA where the Monerovan was out doing demos with Cake Wallet, XMR Bazaar, Beef Initiative, and Monero Merchant. He’s now working to onboard a rancher who’s excited about joining a privacy focused circular economy and wants to gauge how many people would buy their grass fed meats with XMR.

A new online electronics and household goods shop called AlkalineTech announced that it now accepts Monero, using a simple manual verification flow to issue store credit since Shopify does not support XMR natively. The owner posted on r/Monero asking for feedback from the community to make the process more transparent, easier for users, and more aligned with privacy expectations, and invited suggestions for making the system more trustless in the future. The store carries everything from gaming PCs and phones to appliances and furniture. More information can be found here.

Wondering where to use or spend your XMR? Check out this X post from Schmidt.

Someone has listed a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 on XmrBazaar for 135 XMR. It’s a non-running project car located in Las Vegas, but still a wild example of how far Monero peer to peer commerce has come. Check it out here.

Community Crowdfunding

Several crowdfunding proposals are awaiting community feedback before they can start accepting funds through the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). For now, they are just proposals, but if they receive some positive feedback from the community they will be moved to a “Funding Required” stage so that they can accept Monero donations through the CCS.

CCS proposals currently open:

Funding required:

All approved proposals funded!

Trading and Speculation

One of the top classical chart technicians, Aksel Kibar, shared a new XMR chart calling for a potential move toward the 900 dollar level.

Untraceable highlighted that Monero has been outperforming Bitcoin and Gold over the past year.

SirJamzAlot shared a post highlighting Monero’s massive rebound over the past year, noting that XMR is up more than 200% since the Binance delisting.

Network Metrics

Total Monero in Circulation — 18,675,407 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap — $7,391,984,341

Coinmarketcap Ranking — #18

XMR ‘street price’ from RetoSwap - $469 (+18%)

XMR/USD Price —  $394

XMR/BTC Price — 0.004315 BTC

Monero Network Hashrate — ~5.8 Ghash/s

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution —