The Monero Moon

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The Monero Moon (Issue 54)

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The Monero Moon (Issue 54)

The Monero Moon is a curated weekly newsletter covering all the latest news within Monero (XMR).

John Foss
Aug 11, 2022
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The Monero Moon (Issue 54)

www.themoneromoon.com

Table of Contents:

  • Development, Releases, and Technology

  • General News

  • Events

  • Exchanges and Merchants

  • Community Crowdfunding

  • Trading and Speculation

  • Performance

  • Entertainment


Development, Releases, and Technology

Monero is scheduled to undergo a network upgrade (hard-fork) in 2 days time, on the 13th of August 2022, at block 2,688,888. The software you must implement to ensure compatibility with the network upgrade has now been released (v0.18 Flourine Fermi) and can be downloaded from the official Monero website www.GetMonero.org.

dEBRUYNE_1 informed the community that CLI & GUI v0.18.1.0 'Fluorine Fermi' have been tagged and you may now start your deterministic build process. Check out this post for more information.

If you use a mobile wallet or other third party software make sure your apps are up to date. Please reach out to members of the Monero community on r/Monero or other social media platforms if you have any questions.

Twitter avatar for @monero
Monero (XMR) @monero
We're excited to announce that CLI 'Fluorine Fermi' v0.18.0.0 has been released! getmonero.org/2022/07/19/mon… 'This is a major release, which a user, service, merchant, pool operator, or exchange should run to be sufficiently prepared for the scheduled protocol upgrade of August 13'
getmonero.orgBlog: Monero 0.18.0.0 ‘Fluorine Fermi’ releasedMajor release containing support for the August 13th network upgrade.
1:41 PM ∙ Jul 20, 2022
128Likes36Retweets

The network upgrade will include a variety of new features such as:

  • Ring-size increase from 11 to 16 to increase privacy

  • Viewtags to reduce wallet-sync times by up to 40%

  • Bulletproofs+ to reduce transaction sizes by ~7%, and improve verification performance by ~7%.

A complete list of upgrades and improvements will soon be released along with the new software. If you want to learn more about Monero’s upcoming network upgrade, please check out this post on the official Monero website.

monero news
https://www.getmonero.org/2022/04/20/network-upgrade-july-2022.html

Still wondering what exactly a network upgrade (hardfork) is, and what it means for Monero? Check out the Tweet thread below providing a brief discussion regarding hardforks, and a history Monero’s network upgrades.

Twitter avatar for @johnfoss69
John Foss @johnfoss69
🚨MONERO NETWORK UPGRADE (HARDFORK) 🚨 A Short History Of #Monero Network Upgrades, and What The Upcoming Network Upgrade In August 2022 Means To You!
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12:22 PM ∙ Jul 27, 2022
134Likes48Retweets

The original XMR countdown clock from xmr.noctism.com will help you welcome in the network upgrade!

2 days to go! - xmr.noctism.com

Monero Observer reported that the Farcaster Project has released Farcaster Node v0.3.0. Farcaster is a project aimed at bringing Atomic Swaps to Monero. Check out this post for more information.

https://github.com/farcaster-project/farcaster-node/releases/tag/v0.3.0

Monerujo, an android wallet for Monero that includes Ledger hardware wallet support, pre-released v3.0.0 in preparation for the network upgrade. Check out this post for more information!

https://github.com/m2049r/xmrwallet/releases/tag/v3.0.0

Cake Wallet released v4.4.5 for both iOS and Android in preparation for the network upgrade. Make sure you update your app as soon as possible! More information can be found here or in the tweet below.

Twitter avatar for @cakewallet
Cake Wallet @cakewallet
This is now live on Google Play as well! APK will be on GitHub tomorrow.
Twitter avatar for @cakewallet
Cake Wallet @cakewallet
[UPDATE] Cake Wallet 4.4.5 and https://t.co/SbzVSTdEi3 1.0.9 are now live in the Apple App Store with full support for #Monero 0.18! Android is still under review and will be out shortly. Make sure to update your app to continue using Monero after the network upgrade!
9:58 PM ∙ Aug 10, 2022
10Likes2Retweets

Longtime Monero contributor moneromooo-monero submitted a pull request to remove Cake Wallet from the GetMonero.org website. moneromooo explained:

“This is a principled removal, on the grounds that the Cake wallet people
are squatting the monero.com domain to push a version of Cake wallet
they call the "monero.com" wallet.”

Vik, the founder of Cake Wallet, soon replied to inform the community they would put a banner on the Monero.com website to ensure there was no confusion with the official Monero website. Vik also said Cake Labs would be willing to sell the domain to the Monero project at cost price. Read more about the issue here!

The new banner on Monero.com to avoid confusion - https://monero.com/

busyboredom released AcceptXMR v0.11.0. AcceptXMR is a Monero payment gateway library. Check out AcceptXMR here.

https://github.com/busyboredom/acceptxmr

v1docq47 provided an update to their work translating Monero documentation. You can check out their report here!

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

https://monero.observer/monero-dev-activity-report-week-31-2022/

MineXMR, Monero’s largest mining pool, is shutting down tomorrow, August the 12th (just before the network upgrade), and referring users to use P2Pool. If you mine Monero with the MineXMR, then you will need to reconfigure your miners before August 12th. It is recommended you switch to P2Pool, a decentralised Monero mining pool to ensure ongoing network security. Make sure you’re running Monerod v0.18.0.0 and P2Pool v2.2.1 to be ready for August 13th network upgrade.

https://github.com/SChernykh/p2pool/releases/tag/v2.2.1

Monero’s mining pools already appear more decentralized with P2Pool growing (up to 6% from 4% last week) in preparation for MineXMR shutting down.

https://minexmr.com/pools.html

General News

MAGIC Grants recently ran a special election for the MAGIC Monero Fund to fill a vacant committee seat. monerobull has been selected to join the MAGIC Monero Fund committee and will serve the remainer of a 1-year term ending in January 2023. In case you didn’t know, MAGIC Grants is a public charity that provides undergraduate scholarships for students interested in Monero and cryptocurrencies, and supports various critical cryptocurrency public payment infrastructure. Learn more about them here.

Monero Talk recently interviewed Luke Parker aka kayabaNerve on developing the Monero integrated SeraiDEX, and many other different things. You can check out part one of the interview here, and part two here!

Monero talk also published Monerotopia Episode #77. It features a chat with Vik about Cake Wallet’s new Cake Pay service, and Monero Core Team member Artic Mine. Check out the show here!

Crypto for the Homeless, a non-profit that uses XMR and other cryptocurrencies to assist volunteers delivering supplies and food to homeless, recently delivered 500+ meals over the past few months. Check out this post for more information!

r/Monero - Crypto for the homeless - New Zealand volunteers feed over 500++ people over the summer

The /XMR/ Monero General Info-Dump is an interesting and somewhat overwhelming, yet impressive collection of Monero information and resources. It reportedly comes from the XMR 4chan community so please keep that in mind if you decide to check it out as some items may be offensive to some people.

https://moneroinfodump.neocities.org/

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash for its alleged role in money laundering operations, and blacklisted all of its addresses. While not exactly Monero news, this could have future implications for the Monero project.

Twitter avatar for @CoinDesk
CoinDesk @CoinDesk
BREAKING: The U.S. Treasury Department has blacklisted crypto mixer Tornado Cash and all of its Ethereum addresses, barring U.S. persons from interacting with the privacy service. @nikhileshde reports
trib.alCrypto-Mixing Service Tornado Cash Blacklisted by US TreasuryThe department barred its use by U.S. persons as a matter of national security because North Korean hackers allegedly use the mixer to launder stolen crypto funds.
2:15 PM ∙ Aug 8, 2022
1,087Likes595Retweets

Comically, a Tornado Cash user proceeded to carry out a ‘dusting attack’ against well known or celebrity Ethereum wallets such as Jimmy Fallon and Shaq following the sanction announcement.

Image
https://twitter.com/josephdelong/status/1557011056572129280/photo/1

Monero’s blockchain does not allow one to observe the sender, receiver, or amount of a transaction, so ‘dusting attacks’ are not possible on the Monero network. Check out this post from dEBRUYNE_1 for more information regarding ‘dusting attacks’.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/cr88x8/reminder_monero_protects_you_from_dusting_attacks/

Stablecoins such as USDC also blacklisted the sanctioned Ethereum addresses. In addition to this, it was reported that Infura and Alchemy are now also blocking Tornado Cash. This is not an issue for Monero due to the nature of it’s highly private transactions. Monero miners are unable to discriminate against or favor any transaction because they cannot tell who has made the transaction.

Twitter avatar for @0xdev0
ノーネーム @0xdev0
It's happening. @infura_io and @AlchemyPlatform are now blocking RPC requests to @TornadoCash Centralized RPC services are one of the cancers that undermine the core benefits of crypto. As long as they dominate the market, no protocol is truly permissionless.
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9:20 AM ∙ Aug 9, 2022
2,391Likes635Retweets

Following on from this, GitHub accounts associated with Tornado Cash were kicked off the service. In case you were wondering, Monero developers have long been aware of a GitHub ban being a potential issue, and have already taken precautionary measures in order mitigate any such issues that may occur. Check out this short comment from a Monero Core Team member for more information.

Twitter avatar for @TornadoCash
🌪️ Tornado.cash 🌪️ @TornadoCash
Here's the list of Tornado Cash resources that were banned - Tornado Cash @github organization - personal @github accounts of TC contributors - all $USDC on Tornado Cash contracts @circlepay - @infura_io RPC - @AlchemyPlatform RPC - tornadocash.eth.limo domain @eth_limo
4:57 PM ∙ Aug 9, 2022
1,012Likes257Retweets

Jerry Brito, the Executive director of DC-based crypto think tank Coin Center, highlighted how this was the sanctioning of a tool that is neutral in character. This is perhaps the first time there has been a crack down on privacy preserving service of such scale, and may impact future decisions from regulators in regards to how they approach Monero.

Twitter avatar for @jerrybrito
Jerry Brito @jerrybrito
Today’s action does not seem so much as a sanction against a person or entity with agency. It appears instead to be the sanctioning of a tool that is neutral in character and that can be put to good or bad uses like any other technology.
coincenter.orgU.S. Treasury sanction of privacy tools places sweeping restrictions on all Americans - Coin CenterSanctioned Tornado Cash smart contract is a tool, not a person.
3:42 PM ∙ Aug 8, 2022
1,013Likes288Retweets

Kurt Opsahl, Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the leading nonprofit defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation, provided chimed in on the discussion highlighting how publishing code on its own is protected speech, even if used unlawfully.

Twitter avatar for @kurtopsahl
Kurt Opsahl | Zcon, BSides, BH, DEFCON @kurtopsahl
While Tornado’s code is functional - mixing ETH transactions so they are harder to trace - publishing the code on its own is protected speech, even if that code can be used unlawfully.
Junger v. Daley (6th Cir. 2000)
○ “The fact that a medium of expression has a functional capacity should not preclude constitutional protection.” Code, like a written musical score, “is an expressive means for the exchange of information and ideas.”
7:42 PM ∙ Aug 8, 2022
26Likes5Retweets

Events

A Monero Research Lab (MRL) meeting will take place on Wednesday August 17th at 1700 UTC. You can find links to and more information regarding the meeting here thanks to the Monero Observer. The MRL meeting will take place in the #monero-research-lab channel on IRC if you want to lurk in real time.

By all reports last Tuesday’s NYC Monero Meetup was a huge success! Check out some of the photos below.

Twitter avatar for @MoneroTalk
MoneroTalk @MoneroTalk
The #NYC meetup w/ @cakewallet @MoneroCom was a huge success! Thank you @kayabaNerve for a great presentation! 😎🤓 #Monero #XMR
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3:49 PM ∙ Aug 10, 2022
94Likes31Retweets

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Exchanges and Merchants

Cake Wallet and Monero.com released Cake Pay, their biggest update ever! Cake Pay allows Cake Wallet and Monero.com app users to instantly purchase gift cards with XMR. To help ensure privacy only an email is needed, you can buy arbitrary amounts, and you can also save 1-3% on all supported merchants! Check out this post for more information. Below is a video from Techlore demonstrating the service. In addition to this, Cake Pay’s privacy policy and terms of service have been improved to reflect information they don't collect or share after some people expressed concern on Twitter.

Twitter avatar for @cakewallet
Cake Wallet @cakewallet
Introducing Cake Pay, the easiest way to spend your #BTC, #LTC, and #XMR at over 150,000 merchant locations in the US! Instantly purchase gift cards of the exact amount you need and save 1-3%! More information and a promo⬇️ #CakePay
3:02 PM ∙ Aug 4, 2022
301Likes96Retweets

Binance announced they will support Monero’s network upgrade! Check out the tweet below for more information.

Twitter avatar for @binance
Binance @binance
#Binance will support the @monero $XMR network upgrade & hard fork.
binance.comBinance Will Support the Monero (XMR) Network Upgrade & Hard Fork | Binance SupportFellow Binancians, Binance will support the Monero (XMR) network upgrade and hard fork. The Monero (XMR) network upgrade and hard fork will take place at the Monero block height of 2,688,888 , or ...
4:12 AM ∙ Aug 11, 2022
674Likes108Retweets

In light of this, ___GameChanger reported that Binance have once again disabled XMR withdrawals. Other Binance users also claimed they are unable to withdraw their Monero from Binance. If you need XMR withdrawn to your wallet today, you may be better using a different exchange service. As the old saying goes, “not your keys, not your coins”.

r/Monero - interesting... I withdrew some coins 08.06 around 00:30 and it went through… now 1,5 days later this shows up. Supply must be thin or even non-existent on nance it seems
https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/wicy5l/interesting_i_withdrew_some_coins_0806_around/

Fixed Float have also disabled crypto to XMR trades. It is rumored that Fixed Float may receive their XMR liquidity from Binance, which is why trades to Monero are not currently possible. Despite this, you can still trade XMR to any other crypto.

https://fixedfloat.com/en/

CryptoMorpheus_ shared a post titled “Adoption Metrics, Monthly Edition”. This post focuses on the adoption seen in various markets that accept Monero. Check it out here.

https://moneroj.net/article/Adoption-Metrics,-Monthly-Edition/

Monero Talk interviewed Viktor Vecsei from IVPN. IVPN is a VPN service that can be purchased with XMR. Doug and Viktor discuss the work of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, governments utilizing spyware against civilians, the benefits of VPNs, and many other things. Check it out below.

Want to buy a Monero themed puzzle? Check out this post of a 500 Piece Monero Jigsaw Puzzle available from E Money Merch.

https://www.emoneymerch.com/product/the-monero-puzzle/

Damocles-Rising claims they will soon launch a service that will allow you to buy print-at-home shipping labels from well-known carriers using XMR. Check out this post for more information.

Belle Delphine, an internet celebrity, pornographic actress, model, and YouTuber, with a Twitter following of 1.9 million and Instagram following of 3.3 million, fell victim to scammers offering to “make all your fantasies come true” for $100,000 worth of Monero. Check out this Twitter post for more information.


Community Crowdfunding

A CCS proposal to fund the next 18 issues of The Monero Moon newsletter is currently open and it would be great if you could comment on it here. Thanks!

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:

CCS Projects requiring funding or have been recently funded:


Trading & Speculation

XMR/ETH monthly chart. Monero is currently retesting a historical support level against Ethereum, and holding on by a whisker. A bounce back up from this level would be bullish.

Twitter avatar for @santimentfeed
Santiment @santimentfeed
#Monero has been an under the radar asset that has steadily been bouncing, up +41% since mid-June. There is a massive sentiment spike toward the 28th ranked asset currently, which is the highest since its May, 2021 #AllTimeHigh. app.santiment.net/s/ymQN-2qD?utm…
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7:07 PM ∙ Aug 5, 2022
39Likes8Retweets

Performance

Total Monero in Circulation — 18,159,563 XMR

Monero Total Marketcap — $3,003,147,956

Coinmarketcap Ranking — #29 (last week #28)

https://moneroj.net/rank/

XMR/USD Price —  $165 USD

XMR/BTC Price — 0.006733 BTC

LocalMonero.co Peer to Peer Street Price — $189 USD

Average Transaction Fee — 0.00012 XMR ($0.019)

Monero Network Hashrate —2.576 Ghash/s

https://moneroj.net/hashrate/

Monero Mining Pools Hashrate Distribution —

https://minexmr.com/pools.html


Entertainment

Twitter avatar for @johnfoss69
John Foss @johnfoss69
Given the growing number of boating accidents worldwide, I can guarantee every single accident was because someone took their private keys onboard.
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3:34 PM ∙ Aug 10, 2022
25Likes2Retweets
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https://twitter.com/BizPoster/status/1502099648701681665/photo/1
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https://twitter.com/johnfoss69/status/1556554116754976768/photo/1
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ttps://twitter.com/johnfoss69/status/1556257026283491328/photo/1

Donate

If you like the newsletter and want more of this content, then shout me a round of beers by donating some spare Monero you didn’t lose during your boating accident.

49koJtBLRCjcfqVD93fosJGKLYFPZuBUz1iRvqJdMz9yBXV93UgKdSyDSbwUkdsytdSRvwKZhRTPp3de4fXzcioQGAFzWUU

Scan the QR Code to donate XMR to The Monero Moon

Support Monero

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

Past Issues

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 any suggestions, corrections, or feedback, please contact me on Twitter @johnfoss69 or on Reddit u/johnfoss68.

Thanks for reading The Monero Moon! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

DISCLAIMER: This publication contains opinion for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions. Use solely at your own risk. The author of this publication and/or the authors of articles linked to from this site may have financial investments that may bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties with out verifying their credibility.

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The Monero Moon (Issue 54)

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