The Monero Moon (Issue 83)
The Monero Moon is a curated newsletter covering all the latest news within Monero (XMR). We are driven by a compelling need to champion both freedom and financial privacy!
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.
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.
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.
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 —
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 in 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 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.
