Lingot Swiss offers its customers the option of using Bitcoin and Monero to pay for their orders.
You can request your quote for the purchase of bullion and investment jewels via our website Lingot-Swiss.com or directly via email to the following address: lingotswiss@protonmail.ch
Bitcoin and Monero: two perspectives.
Both projects have completely different visions and goals.
Since its creation in 2009, Bitcoin is considered to be a payment system independent of any authority, reliable and secure. This "digital gold", as experts call it, was designed to withstand the test of time and become a store of universal and lasting value.
Monero was created in 2014 by groups of libertarian developers. Aware of bitcoin's lack of anonymity of transactions, Monero improved the bitcoin code to implement a new protocol. Anxious to protect privacy and maintain respect for fundamental freedoms, they offer the community a highly anonymous payment system with a fungible currency and an unauditable blockchain. The code is 100% open source.
What is anonymous cryptocurrency?
1. Anonymity: the weak aspect of Bitcoin
According to its founder, bitcoin had to be simple, secure and above all anonymous.
Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin with the aim of enabling citizens to free themselves from trusted third parties: financial institutions, banks and governments. Bitcoin thus works peer-to-peer, that is to say directly from person to person without an intermediary. However, since 2009 the evolution of the Bitcoin protocol has not allowed the integration of additional encryption functions to guarantee respect for privacy.
A Bitcoin transaction consists of two keys: the public key and the private key.
This security system is called "asymmetric cryptography". We find this encryption process on the Protonmail mail service, which permits ultra-secure mail exchanges but also on other services such as SIGNAL Messenger, calls and SMS applications that respect the privacy of its users.
The public key acts as a reception address in the image of the RIB in the classic banking world. The private key makes it possible to justify the ownership of the address and sign the transactions. This is the public address that is found in the account log and identifies the owner of the funds.
This system of pseudo-anonymity is no longer a sufficient guarantee for many people: journalists, political activists, activists or simply citizens who are aware of the importance of protecting their personal data. These fundamental issues led to the emergence of anonymous cryptocurrency.
2. Definition of anonymous cryptocurrency
Like Bitcoin, most cryptocurrencies are based on a large ledger called the ledger. This account log records all the transactions made on the network between various addresses. This database is public and anyone can consult it without specific authorizations.
This account log lists transactions between different network addresses. It does not store identities or personal information about users. However, by linking a public address to a person, it is theoretically possible to trace their transactions. Therefore, we refer to pseudonymous and non-anonymous payment systems (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, etc.).
Anonymous cryptocurrency is intended to guarantee complete confidentiality of transactions. In their protocols they include tools that ensure the confidentiality of the account log, ensure fungibility between parts and anonymize the address and location of the issuer -the most well-known being Monero and ZCash.
3. Why use anonymous cryptocurrency?
Ideally, using cryptocurrencies to make purchases can be beneficial; from the speed of payment by credit card (a few seconds) to cash advantages (decentralization, resistance to censorship and to a lesser extent anonymity).
In practice, the use of crypto anonymity mainly limits the intrusive power of states and companies in your private sphere. Undoubtedly, the economic model of GAFA (Google / Amazon / Facebook / Apple) offers individuals free services to collect their personal data, which is then resold to third-party companies or states.
This collection of information could, in coming years, turn against users. Imagine an authoritarian regime arbitrarily blocking select bank accounts, of individuals or companies, whose personal data is hacked and stolen. Such data could be resold on the darknet and consequently lead to blackmailing. Any drift is possible.
The integrity of your personal data and respect for your privacy remain your responsibility. The use of Monero and anonymous transactions allow you to maintain an important counter-power and regain your sovereignty.
Monero project analysis
1. Utilisation
Monero is the most iconic anonymous crypto currency.
It is also the most used, especially on the darknet.
Monero is an open-source project launched in April 2014 from a branch of Bytecoin (BCN).
The protocol is based on an algorithm called "CryptoNote" which incorporates the so-called "signature ring" technology. The idea is to collect user transactions in packets so that we can not precisely identify the actors. This ensures perfect anonymity.
In April 2019, the algorithm “Cryptonight”, optimized to fight against the mining of ASICS, was accused of centralizing the computing power. The new version of the protocol, the "Cryptonight V7" made for a better decentralization of the network.
2. The issues of fungibility
The developers managed to make Monero perfectly fungible. Like gold or bank notes, Monero transactions are indistinguishable. This is an extremely important factor. Indeed, unlike bitcoin, it is impossible to locate and blacklist an address.
The recipient of a payment can hide their address with a "stealth address". To do this, the sender does not send Monero directly to the recipient rather in the blockchain without a real recipient. To enable identification, a key is created from random data and two keys from the recipient: a spend key and a view key.
Any transaction with Monero conceals the digital addresses of the senders and recipients, as well as the value of the transaction. This allows users to maintain almost complete anonymity, allowing them to send digital money instantly without leaving any trace.
|
|
Monero |
Bitcoin |
| Release date | April 18, 2014 | January 3, 2009 |
| Max number |
~18,300,000 |
21,000,000 |
|
Algorithm |
CryptoNight |
SHA-256 |
|
Type |
Anonymous |
Pseudonymous |
| Validation time |
~2 Minutes |
~10 Minutes |
The Monero team is important: there are about twenty active people and more than 200 contributors to the project. The star developer is Ricardo Spagni, he is from South Africa.
3. Advantages and disadvantages
The benefits of Monero over Bitcoin
- Anonymization of transactions
- Intraçability of transactions:
no information is accessible. This makes the Monero fungible, like gold and silver.
- Opacity of the transaction amount
The disadvantages of Monero compared to Bitcoin
- Monero's transactions are heavier and longer than those of Bitcoin.
- Monero is less user friendly than Bitcoin.
- The tools and the ecosystem are less developed. So there are fewer tutorials, wallets, forums, etc ...
-> The KOVRI project
Monero's team is working on a project called Kovri. This project must ensure the confidentiality of IP addresses while using the network.
For this, an overlay on the protocol will be put in place.
Kovri uses a routing system similar to that of the discrete protocol called "onion routing". The transactions will be encrypted several times by being derived on the network.
Liste des exchanges et des wallets Monero
1. Wallets Monero
- For Windows & Mac: Monero official site
- Electronic safe: Trezor Model T et Ledger Nano X
2. Where to buy Moneros:
Binance exchange, Malta.
