常见问题

Find answers to recurring questions and concerns about Monero.

Table Of Contents

Basics

What's the meaning of [technical word]?

The terminology used in Monero can be quite complex, for this reason we have the Moneropedia. A comprehensive list of terms that you often see and their explanation. If you don't know what a word means or you would like to have more info about it, just visit the Moneropedia. Some example of often searched terms are: node, fungibility, view key, pruning.

How can I contribute?

Monero is an open source community project. Meaning that there is no company who runs it and there is no CEO who hires people. Everything is built by volunteers or community-funded contributors who dedicate their time to the project. There are many ways to contribute:

Translations. It's easy and anybody speaking a language beside English can help. Translations happen mostly on Weblate.

Contact a Workgroup. Almost everything in Monero is managed by workgroups, which are groups of contributors (often lead by a coordinator) working on some specific aspect of the development. Some examples are: the localization workgroup (translations), the community workgroup, the GUI workgroup, the Outreach workgroup and so on. Workgroups are mostly independent and have their own structure. Contact the workgroup that interests you and ask how you can help. For a list of contacts see the Hangouts.

Do what you can do best. Are you a designer? Create Monero related images and spread them around. Are you a writer? Write about Monero. The only limit is your imagination. Find what you like to do and do it for Monero!

More Info: 捐献

怎么才能获得门罗币?

您可以从交易所或者个人手里购买门罗币。或者您可以尝试挖掘门罗币,获取出块奖励。

In past, you needed Bitcoin to buy Monero, but that's not the case anymore. You can directly trade Monero for national currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, etc) or other cryptocurrencies on many exchanges. Some require KYC (proof of identification); others do not, like decentralized exchanges. On this website is available a list of exchanges where it's possible to buy/sell Monero (XMR): 商户和交易所.

门罗币和比特币的区别?

门罗币并不是山寨的比特币。它基于CryptoNote协议。比特币的整个系统完全透明,人们可以准确地看到从一个用户发送到另一个用户的金额。门罗币把所有信息全部隐藏以保证匿名性。门罗币还具有动态块大小和动态费用,抗ASIC的工作量证明以及永久的区块奖励,防弹证明等几项变化。

Why is Monero called 'Monero'?

Monero is an Esperanto word which means 'coin'. Initially Monero was called 'Bitmonero', which translates to 'Bitcoin' in Esperanto. After the community decided to fork from the original maintainer, 'bit' was dropped in favour of simply 'Monero'.

Is it true that Monero has a hard fork every 6 months?

Monero used to have 2 network upgrades (hard forks) a year, but this is not the case anymore. The choice of the biannual hard forks was taken in order to be able to introduce important consensus changes, which added privacy features and network-wide improvements (For example bulletproofs and CLSAG both required a hard fork) and avoid the ossification of the protocol. Recently, the biannual hard forks included changes to the PoW algorithm, to preserve ASIC-resistance.

The dev community and the Core Team agree that the protocol is stable and mature enough and biannual hard forks are not necessary anymore. Furthermore, the ecosystem around Monero has grown exponentially during the years and frequent protocol changes would be increasingly hard to coordinate, could be detrimental to the growth of the ecosystem and to the user experience. Cherry on the top, the new algorithm RandomX is ensuring long term ASIC-resistance, so regular changes are not needed anymore. Network upgrades will still be used to add important protocol improvements and consensus changes, but at a lower and less strict frequency (every 9-12 months). The last hard fork was on August 13th 2022.

More Info: A note on scheduled protocol upgrades

Are there videos I can watch to learn about Monero?

During the years the community has created a vast amount of informative content like articles and videos. Most of these videos are publicly available on platforms like YouTube. On this website we host a few videos that explain the fundamentals of Monero. To optimize their effectiveness, they should be viewed in sequence:

  1. Introduction to Monero (also available in Russian and Brazilian Portuguese)
  2. The Essentials
  3. Stealth Addresses - More info on the Moneropedia entry: Stealth Addresses
  4. Ring Signatures - More info on the Moneropedia entry: Ring Signatures
  5. Ring Confidential Transactions - More info on the Moneropedia entry: RingCT

门罗币有区块大小限制吗?

不,门罗币没有块大小限制,门罗币的块大小是根据特定算法动态变化的。块大小的增长率也是有限度的,以防止令人发指的增长。

Is Monero a mixer or mixing service?

No. Monero uses a completely non-interactive, non-custodial, and automatic process to create private transactions. By contrast for mixing services, users opt-in to participate.

Privacy

门罗币的隐私性和其他币有什么区别?

门罗币使用三种隐私技术:@环签名,@环机密交易(RingCT)和@隐形地址。它们分别隐藏交易中的发送方,金额和接收方。按照规定网络上的所有交易都是私有的;不可能发起透明的交易。这个特性是门罗币独有的。你不需要把你的隐私托付给任何人。

More Info: 关于门罗币

不管我干什么门罗币都能保护我的隐私吗?

门罗不是黑科技。如果你在使用门罗币,但你将姓名和地址给了另一方,对方可能会记住你。如果你把查看密钥(viewkey)给别人,别人将知道你做了什么。如果你受到攻击,别人将会记录你的密钥。如果你使用弱密码,别人将暴力破解钱包文件。如果你在云端备份种子,你会一夜致贫。

门罗币是100%匿名的吗?

不可能有100%匿名的东西。很简单,你的匿名范围就是使用门罗币的人们。很多人不用门罗币,门罗币也可能有漏洞。即便今天没有破解门罗匿名的办法,我们也不能保证以后没有。网络攻击只会变本加厉。打个比方,就算你系了安全带,车祸来了一样得死(丧)。永远保持独立思考,动用你的直觉和常识,最好能深入了解和学习,补充知识,以便更好地保持自己的匿名性。

Security

What is ASIC resistance? Why is it important?

ASICs are basically special computers created to do only one job, contrary to normal computers, which are made for general purpose. This characteristic makes ASICs very efficient for mining.

The problem is that these devices are very expensive and can be afforded by few. This leads to few entities owning a big amount of the hashrate of the network, which is a serious threat to the security of the network itself. For example, if big ASIC operators collude and manage to gain the majority of the hashrate of the network, they could arbitrarily reject transactions.

Monero fixes this problem by being ASIC-resistant: it uses an algorithm (randomx) that strongly reduces the efficiency of ASICs, making them not profitable to build. Miners can use common consumer hardware, which allows them to compete fairly. The Monero network is currently protected by thousands of miners using 'regular' computers. This results in a network much harder to attack, no miner having significant advantage over other miners (they all use more or less the same hardware).

Are there known vulnerabilities in Monero?

The Monero community has created a series of videos called "Breaking Monero", where potential Monero vulnerabilities are explored and discussed. There are 14 videos, with each exploring a different subject. Check out the videos on monerooutreach.org.

More Info: Available on Spotify as podcast

Why is my antivirus/firewall flagging the Monero software i just downloaded as malware?

After you have downloaded the Monero software (GUI and CLI alike), your antivirus or firewall may flag the executables as malware. Some antiviruses only warn you about the possible menace, others go as far as silently removing your downloaded wallet / daemon. This likely happens because of the integrated miner, which is used for mining and for block verification. Some antiviruses may erroneously consider the miner as dangerous software and act to remove it.

The problem is being discussed and solutions are being elaborated. In the meantime, if you get a warning from your antivirus, make sure the software you downloaded is legitimate (see the guides linked below), then add an exception for it in your antivirus, so that it won't get removed or blocked. If you need assistance, feel free to contact the community.

More Info: 在Windows上验证二进制文件(新手), 在Linux,Mac,或者Windows命令行上验证二进制文件(专家)

Economics

为什么门罗币有价值?

门罗币有价值,因为人们愿意购买它。如果没有人愿意购买它,那么它就不再有价值。如果供不应求,价格上涨;供大于求,价格下跌。

可互换性是什么?为什么可互换性非常重要?

可互换性是货币的基本属性之一,表示相同面额的两个货币之间没有差异。如果有两个人交换10块钱和2张5块钱,没有问题。但是,让我们假设所有人都知道那张10块钱之前曾用于支付勒索活动或者其他事情,那么另一个人还愿意交易吗?即便拿着10块钱的人并不是发起勒索的人,他也可能不愿意交换,因为这张钱有做过坏事的历史记录。在加密货币的世界里这是一个问题,因为钱币的接收者需要经常检查他们收到的钱,确认这些币的历史是干净的。而门罗币具有可互换性,这意味着人们不需要去鉴别哪些币有什么样的历史,所有的门罗币都是一样的。

既然门罗币这么匿名,我怎么知道总供应量是有限的而不是随便乱发的?

在门罗币里,每个交易的输出都附带一个关键的密钥镜像(key image),这个密钥镜像是支出人仅针对这次交易生成的。被使用过的密钥镜像相关的交易将被矿工以尝试双花(双重支付,同一个币使用两次或多次)为由拒绝打包到区块中。当收到新交易时,矿工会验证在此之前是否有一样的密钥镜像,以确保它不是双花。

我们还可以知道,即使您正在花费的输入值和您要发送的输出值已加密(除了收件人以外的所有人都隐藏这些值),交易金额仍然有效。因为这些金额是使用Pedersen协议加密的,这意味着没有人能够分辨输入和输出的数量,但他们可以对Pedersen进行数学计算,以确定没有门罗币是凭空创建的。

只要您钱包的加密货币输出量等于输入量(包括收件人的输出和返回给您自己的更改过的输出以及未加密的交易费用),那么您的交易就是正确无误的,可以保证没有门罗币是凭空创造的。使用Pedersen协议,即使其中的单个值无法确定,整体的输入输出也可以被证实是相等的。

More Info: About supply auditability

What is Monero's maximum supply?

Monero has a fixed emission rate, not a set maximum supply. Around May 2022, Monero's emission will drop to and permanently remain at 0.3 XMR per minute (0.6 XMR per block). This is approximately 1% inflation for the first year and will approach 0% inflation in future years. This tail emission allows for permanent incentives to secure Monero, even in the far future, while keeping inflation at a very low percent.

Why does Monero not have a maximum supply?

Miners process transactions on the Monero network by mining blocks. The miner of a block is paid the constant block reward of .6 XMR, and the transaction fees of the users who have transactions in that block. Monero has the block reward rather than relying solely on the transaction fees to give the miners incentive to keep securing the network with their hashrate, and keep transaction fees low.

The tail emission caused by this constant block reward creates an inflation rate of less than 1% which trends towards 0% over time. The fixed emission of the currency ensures human corruption cannot over inflate the supply. Keeping the network predictable, decentralized, and secure.

Wallets

轻钱包和普通钱包有什么区别?

使用轻钱包,您需要将查阅秘钥提供给网络节点,该节点会扫描区块链并代替您查找到您帐户的交易信息。此节点会知道您何时收到款项,但它不会知道您收到了多少,您从谁那里收到的,或者您要汇款给谁。您可以运行您自己的全节点以避免隐私泄露。请使用普通的GUI/CLI钱包,并选择运行全节点。

What wallet should I use?

There are multiple wallets available for a vast number of platforms. On this website you'll find the wallets released by the Core Team (GUI and CLI) and a list of widely trusted and open source third party wallets for desktop and mobile.

More Info: 下载

I can't see my funds. Did I just lose all my Monero?

You probably didn't. It's very hard to simply 'lose' your coins, since they are technically nowhere. Your coins 'live' on the blockchain and are linked to your account through a system of public and private keys secured by cryptography. That's why if you don't see your funds, it's probably because of a technical issue. Take a look at the 'Resources & Help' section at the top of this page for a list of useful resources that will help you identify and fix your problem.

I haven't touched my Monero in a long time, did I lose my coins as a consequence of a hard fork (network upgrade)?

Don't worry, your coins are safe. To be able to spend them you only have to download and run the latest Monero software. You can use the mnemonic seed you previously saved to restore your wallet at any time. Note that hard forks in Monero are scheduled and non-contentious. Which means no new coin is created.

为什么钱包同步区块链数据要这么久?

如果您在电脑上运行全节点,则需要将整个区块链数据下载到计算机上。区块链数据较大,下载需要很长时间,尤其是在比较旧的硬盘或网速很慢的时候。如果您使用的是远程节点,则计算机仍需要下载所有输出的拷贝副本,这也可能需要几个小时。请耐心等待,如果您想牺牲一些隐私性以获得更快的同步时间,请考虑使用轻钱包。

Why my wallet needs to be scanned everytime I open it?

Because new transactions have been recorded on the blockchain from the last time you opened your wallet, which needs to scan all of them to make sure non of those transaction is yours. This process is not necessary in a mymonero-style (openmonero) wallet, a central server (which could be managed by you) does this work for you.

Node

Can I manually import the blockchain?

Yes, you can, but you probably shouldn't. Importing an external blockchain is very resource intensive and forces you to trust the entity providing you with the blockchain. It's usually faster to download it the normal way: running a node and letting it synchronize with the other nodes in the network. If you really need to import an external blockchain, you can download one in the 'Downloads' page of this website. Follow the guide below if you are using Windows. If you are a linux user, you can use the tool "monero-blockchain-import", which is included in the archive when you download the GUI or CLI wallets. Start syncing the imported blockchain with this command: "monero-blockchain-import --input-file blockchain.raw".

More Info: Blockchain Bootstrap

How can I connect my node via Tor?

Support for Tor is still in its infancies, but it's already possible to natively send transactions through the network and to run a Monero daemon on the Tor network. Better Tor and I2P integrations are in progress.

More Info: Connecting your local wallet to your own daemon over Tor

How do I decide if I should run a full node or a pruned node?

A full node requires a considerable amount of storage and could take a long time to download and verify the entire blockchain, especially on older hardware. If you have limited storage, a pruned node is recommended. It only stores 1/8th of unnecessary blockchain data while keeping the full transaction history. If plenty of storage is available, a full node is recommended but a pruned node still greatly contributes to the network and improves your privacy.

How big is the Monero blockchain?

The Monero blockchain is always growing so there is no fixed size. As of 2022, the full blockchain is around 140-150GB. A pruned blockchain is about 50GB. Check out Moneropedia entry pruning to learn the difference between a full and a pruned blockchain.

Why does the blockchain need so much space?

When you download the blockchain, you are downloading the entire history of the transactions that happened in the Monero network since it was created. The transactions and the related data are heavy and the entire history must be kept by every node to ensure it's the same for everybody. Pruning a blockchain allows to run a node which keeps only 1/8 of not strictly necessary blockchain data. This results in a blockchain 2/3 smaller than a full one. Convenient for people with limited disk space. Check out the Moneropedia entries node and remote node for more details.

Can I avoid downloading the entire blockchain?

Yes. You don't need to download the blockchain to transact on the network. You can connect to a remote node, which stores the blockchain for you. All the most common wallets (including GUI and CLI) allow to use remote nodes to transact on the network. There are multiple ways to take advantage of this functionality. For example GUI and CLI offer a 'bootstrap node' feature, which allow people to download their own blockchain while using a remote node to immediately use the network. Ways to improve the usability of the Monero network are constantly being explored.

More Info: 怎么用图像化钱包(GUI)连接远程节点

Is it dangerous to run a personal node?

Running a personal node is the safest way to interact with the Monero network, because you are in full control and you don't need to rely on third parties. From a general point of view running a node is not dangerous, but keep in mind that your ISP can see you are running a Monero node.

Is it dangerous to use a remote node? What's the data a node operator can get from me?

It's always advisable, especially for privacy-conscious users, to use a personal node when transacting on the network to achieve the highest rate of privacy. Some people for convenience prefer to use remote node which are not under their control (public nodes). The convenience of not having to deal with a personal copy of the blockchain comes at a cost: lessened privacy. A remote node operator is able to see from what IP address a transaction comes from (even if cannot see the recipient nor the amount) and in some extreme cases, can make attacks able to reduce your privacy. Some dangers can be mitigated by using remote nodes on the Tor or I2P networks or using a VPN.