AtoZ Markets - Monero is a cryptocurrency that was designed for privacy. The crypto was created to offer secure, fast and anonymous transactions. Privacy here means that you can't see the details of the transaction like who is sending or receiving or how much is being sent or received. Monero is a fork of Bytecoin, built on Cryptonote protocol.
Monero is heavily used by traders and exchanges. It currently exchanges for $53.88, has a market capitalization of $909 million and ranked 13th on Coinmarketcap. Monero is a promising coin and it's trading volume shows it's among the top coins that could survive and reach their potentials.
However, Monero wallet is not the easiest to configure out there. This article will cover the different ways to have a Monero wallet.
In order to buy Monero for the purpose of Hodling or trading, you need a wallet and a source to buy from. Buying is quite easy. Almost all the major exchanges sell Monero. Some of these exchanges include Binance, Bitrex, Huobi, Poloniex, Cointree, CoinSwitch, Changelly, and Kraken just to mention some.
Some of these exchanges require that you pay only in other Cryptocurrencies. Therefore, if you already have a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc, you could exchange for Monero at the current exchange rate.
Meanwhile, some of these exchanges also accept Fiat payments. Exchanges like Kraken, Changelly, Bitrex, and CoinSwitch accept deposits with Credit cards or by wire transfer. Once you make a deposit in USD or EUR, you can buy Monero.
We will not go through the process of opening an account with an exchange in this article. We will look more at how to open a Monero wallet to store your Monero coin.
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How to Open Different Monero wallet
Custodial Wallets
After buying from an exchange, your Monero is automatically in their custody. The exchanges create an internal wallet for you. However, this wallet is not owned by you. You won't even be given the key. It's like saving your money in the bank.
You know you have the money, but you don't control where or how it's kept or even how it's used but you are certain that once you need it, you get it. This is the easiest mean of saving your Monero. You don't have to go through more difficult processes.
However, you are denying yourself the privacy this cryptocurrency offers. Besides, security is not quite certain as in the case of the Bank. If your exchange is attacked (they are very prone to cyber-attacks), you might lose your Monero.
It is therefore advised not to have your Monero with an exchange for an extended period of time. It's safer to store your Monero in a personal secure wallet that you will be in control of. Let's look at some of them.
The Monero GUI wallet (desktop wallet)
You can get an official Monero full wallet on your desktop. The wallet is considered the most private as you generate your own node to connect to the decentralized network.
The address is generated by your computer and it's as much safe as you keep your computer information safe. Safety and security are all up to you.
However, the official wallet takes as much as 50GB (increases in tiny bits every two minutes) from your PC space. You can download the official Monero wallet for Windows, Mac, Linux and other operating systems.
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Steps to using the desktop wallet
- Download the wallet and install on your PC. You can create a new wallet, restore a wallet or open a wallet from a file
- Launch and click on 'create a wallet'
- Generate a wallet seed which will allow you to restore your wallet and helps you to access your coin even if you lose your PC. Keep the seed safe somewhere outside your PC
- Generate your password and click 'use Monero'
- Go to 'settings' and set you 'daemon address'. You can use your localhost and port. This is more secure. You can also use a remote node from Moneroworld. Copy a node and port accordingly. The remote node is not best for privacy, however, it saves you bandwidth and space. If you have very little space, you might consider it. Click 'connect' afterward.
- On the bottom left, you will see a reading that shows how many blocks remain to connect to the blockchain. No transaction will be initiated or completed until you are fully connected.
- In the interface, you can see your seed and keys (requires a password). You can also send or receive Monero.
- To receive, you have to send or withdraw from the exchange you bought from. The exchange will generate an address and a payment ID. Copy and paste in your Wallet GUI. Put the amount and scan the QR code.
- To send, put in the amount, transaction priority (set at default), the receiver's address and send. Once confirmed and sent, the transaction goes to 'history' where it waits to be mined and assigned a block height.
Monero light wallets
You can also use a much lighter wallet - a web-based or mobile wallet. Unlike the full desktop wallet, light wallets connect to a node somewhere because they don't have their own copy of the shared ledger.
There are quite some options to chose from. There are MyMonero on IOS and desktop, Monerujo on Andriod, Edge on IOS and Android, Cake wallet IOS. All these are lightweight wallets.
They have some common characteristics and a few differences. Let's take a look at MyMonero and Monerujo.
How to use MyMonero (web-based wallet)
MyMonero is a popular web-based Monero wallet. It's an easy option for those who don't want to run the full node. Creating an account often takes less than 30 seconds.
A private log-in key of 13 words will be generated. The key is not saved on the MyMonero server, therefore, the user needs to save in a safe place. This is very convenient, fast and user-friendly but there is more exposure to security risk.
How to use Monerujo (mobile wallet)
Monerujo is a mobile App and its worth it. It offers a more convenient use than web-based wallets. The App interface is simple and user-friendly.
It synchronizes with the Monero blockchain using remote nodes. On Monerujo, you can manage multiple wallets, send and receive Monero using similar processes as explained in the desktop wallet. It also offers a QR scan functionality to offer more security.
However, just as in the case of web wallets, mobile wallets are also more open to security risks.
How to secure your Monero
- Find out which of the wallet types is suitable for you
- Save your private keys offline. This is considered to be the best option. Never share your keys or seeds with anyone.
- Always have an up-to-date antivirus and anti-malware software on your device.
- Use a very strong password with combinations of different characters, block, and small letters. Don't use the normal passwords you use on the web for E-mails etc. Use a password that can't be easily guessed correctly. Write it somewhere and save.
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