Want a completely private crypto transaction?
Bitcoin isn’t private. In fact, most people think it is. But the reality is…
Bitcoin transactions can be seen by anyone. It’s all on the blockchain, anyone can see how much someone sent, where it came from and where it went. That’s not private, that’s a ledger.
Monero is different.
Monero has transaction privacy completely built into its blockchain. It’s not an optional privacy feature. It’s not something complicated to set up.
Every transaction is private by default.
Inside this Article
- Overview of Monero’s Privacy Technology
- What are Ring Signatures and How Do They Hide Transaction Origins
- What is a Stealth Address
- How RingCT Hides Transaction Amounts
How Does Monero Work?
Monero is more than just another cryptocurrency trying to compete with Bitcoin. Monero is designed to solve a problem that most users of cryptocurrency simply don’t realize that they have.
Privacy.
Bitcoin and most other traditional cryptocurrencies record all transactions permanently on a public blockchain. Amounts, senders, receivers – it’s all there for anyone to see.
That’s a privacy issue.
Monero experts point out the reason you need to learn specialized privacy tools to begin with. For instance, 비스크로 모네로지갑 (Bisq Monero Wallet) is a decentralized wallet in Korean which works hand-in-hand with Monero privacy to ensure financial confidentiality from beginning to end.
The Monero privacy protocol uses three different technologies working in tandem to keep users’ privacy intact. They’re not add-on features or advanced settings. They’re baked into every single transaction.
Let’s break it down and see exactly how this works…
Ring Signatures: Concealing Senders
Ring signatures are the first line of privacy defense with Monero.
Here’s what happens.
When a Monero transaction is made, the protocol automatically groups the actual transaction with decoy transactions. It creates a “ring” of possible signers.
On the blockchain, anyone looking at the transaction sees a ring of possible sources that it could have come from. But they can’t identify the real one.
Right now the ring size is 16. This means that every transaction is mixed with 15 decoys. That means any observer now has only a 1-in-16 chance of guessing which one was the real sender.
It’s kind of like this…
16 people in a circle and someone sends a message. You know someone in the circle sent it, but you don’t know who.
The best part about all of this is that it happens automatically.
No manual mixing on the user’s end. No additional fees for privacy. Sender privacy is built into every transaction.
Stealth Addresses: Securing Receivers
Ring signatures cover the sender. But what about the person receiving the Monero transaction?
Stealth addresses are the answer.
Every time Monero is sent, a one-time unique address is generated for that specific transaction. This address shows up on the blockchain, but it can’t be traced back to the receiver’s real wallet address.
The key part here is this…
You can publish your Monero address to the world. People can send you money over and over again. But no one watching the blockchain can see that all of these different transactions went to the same person.
Stealth addresses are completely unique and one-time. Only the receiver can connect their private view key to see which transactions are theirs.
This solves a big privacy issue.
Bitcoin and Ethereum users are constantly told not to reuse their addresses. But with Monero address reuse doesn’t matter. You can send someone your Monero address once and they can’t even see the other transactions ever made with it.
Monero makes this possible.
RingCT: Masking Transaction Amounts
Ring signatures hide the sender. Stealth addresses hide the receiver.
But there is still one piece of the puzzle that needs to be covered…
The transaction amount.
Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT) is the third component of Monero’s privacy protocol. It masks the value of each transaction using cryptographic commitments.
It allows anyone to verify that the numbers in the transaction add up and the transaction is valid. But it also means that the actual amount is not visible.
This became a requirement for all Monero transactions in 2017. RingCT added the ability to fully hide transaction amounts.
Before it was possible for observers to see transaction amounts, which helped in tying together different related transactions.
Why Does This Matter?
Privacy coins are surging in adoption across the board. Recent data shows privacy coins are used in 11.4% of all global cryptocurrency transactions.
That’s an increase from 9.7% just last year.
Monero leads the pack.
With a market capitalization that surpassed $4 billion, Monero remains the undisputed king of privacy transactions. The combination of ring signatures, stealth addresses and RingCT provide layers of anonymity that other coins can’t touch.
Bitcoin and other traditional coins leave a permanent transaction trail. Every transaction creates a trail of data that blockchain analytics companies can use to build profiles, track spending patterns, and trace back to real-world identities.
Monero shatters this surveillance paradigm.
Financial institutions can’t track someone’s Monero balance by knowing their address. Merchants receiving a Monero payment can’t see a customer’s entire transaction history or current balance.
This is fungibility at work.
One Monero coin is identical to every other Monero coin. There is no way to mark certain coins as “tainted” due to their transaction history. This makes Monero function much more like real-world cash.
What Tech Powers Privacy Coins?
Monero’s privacy tech is powered by some sophisticated cryptography. Ring signatures use cryptographic methods that allow someone to prove they’re in a group without revealing who they are. It’s a mouthful, but the practical result is clear – transaction sender anonymity.
Stealth addresses use elliptic curve cryptography to generate unique destinations for every payment. Each new address can be mathematically derived from the recipient’s public address, but there’s no visible link between them in the blockchain.
RingCT implements Pedersen commitments and range proofs. They allow the network to verify that transaction amounts are accurate without revealing what those amounts are.
All of this is automatic in the background. Users don’t have to understand the crypto math behind it. They just have to know their transactions are private.
Privacy Coin Performance 2025
Recent data shows privacy coins were the best performing crypto sector in 2025, with growth of 71.6%.
Despite regulation and crypto exchange delistings, demand for financial privacy remains strong.
Privacy tech keeps advancing.
The upcoming Seraphis upgrade will make Monero’s ring signatures even more powerful. The update is designed to create “one-of-all” signatures which will make tracing transactions nearly impossible.
At the same time, projects like Haveno are emerging to make it easier for users to get and use XMR without dealing with traditional exchanges.
The trend is clear. As financial surveillance increases, more people are waking up to what matters about privacy.
Wrapping Up
Monero’s blockchain technology is a fundamentally different approach to cryptocurrency. While most digital assets are built for transparency, Monero is built for privacy.
Ring signatures, stealth addresses and RingCT work together in layers to create the kind of transaction anonymity that other coins simply can’t provide. Privacy isn’t an add-on, it’s the default mode for every transaction.
Privacy is enabled by default.
Monero gives anyone concerned about financial surveillance or the need to keep certain transactions confidential a way to do it. The privacy tech works. Adoption is picking up. The privacy features keep getting even better.
If someone needs privacy for legitimate business transactions, personal financial privacy, or just values the concept of financial privacy in principle, Monero has the solution. Monero can actually deliver what other cryptocurrencies have only ever promised.
