Monero is a secure, untraceable and resilient digital currency. We believe it is the successor to Bitcoin. Read why.

Monero ELI5 (Explain like I'm five) - a super simple explanation of how Monero works

Monero is digital cash. It’s like Bitcoin, but your activity is kept confidential.

Everyone stores their funds using a software application called a Monero wallet. Each wallet has its own receiving address. You tell other people this address so that they can send you funds.

When someone sends you funds, you can’t tell who sent it to you (unless they want you to know). Similarly, when you send funds, the recipient won’t know it was you that sent it, unless you tell them it was you. Because the movements of funds are kept private, no one can tell how rich anyone else is.

This is very different from Bitcoin, where everyone’s wealth and the people they’ve transacted with are a matter of public record. Monero’s privacy is important to prevent others from knowing how rich you are and to prevent them from spying on how you spend your money. It also keeps your business transactions confidential from competitors. Since Monero is untraceable, you do not have to worry that any funds you receive are tainted by anything suspicious the previous owner did with them.

Monero has no central point of authority. When you send funds to someone, a worldwide network of computers will come to an agreement among themselves that ownership of the funds has passed from one anonymous person to another. This means Monero cannot be shut down by any one country or authority.

The network of worldwide computers that verify and agree that transactions have taken place are called miners. The reason they are called miners is that they are rewarded with a small amount of funds in exchange for the work they do to verify transactions. The shared global record of transactions is called the blockchain.

To get started with Monero, all you need to do is download the Monero wallet. Then buy some Monero using dollars, pounds or euros from an exchange. The funds will appear in your Monero wallet, and you will be able to send some of your funds to any other person's Monero wallet.
Follow us
Exchange instantly
Sponsor
Latest Price
Sponsor
Monero.how Tutorials
Why Monero vs Bitcoin
Monero ELI5 (Explain like I'm five) - a super simple explanation of how Monero works
How Monero's privacy works
Monero Infographic
How long transactions take
Transaction fees
Glossary of the most important Monero terms
A low-level explanation of the mechanics of Monero vs Bitcoin in plain English
How to use the Monero GUI wallet
How to create a Monero command line wallet
How to speed up initial blockchain sync
How to send and receive Monero on the command line
How to prove you've made a payment
How to restore a command line wallet from your 25 word seed
How to verify your funds with a private view key
How to buy Monero
How to buy Monero via Coinbase
How to Buy Monero Using LocalMonero
How to Buy Monero Using Binance
Set up a Monero wallet on a USB pendrive linux computer using a remote daemon
How to mine Monero on Windows or Linux (Fedora or Ubuntu)
How to mine Monero with GPU
Monero mining calculator
How to run a Monero Node
Configure OpenAlias to more easily share your Monero address
How to Safely Hold Monero in Cold Storage
Create a paper wallet for secure offline storage
Display a Monero ticker on your Mac menu bar
Avoiding Google ad attacks
Trusted and untrusted sites
Send feedback, corrections or suggestions to hellomonero.how
Donations for running costs appreciated at 4JUdGzvrMFDWrUUwY3toJATSeNwjn54LkCnKBPRzDuhzi5vSepHfUckJNxRL2gjkNrSqtCoRUrEDAgRwsQvVCjZbRx8NCvspxJMRJcG69H
Thanks to Monero developers and community members that answered questions that contributed to the content in this site: jollymort, hyc, moneromoo, smooth, jwinterm, debruyne, fluffypony, pero, needmoney90, ferretinjapan, idunk, saddam, wolf0, daveyjones, snipa, gingeropolous, markos, othe, m5m400, luigi1111, kenshi84
Disclaimer: This site contains opinion for informational purposes only and does not consitute investment advice. Information may contain errors and omissions. Use solely at your own risk. Services listed here are run by third parties and are not vetted by this site. The authors of this site and/or the authors of articles linked to from this site may have financial investments that may bias their opinions, including ownership of Monero currency. Always do your own research, form your own opinions, and never take risks with money or trust third parties without verifying their credibility. Remember to take your computer security seriously and never use a computer or phone that is at risk of infection by untrusted software that may contain malware or viruses. © Copyright 2017.