Monero Announcement - Reading Assignment

[Grant_Hawkins]

Read the original Bitcointalk announcement for Monero. Answer the questions and post your answers below:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=583449.0

1. When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?
3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?

[anoninuk]

1. When was the thread published and how many times has it been read?
   April 25, 2014 at 12:38:50 AM, Read 4609538 Times
2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?
   There were 7 ‘Core Team’ members
3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
   Ring Signatures and one-time keys
4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?
   XMR mixes outputs rather then transactions. A user is not restricted to mixing only if others are sending the same amount. Arbitrary amounts can be sent at any time without anyone else’s participation.

[bitbooz]

1. The thread was published April, 25,2014 12:38:50
2. 7 Core Team Members
3. Ring signatures and one time keys
4. XMR’s ring signatures are also far more secure and convenient than CoinJoin because they mix outputs not transactions. This means a transaction doesn’t involve waiting around for other senders to mix with. Nor is a user restricted to mixing only if others are sending the same amount. Arbitrary amounts can be sent at any time without anyone else’s participation. This feature makes a timing analysis of the blockchain useless.

[LeoSp22]

1. It was published on April 24, 2014 and so far it has been read 4609976 times.
2. There are 7 Core Team members.
3. The stated benefits are related to Ring signatures and one-time keys.
4. It is said that XMR is similar to CoinJoin and other mixing methods. However, it is better in terms of the possibility of using a new cryptographic method to provide decentralized, trustless mixing thanks to the fact that it is less vulnerable to attacks and grants more anonymity than CoinJoin applications. Also, the use of ring signatures allow to mix outputs rather than transactions, making it less time-taking, faster and more efficient.

[csh2000]

1. When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
   April 25th 2014, 4610330.

2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?
   7

3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
   Monero uses ring signatures, that was a much simpler and mature cryptography.
   ZK system could be compromised and a attacker could spend coins that do not exist hidden from everybody.

4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?
   Monero provides decentralized and trustless mixing, do not need to trust operators or masternodes.
   Monero´s ring signatures mix outputs, not transactions, so you do not have to coordinate with other senders in time or ammount.

[pepemadrid]

1. April 25, 2014, read 4610495 times.
2. There are 6: Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, luigi1111, NoodleDoodle, smooth, tacotime and Franciso “ArticMine” Cabañas.
3. CryptoNote aims for a different balance through the dual layers of privacy provided by one-time keys and ring signatures.
4. XMR’s ring signatures are also far more secure and convenient than CoinJoin because they mix outputs not transactions. This means a transaction doesn’t involve waiting around for other senders to mix with. Nor is a user restricted to mixing only if others are sending the same amount. Arbitrary amounts can be sent at any time without anyone else’s participation.

[SalJoaNoc]

1. Published on 25th April 2014 and read 4610724 times.
2. 6 ‘core team’ members.
3. Ring Signatures and one-time keys.
4. Monero provides decentralized and trustless mixing. It doesn’t need to trust operators or masternodes. Monero´s ring signatures mix outputs and not transactions.

[Gab]

• When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
  25/04/2014 read 4611287 times.

• How many ‘core team’ members are there?
  6 members( Fluffypony, luigi1111, NoodleDoodle, smooth, tacotime, ArticMine )

• What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
  in this system e have ting signatures and one time keys to raise the anonymity set.

• What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?
  -More sound cryptography techniques
  -elevated anonymity set
  -more time efficient and less limited (arbitrary amount), mixing utxo’s and not Tx.

[cocco]

1. april 25 2014 read 4609976 times
   2.6 core team memeber
2. benefits over zerocoin has not yet benefited from years of testing and use. so an exploit might be found down the road. Benefit to zkp. requires holder of of the generated private key to destroy the key. it also hides the identity of the whole economy, so if there is a exploit, one could create false proofs forever as there is no way to see if the community has been compromised
3. ring signatures mix outputs, not signatures. so no need to wait for other signatures. nor is user restricted to waiting for someone to spend amount, arbitrary amounts can be spent

[CryptoLee6]

1. Published on April 25, 2014 12:38:50 and so far it has been read 4611878 times.
2. There are 7 Core Team members.
3. The stated benefits are related to Ring signatures and one-time keys.
4. It is said that XMR is similar to CoinJoin and other mixing methods. However, it is better in terms of the possibility of using a new cryptographic method to provide decentralized, trustless mixing thanks to the fact that it is less vulnerable to attacks and grants more anonymity than CoinJoin applications. Also, the use of ring signatures allow to mix outputs rather than transactions, making it less time-taking, faster and more efficient.

[Roman]

1. April 25, 2014, 12:38:50 AM read 4612001 times
2. 7
3. Well researched cryptography, no trust required. Higher quality of anonymity.
4. No need to wait for other users sending the same amount. More secure as it mix outputs, not transactions.

[Raulitiu]

1. When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
   April 25, 2014, 4612130 times

2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?
   Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, luigi1111, NoodleDoodle, smooth, tacotime, Franciso “ArticMine” Cabañas, othe

3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
   CryptoNote aims for a different balance through the dual layers of privacy provided by one-time keys and ring signatures.Ring signatures are much simpler and more mature, with many peer-reviewed papers published over more than a decade.

4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?
   CryptoNote mixes outputs not transactions. Arbitrary amounts can be sent at any time without anyone else’s participation. This feature makes a timing analysis of the blockchain useless.

[CryptoDragon]

1. When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?

• published: April 25, 2014
• Read 4612152 times

2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?
   6 core team members

3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
   Ring signatures are based on mature, proven research. ZKP relies an a RSA private key being destroyed by the founders. ZKP obscures the entire economy, so it is not detectable when money is created out of thin air.

4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?
   CoinJoin mixes transactions while Monero mixes outputs. The advantages are that the sender does not need to wait for other transactions and others’ signatures and find transactions of equal denominations to obscure the transaction.

[firepol]

1. When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?

It has been published on April 25, 2014, 12:38:50 AM, Read 4612282 times (on April 25, 2020, 5:10PM UTC). 4.6M views in 6 years, not bad!

Note: the views can be found after the header of the post: Author | Topic: XYZ (Read x times)

2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?

7: Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, luigi1111, NoodleDoodle, smooth, tacotime, Franciso “ArticMine” Cabañas, othe

Note, they are still 7 core members even now, see Monero Team page

3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?

ZK is a new cryptographic system and as such, it is not mature enough, meaning many researchers and hackers will try to break it. So it’s possible that an exploit will emerge soon or later, making this a risky system to use.

Ring signatures are a much more mature system, they were designed in 2001, are simple and work well enough.

Another issue of ZKP: the RSA private key used to initiate the accumulator must be trusted to be destroyed by the generating party. If the ZK system is compromised, then an attacker can continuously spend coins that don’t exist using false proofs. Also, we can’t know if the syste has been yet compromised or not.

4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?

XMR’s ring signatures are far more secure and convenient than CoinJoin because:

• they mix outputs, not transactions;
• no need to wait for other senders to mix with;
• no restriction for the user to mix with other users sending the same amount;
• arbitrary amounts can be sent at any time without anyone else’s participation: this makes a timing analysis of the blockchain useless.

[Dejan]

1. When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
   • April 2014, 4612421 times read
2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?
   • 7
3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
   • Ring signatures are simpler and more mature (time tested, proven) methods. And with one-time keys it is prevented that when there is a compromise that double spends can continue to be made without the network knowing it: it prevents an attacker being able to continuously spend coins that don’t exist using false proofs.
4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?
   • XMR’s ring signatures are also far more secure and convenient than CoinJoin because they mix outputs not transactions. XMR relyies on the protocol cryptography for decentralised and trustless mixing, rather then on the miners or other centralised services. Also You don’t have to wait for other participants with the same transaction amount.

[dAnijboned]

1. When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
   April 25, 2014, 12:38:50 AM. Read 4612522 times.

2. How many ‘core team’ members are there?
   7: Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, luigi1111, NoodleDoodle, smooth, tacotime, Franciso “ArticMine” Cabañas, othe.

3. What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
   More “mature” and proven cryptography techniques. ZKP also obscures the entire economy, so an attacker could take an advantage of some exploit to expend unexisting coins.

4. What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?
   If CoinJoin is implemented through mixing services. Operators of this services must be trusted, and they are exposed to hackers and attacks. Another benefit is that Monero transactions don’t need to wait for users to join the “mix” for the transaction to be completed.

[Dimitar_Stefanov]

1. April 25, 2014, 12:38:50 AM
2. There are 7 Core Team members.
3. Uses all addresses as anonimity set
4. Transaction doesn’t involve waiting around for other senders to mix with. Nor is a user restricted to mixing only if others are sending the same amount.

[Maximus]

@Grant_Hawkins

• When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
• How many ‘core team’ members are there?
• What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
• What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-based approaches?

1. April 25 2014 (12:38:50
2. 7
3. Ring signatures and one time key
4. It mixes outputs not transactions and therefore offers more anonymity,efficiency (speed due to not waiting for other similar transactions or denominations) making it more decentralized.

[diogozas]

1- April 25, 2014, 12:38:50 AM 4612694 times

2- Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, luigi1111, NoodleDoodle, smooth, tacotime, Franciso “ArticMine” Cabañas, othe. - 7

3- ZKP hasn’t been subjected to years of cryptanalysis, so exploits may emerge down the road. On the other hand, monero’s ring signatures are much simpler and more mature, with many peer-reviewed papers published over more than a decade. CryptoNote aims for a different balance through the dual layers of privacy provided by one-time keys and ring signatures.

4-
XMR is more qualitatively similar to mixing implementations like CoinJoin. The differences arise in the departure from the Bitcoin protocol, which allows XMR to use new cryptography to provide decentralized and trustless mixing of superior quality. In practice, a few VPS (Virtual Private Service) companies host the vast majority of nodes and this approach relies on the integrity and good behavior of these nodes. XMR’s more fundamental cryptographic approach doesn’t have these vulnerabilities and the quality of anonymity is much higher.
XMR’s ring signatures are also far more secure and convenient than CoinJoin because they mix outputs not transactions. This means a transaction doesn’t involve waiting around for other senders to mix with. Nor is a user restricted to mixing only if others are sending the same amount. Arbitrary amounts can be sent at any time without anyone else’s participation. This feature makes a timing analysis of the blockchain useless.

[Baidis]

@Grant_Hawkins

• When was the thread published, and how many times has it been read?
• How many ‘core team’ members are there?
• What are the stated benefits over ZeroCoin and ZKP-based approaches?
• What are the stated benefits over CoinJoin-basedapproaches?

1. April 25, 2014, 12:38:50 AM (Read 4611829 times)

2. 7

3. No trusted setup and a lot more peer review of the methods used. Since this was written Bullet proofs was added to Monero also. Bullet proofs create proof without trusted setup and has scaling benefits.

4.Not needing the VPS nodes.