MoneroV Fork Presents A Threat To Privacy Lovers
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Monero (XMR) does one thing very well. Privacy. The ring signature untraceability mechanism means nobody can tell what you own, receive, send, or spend. But now a new fork – MoneroV – could jeopardize the privacy so coveted by anonymous original coin holders.
It seems that there is a new fork popping out of the drawer every other day lately. From the unsupported LCC fork disparaged by Charlie Lee to outright scams masquerading under the Bitcoin name. 2018 is heating up to be a contentious time for would-be forkers.
The latest in this chain of forks comes next from a split off of Monero (XMR). MoneroV (XMV) is a chain split and will inherit Monero’s block history moving forward. Many in the community feel that this is an attack on the sanctity and privacy of the Monero network.
MoneroV Privacy Concerns
The Monero blockchain protects the sender and receiver by maintaining ring signatures. The ring signature combines the user’s account keys with the public keys taken off of the Monero blockchain. Essentially, this means that no outsider can trace a user’s identity back to their signature.
Initial transactions made on the new MoneroV blockchain will link directly to the original Monero counterpart.This negatively affects other transactions occurring on the network.
Although not created by the official dev team, this video discusses some of the issues with parting with your private Monero key. (It’s an interesting view for anyone who wants a better understanding of ring signatures and how the coin operates.)[bs-embed url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlVsMTeT_nE” title=”What The Chain Split Means For Monero” show_title=”1″ icon=”” bs-show-desktop=”1″ bs-show-tablet=”1″ bs-show-phone=”1″ bs-text-color-scheme=”” custom-css-class=”” custom-id=”” css=””]While this is a threat to the Monero network, MoneroV will actually be the one with more problems. Since a large amount of their outputs are traceable – would-be MoneroV adopters can kiss their privacy goodbye.
No Official Support for MoneroV
As is customary with most forks, the core development team does not endorse or support the new fork.
PSA: We are not affiliated with nor do we endorse MoneroV. Furthermore, we strongly discourage Monero users to reuse their keys to claim their MoneroV: https://t.co/ylZMfyE5Dy
— Monero || #xmr (@monerocurrency) February 16, 2018
In an official report released earlier in February, the Monero development team talked about the problems of key reuse and how it’ll affect the integrity and privacy of the network. They were clear about not using Monero Keys for any other reason.
Monero is considered by many to be one of the most secure and private cryptocurrencies out there. Much to the chagrin of law enforcement and regulators, it remains one of the most difficult currencies to track.
According to the MoneroV website, they believe that their hard fork will fulfill the need of a complete anonymous solution with low fees. All Monero holders they claim will receive their airdrop of coins at block 1529810 approximately on 14th of March 2018. The standard amount of coins is 10 to every 1 Monero owned.
The V forkers also promise “An advanced privacy coin with extra add-ons, more governance, less spam and botnet mining. Our development team works on several key features such as MimbleWimble protocol integration, sidechain support, spam elimination and more.”
The Monero development team did offer some advice for those curious enough to venture into a new fork.
- Forkers, if you’re forking Monero, DO NOT ask users to reuse their Monero keys, but have them create new keys for your fork.
- Users, if a forker asks you to use your Monero keys for their fork (after this notification is published), they’re trying to manipulate you into being part of a large scale attack on Monero.
The MoneroV team stated they will be releasing 158 million XMV at the time of the fork with a capped supply of 256 million. However, without any support and with potential problems to the integrity of Monero at risk – MoneroV joins a crowded space of anonymous altcoins with stiff competition.
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