• Website: https://getmonero.org
  
• Source Code: https://github.com/monero-project/monero
  
• Wallet Release: https://github.com/monero-project/monero/releases
  
• Wallets Downloads: https://www.getmonero.org/downloads/
  
• Offline Paper Wallet Generator: https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator
  

DO NOT USE CLOSED SOURCE WALLETS such as exodus, as software that are not open source can do shady things in the background without anyone knowing about it
DO NOT KEEP FUNDS IN EXCHANGES:
If you dont have your keys then it's not your coins, coins that are stored on exchanges do not belong to you since those exchanges dont share the private keys/mnemonic seed with you, you might not have heard of Mt. Gox yet but every centralized exchanges can do exactly that at any point in time
Instead, you can make a paper wallet, for example with the offline paper wallet generator by opening the `.html` file in an offline browser and writing down the 25 words mnemonic seed to backup your keys

###########################
# HOW TO RESTORE WALLET FROM SEED:
###########################

with the official monero CLI for example, it would be with the `--restore-deterministic-wallet` parameter while launching `monero-wallet-cli` (`monerod` also has to be opened and synced up at the same time, instructions on how to sync the blockchain are below)

so if on linux:

then paste the 25 words mnemonic seed when prompted

if on windows:
right click in the same folder the `monero-wallet-cli.exe` is, create a new file with the extension `.bat` (can be .txt document then renaming the extension to change it to .bat, however windows doesnt show extensions by default anymore so make sure it's enabled)
open that newly created `.bat` file in text editor like notpad and edit it's content with:

save it, double click it and paste the 25 words mnemonic seed when prompted to restore your wallet from seed


###################
# SYNCING THE BLOCKCHAIN:
###################

It is also good practice to be your own node and having locally the blockchain data rather than relying one someone else's node
Currently the Monero's blockchain is about 150 GB which in comparaison Bitcoin's blockchain currently is about 300 GB and Ethereum about 800 GB (full Etereum archive node is few Tera Bytes)
If you do not have the storage space (150 GB), you could just run the official monero GUI in "simple mode" and it'll automatically connect to a remote node (which may or may not be trusted, same way as with bitcoin when using wallets such as electrum and such that do not require you to have the full blockchain data stored)

When launching the daemon `monerod` it'll by default sync the blockchain in the folder `~/.bitmonero` if on linux or %APPDATA% if on windows, to manually change the path to where you might have enough space would be with the `--data-dir` parameter
So same instructions as above for restoring from seed, if for example you want the blockchain to be stored on the "F:\" drive instead of the default C:\, that would be something like:

some more parameters options can be found at: https://monerodocs.org/interacting/monerod-reference/

It's worth noting that, syncing on an SSD usually takes about 12 hours (assuming there is no bottlenecking on internet connection, cpu and such)
Or could be few days if on an HDD, so if you really want it to be on an HDD instead, it's still better to sync in it up on SSD first then manually moving it to HDD only after it's already fully synced up


###################
# HOW TO USE MONERO-CLI
###################

By typing `help` in both `monerod.exe` and `monero-wallet-cli.exe` you'll find an exhaustive list of commands you can do, they both have their own list of commands
so for example, to send monero to someone, while both `monerod` and `monero-wallet-cli` are opened and fully synced up, typing the command in the `monero-wallet-cli "transfer ADDRESS AMOUNT" so like:


would be sending 4.20 to that address or "sweep_all" would be to send everything at once without having to specify the amount so like:


sidenote: addresses that starts with a "4" are main address, only 1 per wallet, addresses that starts with an "8" are subaddresses which you can have as many as you want per wallet

###################################
# WHAT IS MONERO AND WHAT IS IT AIMING AT TO BE
###################################

You might have heard about "NFTs", well, Monero is the complete opposite of that as it's aiming to be fully fungible, same way as cash is
It's widely known nowadays that 1 BTC != 1 BTC due to it's lack of fungibility, every bitcoin has an history and can be refused, blocked or even censored at the protocol level (BIP 119 was the proposal that would allow to censor bitcoin at the protocol level)
Monero fixes that due to it's privacy nature, 1 XMR = 1 XMR, same way as a banknote would be accepted by merchants like any other backnotes without discrimination from their potential hiistory

It's also aiming at being fully decentralized and not controlled by corporations, ASIC manufacturers and such
It's mining algorithm allows it to be mined by most people using general purpose hardware they already have, unlike bitcoin which is centralized through specialized hardware
So by being on CPU, it allows anyone with a desktop, laptop, phone, single board computer (raspberry pi, odroid...) to support the network
Back in 2020 when china banned mining, we could see on the graphs that all the cryptocurrency mining power went down, except monero that kept going up at the time due to it's actual decentralized nature unlike bitcoin

It is very cheap to transact, can literally buy your daily coffee with it for only half a cent in fees that are going back to miners
Unlike bitcoin which is extremely expensive (few dollars) to send a single transaction
(Which, bitcoin is trying to solve their issues by adopting "layer 2 solutions" (such as segwit back in 2017 and now Lightning Network that are meant to take the fees offchain), issue with those solutions is that, the fees that were meant to be mined by miners are now being taken offchain so that removes the incentive for miners to keep supporting the network when the block reward will be getting lower after few more halving and will eventually lead to layer 1 network security issues in few years, hence why bitcoin solutions to bitcoin are creating more issues than they solving and the reason why Monero already solves those straight up from layer 1 thought the "tail emission" with that constant 0.6 block reward + network fees)

#################
# WHERE TO USE MONERO
#################

• https://shopinbit.com
  in europe: have computers, computer parts, laptops, phones, general electronic, bikes, electrik bikes, sports/workout thingies and recently added a lineup for self care and such
  they dont even requires a customer account (can still make one if you need package tracking but works well without), also have the "consierge service" which is basically personal shopper, can send them a link from anything like amazon or whatever, pay them in monero and they'll do the purchase for you
  
  
• https://coincards.com
  USA/Canada giftcards/coupons for like amazon, some food/groceries and such (they released their numbers few months ago that monero got ahead of bitcoin from their userbase in USA)
  
  
• CAKEPAY from their cake mobile wallets: https://cakewallet.com and https://monero.com (they're the same wallet, only difference is that the cake one is multi currency)
  Currently only in USA with over 150,000 different locations accepting monero, here's a youtube video of techlore using it: https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=gFIg2ycs5-s
  Europe and more are coming soon as well
  
  
• https://bitrefill.com
  worldwide: similar to coincards so like, giftcards/coupons for like amazon, local food/groceries stores (also things like just-eat and such), ikea, some clothings or whatever, phones top-up, thingies for video games so like blizzard, steam, riot games balance etc
  actually bought my D2 and D2R copies thanks to that one :3
  unfortunately they dont accept monero just yet (even tho their CEO did an interview on their youtube channel few months ago: https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=ZZekMo4mCg4 saying that there is only 2 real coins out there which are bitcoin and monero)
  so maybe soon, in the meantime, can use https://fixedfloat.com with the "fix" option to pay them by sending monero and it'll automatically do the conversion to send them any other cryptocoin they may accept without registration required
  
  
• https://travala.com
  hotels, flights around the world, they been accepting monero for few years now
  
  
• https://kycnot.me/services
  lists a few services that also accepts monero such as vpn, vps providers, personnal shoppers and such
  
• Some more lists can be found over: https://www.getmonero.org/community/merchants/ and https://acceptedhere.io/
  

#####################
# HOW TO ACQUIRE MONERO:
#####################

If you dont already have any other cryptocoins:

• Mining
  https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig is the software that can mine, there is a bunch of people mining on the network so you might not get much, maybe just to cover the electricity costs, so like, could just run some mining in winter to have free heating (at electricity cost basically)
  
  
• https://localmonero.co
  local sellers/buyers of monero, prefered option with less tracking and avoiding kyc would be with "cash by mail", "cash locally" or also "cash by ATM" which is giving an ATM code to the seller so they could withdraw cash directly from an ATM with it
  
  
• https://haveno.exchange (WIP)
  currently not out yet, HavenoDEX (https://github.com/haveno-dex/haveno) will be same principle as localmonero but as an actual decentralized exchange, it's a fork of https://bisq.network but based on monero instead of bitcoin, and also has an other fork of it being worked on (Penumbra: https://github.com/l0nelyc0w/Penumbra)
  
  
• https://kraken.com
  centralized KYC'd exchanges are to be avoided but if it's your only option (which it shouldnt) so could use it if kraken is available in your country, there's also binance in europe that has xmr, still, centralized exchanges (especially binance are to be avoided)
  

If you already have other cryptocoins such as bitcoin:

• https://github.com/serai-dex/serai (WIP)
  currently not out yet, being actively worked on as a decentralized exchange which would be one of the go to when officially released
  
  
• https://fixedfloat.com
  doesnt require registration, can do it straight up from the front page, it gets its liquidity from binance and such
  
  
• other swap services:
  https://sideshift.ai/
  https://simpleswap.io/
  https://changenow.io/
  
  
• https://tradeogre.com
  centralized exchange that doesnt require KYC, been reliable for years now and way more trusted than binance
  
  
• https://kycnot.me/
  lists few options that doesnt require KYC
  

##############
# ADDITIONAL LINKS
##############

Why KYC is actually dangerous, is putting people at risk and should be avoided:
https://bitcoinqna.github.io/noKYConly/

Overall good practice to adopt:
https://blog.keys.casa/how-to-protect-your-bitcoin-from-5-wrench-attacks/

Your KYC link advocates for tax evasion under the guise of safety. Funny that it doesn't even mention people sending their PID, government IDs, and other sensitive documents to random foreign based third party exchanges. How many passport photos does the Chinese Binance organization have? CCP spoof fake passports for years with their data.

uh... i dont think that's the point? and even if it was, would you pay taxes on your fg...? it just doesnt make sense
like, when am buying something from shopinbit using monero, i still pay 20% VAT or so, that's a big tax right there, that's not really evading anything
when i buy a ber rune on jsp, there is not VAT so, is jsp trading is evading taxes? the whole tax thing is just dumb anyways and shouldnt even be a thing in the first place....
also that link advocates for bitcoin instead of monero so u know.. take it with a grain of salt anyways

sidenote, since u mentioning china, they had a massive data breach recently as well, 1 billions citizens got their info leaked like addresses, phone numbers, criminal records and whatnot: https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=Eb3E5vKFxrk
point is that, any type of data collection is bad, so yeah, china data collection is bad, so is facebook, google or even oracle

RIP

Rest in Peace daddy McAfee

coke fueled rant being like nobody uses bitcoin, only monero:
https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=FnKrMKo_WlU

how to uninstall mcafee antivirus:
https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=Wd6dKjVp9l0

great interview regarding phone security and whatnot:
https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=NQsQviHLZsE
like, if a phone can be rooted then it can be remotely and is not secure and such

then there was also the documentary that was calling out the lies from the vice documentary and such that it was basically all bullshit, actors paid to lie and such while he was actually loved by everyone that knew him

legends never die UwU
https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=r6zIGXun57U

o.o
https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=vA7E0OX-QHU

This post was edited by derpykitty on Sep 18 2022 07:30pm

Actually had high hopes for this crypto. Especially given it's privacy intended use.
sucks to see it go down with all the rest, despite being different from the rest.

adoption keeps going up, price doesnt really matter tbh, as long as more and more merchants accepting it worldwide, price is just secondary tbh
not here to make millions or whatever, just have an actual usable currency, which is literally the only working one
which for some even fiat through bank accounts and whatnot is not really a possibility:
https://agorism.blog/anarkio/why-the-states-monopoly-on-identity-is-more-dangerous-than-google-facebook
https://agorism.blog/anarkio/the-rarely-discussed-dangers-of-kyc-and-what-you-can-do-about-it