[XMR] Monero - A secure, private, untraceable cryptocurrency

[dEBRUYNE]

Crosspost from reddit:

"We now accept Monero at GoBelle.me and ProductMonth.com"

Hi. This is just to let you know that we think highly of this cryptocurrency and for this reason we've implemented it for both https://productmonth.com and http://gobelle.me; we will also support it for implementation on the CoinPayments payment processor with the maximum of ten votes for each store that we have. We are building now a more complex platform that will accept cryptocurrencies and hopefully until it's done we can find a solution to implement automatic Monero payments without paying too much for a dedicated plugin. We're looking into it! Have a nice day

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/47j55o/we_now_accept_monero_at_gobelleme_and/

They also accept scamcoins like Dash and other crapcoins. Nothing special. 

Regardless of that, it's a good development for the Monero ecosystem.

[pönde]

I am creating some paperwallets by https://moneroaddress.org/

I anyway can avoid possible botnets by using that page offline when creating papewallet. But to be sure that the nmemonic seed is real, I has to check by some onlinewallet.

At the end of that site there is some guide of using GPG key. I guess a can download the same address-generator code from github and verify the validity of the code by GPG. The guide anyway is slightly messy for me. Can someone explain it more simple way? If it is possible?

[1] Download the .ZIP file from -> https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator. You can extract it on an USB, preferably a fresh one. It contains an HTML page that is used as generator and can be used offline.

[2] You can grab MoneroMooo's PGP key from -> https://raw.githubusercontent.com/monero-project/bitmonero/master/utils/gpg_keys/moneromooo.asc. Subsequently, you can use any PGP/GPG program to verify if the generator hasn't been tampered with. The program simply verifies that the generator has been PGP signed by MoneroMooo. You should see a message similar to:

gpg: Good signature from "moneromooo-monero <moneromooo-monero@users.noreply.github.com>

I am not sure, but I think this step can also be performed offline.

[3] Once you have verified the seed and have all the compartments on a fresh USB, you can bring the fresh USB to an offline/airgapped pc to generate a paperwallet with it.

Does this answer all your questions?

EDIT: Included a screenshot how [2] should look like:



EDIT2: If you or anyone else needs additional help or a walk through regarding [2], feel free to PM me on IRC. I am at #monero on freenode. I'll compile a guide for it later.

Looks like you have some kind of GUI GPG. Where is that available? I used linux command line.
Anyway. I progressed. This is what I did.


1. I downloaded the ZIP-file from https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator


2. I opened this site https://raw.githubusercontent.com/monero-project/bitmonero/master/utils/gpg_keys/moneromooo.asc and copypasted its whole contain to a texteditor, named the file as moneromooo.asc and saved it to the same directory where I dowloaded the ZIP file. I did not yet use USB stick since I am just testing.


3. I opened the linux command line and went to the folder where I put those files. I gave command
$gpg --import moneromooo.asc
gpg: /home.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 4D6CEFC3: public key "moneromooo-monero <moneromooo-monero@users.noreply.github.com>" bring
gpg: All in all treated: 1
gpg:               bring: 1  (RSA: 1)


4. I gave command
$ gpg --verify monero-wallet-generator.html.asc
gpg: Signature made to  7. january 2016 02.14.58 EET using RSA key ID 4D6CEFC3
gpg: Good signature from "moneromooo-monero <moneromooo-monero@users.noreply.github.com>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified as a reliable signature!
gpg:          There is no guarantee that the signature really belongs to its holder.
Primary key fingerprint: 48B0 8161 FBDA DFE3 93AD  FC3E 686F 0745 4D6C EFC3


So is everything just fine? Looks like there is some problem with the key. I am not using english linux so I made some translations to those messages. Do not wonder if the language looks slightly different than usually.

[dEBRUYNE]

I am creating some paperwallets by https://moneroaddress.org/

I anyway can avoid possible botnets by using that page offline when creating papewallet. But to be sure that the nmemonic seed is real, I has to check by some onlinewallet.

At the end of that site there is some guide of using GPG key. I guess a can download the same address-generator code from github and verify the validity of the code by GPG. The guide anyway is slightly messy for me. Can someone explain it more simple way? If it is possible?

[1] Download the .ZIP file from -> https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator. You can extract it on an USB, preferably a fresh one. It contains an HTML page that is used as generator and can be used offline.

[2] You can grab MoneroMooo's PGP key from -> https://raw.githubusercontent.com/monero-project/bitmonero/master/utils/gpg_keys/moneromooo.asc. Subsequently, you can use any PGP/GPG program to verify if the generator hasn't been tampered with. The program simply verifies that the generator has been PGP signed by MoneroMooo. You should see a message similar to:

gpg: Good signature from "moneromooo-monero <moneromooo-monero@users.noreply.github.com>

I am not sure, but I think this step can also be performed offline.

[3] Once you have verified the seed and have all the compartments on a fresh USB, you can bring the fresh USB to an offline/airgapped pc to generate a paperwallet with it.

Does this answer all your questions?

EDIT: Included a screenshot how [2] should look like:



EDIT2: If you or anyone else needs additional help or a walk through regarding [2], feel free to PM me on IRC. I am at #monero on freenode. I'll compile a guide for it later.

Looks like you have some kind of GUI GPG. Where is that available? I used linux command line.
Anyway. I progressed. This is what I did.


1. I downloaded the ZIP-file from https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator


2. I opened this site https://raw.githubusercontent.com/monero-project/bitmonero/master/utils/gpg_keys/moneromooo.asc and copypasted its whole contain to a texteditor, named the file as moneromooo.asc and saved it to the same directory where I dowloaded the ZIP file. I did not yet use USB stick since I am just testing.


3. I opened the linux command line and went to the folder where I put those files. I gave command
$gpg --import moneromooo.asc
gpg: /home.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 4D6CEFC3: public key "moneromooo-monero <moneromooo-monero@users.noreply.github.com>" bring
gpg: All in all treated: 1
gpg:               bring: 1  (RSA: 1)


4. I gave command
$ gpg --verify monero-wallet-generator.html.asc
gpg: Signature made to  7. january 2016 02.14.58 EET using RSA key ID 4D6CEFC3
gpg: Good signature from "moneromooo-monero <moneromooo-monero@users.noreply.github.com>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified as a reliable signature!
gpg:          There is no guarantee that the signature really belongs to its holder.
Primary key fingerprint: 48B0 8161 FBDA DFE3 93AD  FC3E 686F 0745 4D6C EFC3


So is everything just fine? Looks like there is some problem with the key. I am not using english linux so I made some translations to those messages. Do not wonder if the language looks slightly different than usually.

The key is still valid, so it isn't that. See:



EDIT: Moneromooo just stated on IRC that you should add his key/PGP to your trusted list. The key should be "4D6CEFC3", which seems all right in your case.

EDIT2: Program used is this -> https://www.gpg4win.org/download.html. Not sure if they have a linux/mac client somewhere.

[MoneroMooo]

I wouldn't add my key as a trusted one. It's enough to check that when you see a good signature, the key fingerprint matches the fingerprint of the key which is supposed to have signed.

Here, you imported my key, import says its fingerprint is 4D6CEFC3.

When you verify, you should check the signature was made by 4D6CEFC3 (ie, mine).

Anyone can make a key claiming to be from "moneromooo-monero <moneromooo-monero@users.noreply.github.com>", so do not trust that part. You need only trust you imported the right key in the first place. Then check the fingerprints match. That should be good enough.

[c789]

Looks like you have some kind of GUI GPG. Where is that available? I used linux command line.
Anyway. I progressed. This is what I did.

The GPG GUI is Kleopatra.

sudo apt-get install kleopatra

[ImI]

is there a GUI wallet?

[americanpegasus]

is there a GUI wallet?

This is a frequently asked question.  There will be one soon; it is fully funded and being worked on at the moment.  I personally estimate we will see it before the end of summer (if it even takes that long).  
  
In the meantime Monero is perfectly usable via command line, and there is always MyMonero.com to simplify the process for us non-techies.  The latter is an open-source, client side app that makes sending and receiving XMR a breeze.  It's so easy, even a console peasant could do it.  
 
There a few other unofficial GUI's that the community sometimes recommend, but I'm not familiar with them. 
  
Once it's out, the official GUI will unlock a new wave of awareness and excitement about Monero.  It won't be long because the major hurdles preceding it have been cleared.  Therefore if you are interested in Monero long term, now is the time to begin investigating it in earnest and skip to the front of the line.

[dEBRUYNE]

is there a GUI wallet?

Not yet, we recently funded a proposal to get it finished. See (there are also some screenshots there):

https://forum.getmonero.org/8/funding-required/2476/the-official-qt-gui-project

His work and the activity can be followed on:

https://github.com/mbg033?tab=activity

https://github.com/mbg033/monero-core

https://github.com/mbg033/bitmonero


The current options are:

-MyMonero, which is a web wallet and very convenient to use -> https://MyMonero.com.

-Simplewallet, this is a CLI, which might have a bit of a learning curve but does better in preserving your privacy. Binaries here -> https://getmonero.org/downloads/. You need to sync the whole blockchain from scratch though to use simplewallet. Syncing from scratch is done with the daemon (bitmonerod). If you want, I can walk you through on how to use simplewallet at IRC. Alternatively, feel free to ask any questions here.

-Jwinterm's lightwallet, which uses either your own or a remote node. See -> https://getmonero.org/getting-started/choose (at the bottom). Instructions on how to run a remote node here -> https://www.moneroclub.com/node

-Lastly, there is https://Moneroaddress.org which can be used to generate a paper wallet. It is simply a port of -> https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator and can be used offline.

Again, if you have any question, don't hesistate to ask!

[smooth]

-Jwinterm's lightwallet, which uses a remote node. See -> https://getmonero.org/getting-started/choose (at the bottom). Instructions on how to run a remote node here -> https://www.moneroclub.com/node

Can use either a remote node (less privacy, potentially less secure, but lightweight with respect to your own resources) or your own node (maximum privacy and security).

[nioc]

is there a GUI wallet?

I was trying to answer before any possible snarky answers were given as this is the eternal question.  However as usual I was too slow but am happy you were given proper answers. 

Anyway good to see you

[dEBRUYNE]

is there a GUI wallet?

I was trying to answer before any possible snarky answers were given as this is the eternal question.  However as usual I was too slow but am happy you were given proper answers.  

Anyway good to see you

Since the proposal of the official QT GUI was funded we can just point people to the FFS thread and the activity on Github, which is already a great improvement I think.

[ImI]

thx folks! at the moment i am satisfied with the paperwallet.

[c789]

As far as the I2P implementation into Monero, fluffypony has stated, "The issue was that we didn't want to add Java as a dependency for running Monero, so our focus has been on a C++ implementation of the I2P router." https://forum.bitcoin.com/ama-ask-me-anything/i-m-riccardo-fluffypony-spagni-of-the-monero-core-team-ask-me-anything-t2872.html

I'm just curious about why a C++ version of I2P is being chosen since "regular" I2P is Java-based. Does having Java as a dependency pose any risks and/or present greater overhead? As for speed, my guess is that C++ would be faster, but would it be that much faster? I'm slowly dabbling in those languages and don't know enough about either to know the pros/cons of each when it comes to this application. The language I know best is PHP.

[dEBRUYNE]

As far as the I2P implementation into Monero, fluffypony has stated, "The issue was that we didn't want to add Java as a dependency for running Monero, so our focus has been on a C++ implementation of the I2P router." https://forum.bitcoin.com/ama-ask-me-anything/i-m-riccardo-fluffypony-spagni-of-the-monero-core-team-ask-me-anything-t2872.html

I'm just curious about why a C++ version of I2P is being chosen since "regular" I2P is Java-based. Does having Java as a dependency pose any risks and/or present greater overhead? As for speed, my guess is that C++ would be faster, but would it be that much faster? I'm slowly dabbling in those languages and don't know enough about either to know the pros/cons of each when it comes to this application. The language I know best is PHP.

If I recall correctly your question gets answered in the missive, see:

http://podbay.fm/show/1032156854/e/1451151298?autostart=1

[aminorex]

Of course it does. Running the piece of shit JVM and requiring it is pretty heavy.

Your description of the JVM makes you look like a caveman, or at least a philistine.  A caveman with a good sense of mass, admittedly, but a caveman nonetheless.

Be it known: You can write screaming fast code for JVM.  It requires, however, some skill and understanding of the platform, which most HLL coders lack, probably because they don't need it.  (I have seen sub-microsecond HFT smart routing done in pure Java, to excellent effect.)  And the tooling ecosystem is without parallel.

Which is not an argument in favor of adding a dependency, by any means.  But I would be loathe to call English a p.o.s. language just because of the great vowel shift and a massively bloated lexicon.  Give Shakespeare some credit, man.

[CrowdWhale]

Alright... break it up guys. Please stick to such phrases as "we're going to the moon" and "we have a big announcement coming this week".

Thank you.

[tifozi]

As far as the I2P implementation into Monero, fluffypony has stated, "The issue was that we didn't want to add Java as a dependency for running Monero, so our focus has been on a C++ implementation of the I2P router." https://forum.bitcoin.com/ama-ask-me-anything/i-m-riccardo-fluffypony-spagni-of-the-monero-core-team-ask-me-anything-t2872.html

I'm just curious about why a C++ version of I2P is being chosen since "regular" I2P is Java-based. Does having Java as a dependency pose any risks and/or present greater overhead? As for speed, my guess is that C++ would be faster, but would it be that much faster? I'm slowly dabbling in those languages and don't know enough about either to know the pros/cons of each when it comes to this application. The language I know best is PHP.

If I recall correctly your question gets answered in the missive, see:

http://podbay.fm/show/1032156854/e/1451151298?autostart=1

Starts around 19:00 mark for those who are interested. Kovri is the right ammo for the fringe cases of any IP correlation leaks.

Edit: psi also never insinuates "java" or anything specific. Keywords: Memory Management and NOT Garbage Collection, no external dependencies/libraries

[phishead]

is there a GUI wallet?

Not yet, we recently funded a proposal to get it finished. See (there are also some screenshots there):

https://forum.getmonero.org/8/funding-required/2476/the-official-qt-gui-project

His work and the activity can be followed on:

https://github.com/mbg033?tab=activity

https://github.com/mbg033/monero-core

https://github.com/mbg033/bitmonero


The current options are:

-MyMonero, which is a web wallet and very convenient to use -> https://MyMonero.com.

-Simplewallet, this is a CLI, which might have a bit of a learning curve but does better in preserving your privacy. Binaries here -> https://getmonero.org/downloads/. You need to sync the whole blockchain from scratch though to use simplewallet. Syncing from scratch is done with the daemon (bitmonerod). If you want, I can walk you through on how to use simplewallet at IRC. Alternatively, feel free to ask any questions here.

-Jwinterm's lightwallet, which uses either your own or a remote node. See -> https://getmonero.org/getting-started/choose (at the bottom). Instructions on how to run a remote node here -> https://www.moneroclub.com/node

-Lastly, there is https://Moneroaddress.org which can be used to generate a paper wallet. It is simply a port of -> https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator and can be used offline.

Again, if you have any question, don't hesistate to ask!

So, I'm still confused about generating a secure paper wallet... if I were to bring up the web page, disconnect my computer from the internet and then generate a new wallet while offline, would that be acceptable in terms of security? I want to create a paper wallet, but I need a ELI5 version of what to do to create something that's very secure to store my xmr.

Also, if I deposit xmr into said paper wallet... how do I view the amount of xmr I have on there and spend them if I want later on down the road?

[luigi1111]

is there a GUI wallet?

Not yet, we recently funded a proposal to get it finished. See (there are also some screenshots there):

https://forum.getmonero.org/8/funding-required/2476/the-official-qt-gui-project

His work and the activity can be followed on:

https://github.com/mbg033?tab=activity

https://github.com/mbg033/monero-core

https://github.com/mbg033/bitmonero


The current options are:

-MyMonero, which is a web wallet and very convenient to use -> https://MyMonero.com.

-Simplewallet, this is a CLI, which might have a bit of a learning curve but does better in preserving your privacy. Binaries here -> https://getmonero.org/downloads/. You need to sync the whole blockchain from scratch though to use simplewallet. Syncing from scratch is done with the daemon (bitmonerod). If you want, I can walk you through on how to use simplewallet at IRC. Alternatively, feel free to ask any questions here.

-Jwinterm's lightwallet, which uses either your own or a remote node. See -> https://getmonero.org/getting-started/choose (at the bottom). Instructions on how to run a remote node here -> https://www.moneroclub.com/node

-Lastly, there is https://Moneroaddress.org which can be used to generate a paper wallet. It is simply a port of -> https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator and can be used offline.

Again, if you have any question, don't hesistate to ask!

So, I'm still confused about generating a secure paper wallet... if I were to bring up the web page, disconnect my computer from the internet and then generate a new wallet while offline, would that be acceptable in terms of security? I want to create a paper wallet, but I need a ELI5 version of what to do to create something that's very secure to store my xmr.

Also, if I deposit xmr into said paper wallet... how do I view the amount of xmr I have on there and spend them if I want later on down the road?

For your first question/scenario, it just depends on how paranoid you are (which may in turn depend on the amount). If you take your computer offline before generating, never commit the generated seed to disk, and restart before reconnecting, then you're very likely going to be ok.

You can tell how much money is in the paper wallet by noting when you send money to it.

You could also save the viewkey and create a watch-only wallet that would use resources to make sure no one else has somehow deposited funds to your cold wallet.

If you ever spend from the "cold wallet" (which doesn't make sense to me), then balance calculation becomes more difficult (but will be reported by the program that spent the funds).

Edit: there is a simple-ish tool that can confirm that your cold wallet did indeed receive what you think you sent to it (like http://xmr.llcoins.net/checktx.html). This takes very little processing since it's only checking a specific transaction.

[phishead]

is there a GUI wallet?

Not yet, we recently funded a proposal to get it finished. See (there are also some screenshots there):

https://forum.getmonero.org/8/funding-required/2476/the-official-qt-gui-project

His work and the activity can be followed on:

https://github.com/mbg033?tab=activity

https://github.com/mbg033/monero-core

https://github.com/mbg033/bitmonero


The current options are:

-MyMonero, which is a web wallet and very convenient to use -> https://MyMonero.com.

-Simplewallet, this is a CLI, which might have a bit of a learning curve but does better in preserving your privacy. Binaries here -> https://getmonero.org/downloads/. You need to sync the whole blockchain from scratch though to use simplewallet. Syncing from scratch is done with the daemon (bitmonerod). If you want, I can walk you through on how to use simplewallet at IRC. Alternatively, feel free to ask any questions here.

-Jwinterm's lightwallet, which uses either your own or a remote node. See -> https://getmonero.org/getting-started/choose (at the bottom). Instructions on how to run a remote node here -> https://www.moneroclub.com/node

-Lastly, there is https://Moneroaddress.org which can be used to generate a paper wallet. It is simply a port of -> https://github.com/moneromooo-monero/monero-wallet-generator and can be used offline.

Again, if you have any question, don't hesistate to ask!

So, I'm still confused about generating a secure paper wallet... if I were to bring up the web page, disconnect my computer from the internet and then generate a new wallet while offline, would that be acceptable in terms of security? I want to create a paper wallet, but I need a ELI5 version of what to do to create something that's very secure to store my xmr.

Also, if I deposit xmr into said paper wallet... how do I view the amount of xmr I have on there and spend them if I want later on down the road?

For your first question/scenario, it just depends on how paranoid you are (which may in turn depend on the amount). If you take your computer offline before generating, never commit the generated seed to disk, and restart before reconnecting, then you're very likely going to be ok.

You can tell how much money is in the paper wallet by noting when you send money to it.

You could also save the viewkey and create a watch-only wallet that would use resources to make sure no one else has somehow deposited funds to your cold wallet.

If you ever spend from the "cold wallet" (which doesn't make sense to me), then balance calculation becomes more difficult (but will be reported by the program that spent the funds).

Edit: there is a simple-ish tool that can confirm that your cold wallet did indeed receive what you think you sent to it (like http://xmr.llcoins.net/checktx.html). This takes very little processing since it's only checking a specific transaction.

Ok that mostly makes sense... but I'm not quite sure what you mean by the bolded part.  Sorry if it's kind of basic common knowledge about computers, but I'm not sure what you mean about making sure not to commit the generated seed to the disk?  What disk?