Monero Executes Hard Fork Improving Privacy And Security

Monero executes hard fork in order to improve privacy and security of their ecosystem. On August 13 carried out a protocol upgrade to enhance a number of the network’s privacy and security features.

Almost 4 months after it was announced, the hard fork was carried out successfully on block 2,688,888 owing to the combined efforts of more than 70 engineers.

Monero Executes Hard Fork – Extensive Protocol Enhancements

According to their website, the hard fork included a number of modifications to the internal multi-signature process to simplify the flow of data such as key sets and data synchronization across wallets.

“Multisig means that a transaction needs multiple signatures before it can be submitted to the Monero network and executed. Instead of one Monero wallet creating, signing, and submitting transactions all on its own, you will have a whole group of wallets and collaboration between them to transact.”

In addition, from 11 to 16 cosigners are now necessary to confirm ring signatures. Ring signatures make it hard to track the origin of network transactions. One characteristic has made Monero the most well-liked cryptocurrency among fans of privacy.

In order to strengthen the network’s anonymity, the bulletproof algorithm was improved to bulletproof+, a zero-knowledge proof technique launched in 2018. Bulletproof+ hides the precise amounts of transactions and only displays the transactions’ origin and destination.

The addition of the “View tags” option, a new feature that speeds up wallet synchronization by 30% to 40%, was another noteworthy enhancement brought about by the latest version. This is essential to improving the efficiency of the whole Monero ecosystem (XMR).

Focus To Remain On Privacy And Security

By offering a permanent incentive to miners relying on “acceptable fees” to ensure the network’s security and untraceability, the hard fork will signify a major shift from Bitcoin’s security paradigm.

Since this is Monero’s sixteenth version and most likely won’t be the last, greater advancements in terms of network security and privacy may be anticipated at a time when governments are pursuing other privacy-oriented protocols and developers.

A Tornado Cash developer was recently detained in Amsterdam for his involvement in the development of a tool used by criminals to launder money. A smart contract called Tornado Cash combines the transactions of users that pay it their money. It is a decentralized initiative even though it collaborated with US regulations and at one point forbade some of the wallets that the OFAC had previously sanctioned.