XMRCommon questions, answered plainly
No filler.
Is paying with Monero actually private?
Yes, by design. Monero hides the sender with ring signatures, the receiver with stealth addresses, and the amount with confidential transactions, all on by default. Unlike Bitcoin there is no public trail linking the payment back to you.
Why not just use Bitcoin over Tor?
Because Tor hides your connection but not your payment. Bitcoin writes every transaction into a permanent public ledger, and chain-analysis firms trace those back to real people. The coin is a separate rail from Tor, and Bitcoin is the leaky one.
How do I get Monero without an ID check?
Buy from another person through an escrow-backed peer trade, or swap from a coin you already hold using an accountless instant exchange. Both avoid handing a central exchange a file tying your name to the purchase.
Which wallet should I use?
Feather on desktop is the easiest sensible choice, Cake Wallet is the strong pick on a phone, and the official GUI suits anyone wanting to run their own node. All three can route through Tor. Whatever you pick, write the seed on paper.
What is a Monero-only market?
A market that accepts Monero and no other coin. Dropping Bitcoin removes the one payment path that would land on a public ledger. It is a privacy stance, not a missing feature, since Monero is the coin a privacy-minded buyer wanted anyway.
Which market do you recommend?
BlackOps. It is Monero only, has run since 2024 with 2 of 3 multisig escrow, and keeps several onion links live for uptime. Its verified links are on the where-to-spend page. Always confirm the address on the login screen.
How do I avoid a phishing copy?
Copy your link from a source you trust, never type an onion from memory, and every session read the address on the login page back against your bar. Real markets print their onion in the anti-phishing image and the header. If they do not match, close the tab.
A few terms
- Monero (XMR)
- A cryptocurrency that hides sender, receiver and amount by default. The private coin for spending on Tor.
- Ring signature
- Blends your spend with decoy inputs so no observer can prove which input was yours.
- Stealth address
- A one-time destination generated per payment, so the address on the chain is never the recipient real wallet.
- Confidential transaction
- Hides the amount of a Monero payment while still letting the network verify the sums.
- Non-KYC
- Acquiring coin without an identity check, through a peer trade or an accountless swap.
- Escrow
- A holding account, ideally 2 of 3 multisig, that keeps payment until buyer and vendor agree the order is done.
- Recovery seed
- The words that restore a wallet or account. They are the wallet. Keep them on paper and never type them into a site.
- Onion address
- A fifty-six character Tor address ending in .onion. Copy it, never type it, and verify it on the login screen.