By XMRWallet Team · Published · 5 min read
2026 Note: This article was originally written during mid-2022. Price data, exchange recommendations, and market commentary from that period are not reproduced here as they no longer reflect current conditions. The sections below preserve the durable content — MoneroKon, Monero's privacy architecture, and security advice — updated where needed.
MoneroKon 2022: Lisbon, Portugal
MoneroKon 2022 — the annual Monero Konferenco — was held in Lisbon, Portugal on June 18-19, 2022. MoneroKon is an annual gathering of privacy advocates, cypherpunks, cryptography researchers, and Monero community members, designed to share technical results in privacy and financial technology and strengthen the broader XMR ecosystem.
The first MoneroKon was held in Denver, Colorado in 2019. The 2022 edition in Lisbon featured speakers including Seth for Privacy, Doug and Sunita from Monero Talk, and Henry from Techlore, among others. As with previous editions, tickets were made more accessible through community donations coordinated through Monero's Community Crowdfunding System (CCS). Videos from MoneroKon talks are typically published on the MoneroKon YouTube channel and through community mirrors.
MoneroKon has continued as an annual event. It represents the community's commitment to open, public education about privacy technology — funded by the community itself rather than corporate sponsors.
Monero's Privacy Architecture: A Reference
Monero achieves its privacy guarantees through four complementary mechanisms, all applied to every transaction by default — no opt-in required:
- Ring signatures — blend the real spending output with 15 additional outputs from the blockchain (decoys), making it cryptographically infeasible to identify the actual sender. Ring size has been 16 since the July 2022 Fluorine Fermi upgrade.
- RingCT (Ring Confidential Transactions) — conceals transaction amounts using Pedersen commitments. Upgraded to Bulletproofs+ in July 2022, reducing proof size and verification time.
- Stealth addresses — generate a unique, one-time destination address for every payment, ensuring recipient identity is never linked to published addresses on the blockchain.
- Dandelion++ — a network-layer protocol that obscures the originating IP address during transaction broadcast by routing through relay nodes before wide propagation, reducing IP-level tracking.
Together, these mechanisms ensure that no outside observer — including blockchain analytics firms — can determine the sender, recipient, or amount of any Monero transaction from on-chain data alone. Technical documentation: Monero Research Lab.
How to Get Monero in 2026
The exchange landscape for XMR has changed significantly since 2022. Binance delisted XMR in February 2024. LocalMonero closed in May 2024. These were two of the most commonly recommended platforms in 2022 — neither is available in 2026.
Current options for acquiring XMR as of January 2026:
- Centralized exchanges: TradeOgre, MEXC, and Gate.io currently list XMR. Always verify current availability directly on any exchange before registering, as listing status changes without notice.
- Haveno DEX — launched in 2024, a Monero-specific decentralized exchange with no KYC, no registration, and on-chain escrow. Supports multiple payment methods.
- UnstoppableSwap — trustless Bitcoin-to-Monero atomic swaps with no account required.
- Bisq — decentralized P2P exchange supporting XMR trading pairs.
- CPU mining — Monero's RandomX algorithm is ASIC-resistant and accessible to ordinary computers. Join a pool for consistent payouts.
Security Principles That Have Not Changed
Whatever the current market conditions, these fundamentals remain constant:
- Only invest what you can afford to lose entirely. Cryptocurrency is volatile and the long-term outcome of any individual asset is uncertain.
- Conduct your own research before buying any cryptocurrency. Don't rely on any single article, price chart, or social media post as the basis for financial decisions.
- Use a non-custodial wallet for any holdings beyond what you actively trade. XMRWallet is free, open-source, and browser-based — keys generated locally, no registration, no KYC.
- Keep passwords, private keys, and seed phrases offline — written on paper, stored in multiple secure locations, never in digital form.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is MoneroKon and when is it held?
MoneroKon (Monero Konferenco) is an annual conference for privacy advocates, developers, and researchers focused on Monero and privacy technology. First held in Denver in 2019, MoneroKon 2022 took place in Lisbon. The event is community-funded through the CCS to keep tickets accessible.
What privacy technologies does Monero use?
Monero uses ring signatures (ring size 16), RingCT with Bulletproofs+, stealth addresses, and Dandelion++ — all applied to every transaction by default. Together these conceal sender, recipient, amount, and originating IP. Documentation: Monero Research Lab.
How can I buy Monero in 2026?
TradeOgre and MEXC currently list XMR. Binance delisted XMR in February 2024, LocalMonero closed May 2024. KYC-free alternatives: Haveno DEX, UnstoppableSwap (BTC-to-XMR atomic swaps), Bisq, and CPU mining. Always verify exchange availability directly before registering.
