The initial release of the Monero protocol was on the 18th of April in 2014. The Monero blockchain specifically focuses on the privacy component of crypto and allows transactions and account balances to remain hidden. The initial concept regarding Monero evolved from a bitcoin forum users who forked the code of Bytecoin and create BitMonero. This user suddenly disappeared after the creation of BitMonero didn't gain any traction. A number of members from the community decided that it was a good idea to take over the BitMonero protocol and change it to Monero establishing the true beginning of the world's biggest privacy coin.

The total supply of the Monero coin is 16.5 million which a very low supply, just below Bitcoins. Monero took off in 2016 with the increase surge in the use of the dark web and illegal services which were paid for in cryptocurrencies. This led to Monero being the number 1 crypto in 2016 in regards to market cap growth and transaction volume as a result of the increased use of the dark net. The dark net may represent an evil place where illegal activities are carried out for rewards or incentives. As dark and evil as this is, and i don't personally agree with these activities, it did show that cryptocurrencies had a use case and that it effectively and efficiently worked. This also allowed for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to gain traction in 2016 and receive major increases.

The Monero protocol recently released the 'bulletproof' upgrade which reduced the fees included in transactions on the Monero blockchain to nearly zero. This upgrade also increased the security features of the protocol and also a function which doesn't allow major mining corporations to create specialized mining equipment to mine the Monero blockchain.

Monero achieved all time highs on January the 7th, 2018. The price per Monero was $494 USD with a market capitalization of $7.6 billion. The trading volume of that day was $318 million.

The current price of a Monero is $103 USD with a total market capitalization of $1.7 billion USD suffering the same fate as other currencies due the 2018 bear run. The utility of Monero could prove useful to some businesses or organisations that wish to use high privacy and high security payments in the future and Monero will hopefully be the number 1 cryptocurrency for this use case.

Are you an investor in Monero? Do you see this crypto achieving new all time highs? Leave a comment below and lets have a discussion!