The Monero (XMR) community raised slightly more than expected to begin its second audit of the Bulletproofs+ code, which makes transactions within this network faster, safer, and more efficient.
Monero (XMR) has raised a total of 67,63 XMR, worth around $15.000 USD at the time of writing, to fund its plans to conduct the second code audit Bulletproofs +, protocol security and privacy measures that the network will implement to guarantee a high level of anonymity to its users. As is well known, Monero is one of the block chains most powerful that exist in the digital industry today, and that guarantees extreme security to its users, offering completely anonymous transactions that are impossible to trace.
La proposal audit, call “Bulletproofs + Audit 2”, was presented at the end of February by Justin Ehrenhofer, organizer of the Monero Community Working Group and the Malware Response Working Group.
This proposal required 67 XMR to pay the fees of the well-known cryptographer, expert in cybersecurity and digital privacy. Jean-Philippe Aumasson (JP Aumasson). Aumasson has extensive experience in the industry, and currently serves as Chief Security Officer for the Swiss-based Taurus Group. The company offers a highly secure digital platform where users and clients can digitize and tokenize any type of private assets, as well as manage cryptocurrencies, and also digital currencies with next-generation digital infrastructure.
Now that the community has the financial resources to support JP Aumasson’s $12.500 USD fee, the expert can begin analyzing and evaluating the Bulletproofs+ protocol, and correcting any flaws or anomalies he finds.
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Bulletproofs+, the evolution of Monero
As Ehrenhofer explained in the presentation of the Bulletproofs+ proposal, it is the direct replacement of the Bulletproofs protocol, which will take Monero to the next level to continue guaranteeing extreme security, privacy and anonymity to its users.
Bulletproofs will continue to be useful for future Monero improvements such as Triptych, Ehrenhofer explained; but the Bulletproofs + are focused on optimizing the combination of the zero knowledge tests (the ZK-snarks) and the confidential transactions (Confidential Transactions – CT), which is the basis of this new and efficient security protocol.
The first audit of this protocol was completed in mid-February, and was carried out by the cybersecurity and research group. ZenGo X, who studied, analyzed and evaluated the protocol for 40 consecutive days. In his reportThe firm explained that Bulletproofs+ guarantee smaller proofs, the verification of which is carried out much more quickly, allowing Monero to offer lighter transactions within its blockchain without sacrificing its degree of confidentiality and anonymity.
JP Aumasson will use the report of this first audit and the resulting code changes as a basis to verify the security of the protocol and ensure that there are no vulnerabilities present in the code, in order to prevent any attacker from introducing malicious elements that could jeopardize the security of the funds and the blockchain.
Monero maintains a permissive license on this new protocol, and aims to have Bulletproofs+ implemented on other privacy-focused blockchains to improve and optimize their privacy, performance, and decentralization.
Privacy in times of surveillance
The privacy features offered by the Monero blockchain are essential for millions of people seeking to secure their right to financial privacy, which has been put at risk by the numerous surveillance policies imposed by regulators and governments around the world.
At the end of 2020, the blockchain intelligence company ciphertra by signed an agreement with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide them with technological tools to track financial transactions made with cryptocurrencies; especially those involving Monero. For this reason, both the network's developers and its support community have focused on optimizing their tools and solutions to continue guaranteeing privacy in the blockchain, which is the main objective with which this decentralized network was born.
On the other hand, the complete level of privacy that Monero offers also ensures that the coins are completely fungible, as they cannot be tracked or flagged as risky. This quality allows users to use their cryptocurrencies with complete freedom, similar to cash.
Several investment firms, such as Grayscale, have seen the potential of Monero and are considering creating new financial products and trusts with this cryptocurrency.
At press time, the price of XMR is around $220 USD per unit. Monero has a market capitalization of over $3.900 billion.
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