Monero Timeline
A timeline of key developments in Monero's history.
- 2008
- Bitcoin Whitepaper 2008 - October 31Bitcoin's whitepaper was released in 2008, providing the conceptualisation for Bitcoin.
- 2009
- Bitcoin Genesis Block Mined 2009 - Jan 3Satoshi runs Bitcoin on his computer and mines the first (genesis) block. This begins Bitcoin, which Monero would later seek to improve upon.
- Hal Finney tweets about adding privacy to Bitcoin Jan 21, 2009Hal Finney, an early Bitcoin dev, and candidate for the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, tweets "Looking at ways to add more anonymity to bitcoin". Just 18 days after Bitcoin had begun.
- 2010
- 2014
- Cryptonote Whitepaper 2014 - MarchNicolas van Saberhagen's whitepaper improved on the Bitcoin protocol. It included "untraceable transactions" through ring signatures, an ASIC resistant mining algorithm and a smooth emission curve. Detective work suggests the author(s) faked the release date, and it was really released in March 2014.
- Bytecoin 2014 - March 3Bytecoin launches, and is the first coin to implement the Cryptonote protocol - see Github commit. Unfortunately it had at least 1 large flaw - an 82% premine.
- BitMonero 2014 - April 18Bytecoin is forked by "thankful_for_today", and BitMonero is created, without Bytecoin's pre-mine. See BitcoinTalk thread.
- Monero 2014 - April 18BitMonero is forked away from thankful_for_today, after he failed to collaborate with the community, and is renamed to Monero. See BitcoinTalk thread. The genesis block is dated April 18.
- Initial Core Team Members 2014 - AprilThe core team has evolved over the years, but at beginning it was composed of tacotime, eizh, smooth, fluffypony, othe, davidlatapie and NoodleDoodle (source).
- First Exchange Listing 2014 - MayThe first exchange for cryptonote based coins is created (cryptonote.exchange.to), and Monero is listed. Liquidity baby! (source).
- MRO becomes XMR 2014 - JuneMonero's currency abbreviation began as "MRO", but this is the ISO 4217 code for Mauritania's currency, so switched to using "XMR" instead (source).
- Mnemonic Seeds Added 2014 - JuneA feature we all take for granted now, mnemonic seeds, wasn't present in the first cryptonote implementations. Until added, you had to back up the inidividual keys - source.
- Moneromooo's first BitcoinTalk Post 2014 - June 18Prolific Monero developer Moneromooo makes his first post on the BitcoinTalk forums about mining Monero and setting up a mining pool.
- LMDB Database Used 2014 - AugustMonero moves from storing the blockchain as a flat file in RAM, to the ACID compliant LMDB database. This was a big move for 2 reasons; 1) 6 years later LMDB is still being used 2) it spurred LMDB's creator, hyc, to join the development team.
- Moneromooo's First Commit 2014 - OctoberThe Monero GitHub repository has ~250 contributors, with the most consistently active being Moneromooo. The 1st of his nearly 3,000 commits to the project began in October 2014.
- 2015
- XMR.to Launches 2015 - FebruaryXMR.to launches on BitcoinTalk. Providing a way to pay for goods that accept Bitcoin, using Monero, in order to preserve your privacy.
- Tail Emission Added to Code 2015 - MarchAn important characteristic of Monero is its tail emission of 0.6 XMR per 2 minute block, which came into effect in 2022. It was envisioned early on, with tacotime discussing it on the BitcoinTalk forums on April 24 (link). However, the exact details weren't finalized and added to code until March 2015 (source).
- 2016
- Min. Ring Size >= 3 2016 - MarchThe Hydrogen Helix v0.9.0 release was full of updates, including introducing a minimum ring size of 3 and increasing the block time from 1 to 2 minutes. These changes went live at the March hard fork.
- First GUI Released 2016 - DecemberUntil this point Monero was command-line interface only. Launching a GUI version was a big step towards more mainstream adoption. See Github release.
- 2017
- Monerujo Launches 2017 - AugustMonero's first mobile wallet, Monerujo, is released on Android by developer m2049r.
- Min. Ring Size >= 5 2017 - SeptemberThe Helium Hydra v.0.11 release sets the minimum ring size to 5, bans duplicate ring members and enforces ringCT.
- 2018
- Min. Ring Size >= 7 2018 - MarchThe Lithium Luna v.0.12 release increased the minimum ring size from 5 to 7, which increases transaction privacy.
- First HW Wallet Support 2018 - MarchThe first ever hardware wallet support for Monero was added in the Lithium Luna v.0.12 release. Supporting the popular Ledger Nano S. Support for Trezor didn't come for another year.
- CryptoNight v1 Update 2018 - MarchCryptonight was tweaked in the Lithium Luna release to prevent DoS attacks by ASICs.
- CryptoNight v2 Update 2018 - OctoberAnother update to the CryptoNight algorithm is made to deter ASICs, released with Beryllium Bullet v0.13.0
- Min. Ring Size >= 11 2018 - OctoberEach time the ring size increases, the difficulty in linking transactions increases. Release v0.13.0.2 set the default ring size to 11.
- 2019
- New Forum Funding System 2019 - MarchThe new and improved Forum Funding System (FFS) is completed, and rebranded to the Community Crowdfunding System (CCS) - more details here.
- Blockchain Pruning 2019 - JulyThis blockchain pruning update in v0.14.1.0 made it possible "prune" the blockchain to 1/8 its original file size. Particularly aiding small devices like mobile phones to run their own node.
- CryptoNight v3 Update 2019 - JulyAfter a hard fork in October 2018 to block ASICs, they quickly appeared again on the network. CryptoNightR (CNv3) was created and deployed in v0.14.0 to mitigate this. Although developers were aware it would only be a temporary fix.
- Trezor Support 2019 - JulyThe Trezor hardware wallet (Model T) supports Monero for the first time, introduced with the v.14.1 update.
- RandomX 2019 - NovemberPatching the CryptoNight protocol to prevent ASICs had run its course, and a new solution was needed. Developers hyc, tevador + more architected RandomX, a mining algorithm that could utilize the full CPU instruction set, and was heavy on RAM requirements. This ambitious project was launched with v0.15.0
- Fluffypony steps back 2019 - DecemberCore team member, and lead maintainer fluffypony takes a step back from the project, with Snipa taking over as lead maintainer. Fluffypony's intent with the change is to reduce the project's dependency on him (increasing decentralisation), and to free up more time to work on the merge-mined digital asset project; Tari.
- 2020
- Dandelion++ 2020 - MayBroadcasting transactions to the network can allow hostile nodes to associate your IP to the transaction. Dandelion++ makes it significantly harder for nodes to make this association. It went live in v0.16.0.0.
- Added support for Tor/I2P Nodes 2020 - MayUntil this point, you could send a transaction to a node over Tor/I2P, but then the node was limited to broadcasting it over clearnet (not Tor/I2P). vtnerd's CCS work, deployed in v0.16.0.0, has made it possible for nodes to broadcast transactions over Tor/I2P. Currently it's a manual process to setup, which you can read more about here.
- XMR daily supply dips below BTC May 2020During May 2020, the Bitcoin block reward halved from 1800 BTC per day to 900. It was around this time that the daily supply of Monero then dipped below BTC, and will stay lower for the next 8 years, until the 2028 Bitcoin halving.
- An Atomic Swap Implementation Funded 2020 - OctoberAtomic swaps between Monero and Bitcoin will allow exchange without an intermediary third-party. Joel Gugger et al. had their CCS proposal funded (2,727 XMR) within 48 hours. See whitepaper for implementation details. Current estimates for completion are Q4 2021.
- 2021
- XMR.to Shuts Down 2021 - Feb 1For 5 years XMR.to provided a reliable method of making Bitcoin payments using Monero. Due to growing regulatory pressure they decided to shut down, rather than compromise on their core values. It was a popular service in the community, and hence deserves a mention.
- P2Pool First Released 2021 - Oct 5Monero P2Pool is a peer-to-peer mining pool developed by sech1 (press release). It combines the advantages of pool and solo mining; you still fully control your Monero node and what it mines, but you get frequent payouts like on a regular pool.
- MAGIC Fund Launched 2021 - Oct 5The MAGIC fund is an alternative to the CCS funding system. It is registered as a 501(c)(3) public foundation, with full tax deductibility of donations as allowable by law, regardless of asset (eg: USD, BTC, XMR, NFTs, stock). More here.
- 2022
- Tail Emission Begins 2022 - June 9On June 9, 2022 (source) the variable block reward reached its bottom, and the tail emission kicked in. From this point forwards 432 XMR are released per day as block rewards (0.6 XMR per 2 minute block) - in perpetuity. The intention is that this will provide a permanent incentive for miners to continue mining. Unlike in Bitcoin, where the block reward will keep halving lower and lower, thus requiring a "fee market" to pay for mining.
- Fluorine Fermi Hard Fork 2022 - August 13The Fluorine Fermi hard fork introduced some updates, including Bulletproofs+, view tags, higher minimum transaction fees (discussed in issue 70) and a more secure multisig.
- 2023
- tx_extra size limit added 2023 - March 18PR #8733 was made to limit the maximum size of the tx_extra field to 1060 bytes. With a rough consensus that Monero should focus on being digital cash, rather than another NFT blockchain. In the time since this PR was initially opened Mordinals (inspired by Bitcoin Ordinals) was becoming popular, and Jpeg images were getting added to the blockchain.
- 2024
- Local Monero Shutdown 2024 - May 7Afer almost 7 years of operation, Local Monero, a popular peer to peer marketplace for buying and selling Monero, chose to shut down. According to them a combination of internal and external factors forced the decision.
- Haveno Reto Launched 2024 - May 14An instance of the Haveno Project, named Haveno Reto was officially launched. Originally a fork of the Bisq peer-to-peer marketplace, it allows users to buy and sell Monero for fiat and other tokens.
Sources
- Bitcoin whitepaper — link
- Cryptonote whitepaper — link
- Brandon Goodell's review of the CryptoNote whitepaper — link
- Bytecoin first appearance on Github — link
- BitMonero launched on BitcoinTalk — see thread
- Monero launched on BitcoinTalk — see thread
- Cryptonote Forums - Monero thread (offline; WayBackMachine snapshot) — link
- XMR.to launches on BitcoinTalk — see thread
- GetMonero Roadmap — link
- Monerodocs - Monero Technical Specs — link
- Ring Signature Confidential Transactions for Monero by Shen Noether — link
- How did BitMonero become Monero? — StackExchange thread
- David Latapie's write-up — history of how Monero got started
- Blowing the lid off the CryptoNote/Bytecoin scam (with the exception of Monero) by rethink-your-strategy — link
- Monerujo launched — Github
- CakeWallet launched — Reddit announcement, source
- Reddit: "How much did bulletproofs actually reduce the tx size?" — link
- GetMonero: "Monero Adds Blockchain Pruning and Improves Transaction Efficiency" — link
- GitHub ReadMe on CryptoNightR — link
- Monero Outreach: Monero's RandomX (archived) — link
- Get Monero: An update from the Core Team on technical responsibilities — link
- Monero Outreach: Dandelion++ for Monero — link
- GetMonero — CLSAG audit results — link