The popular privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero (XMR) stood out as one of the better performers in what is a vastly red crypto market today, it itself turning red as well. This correction follows a rise of over 17% in the past week, and this strong price performance comes as the implementation of a solution for atomic swaps between bitcoin and monero was announced just five days ago.
At 9:48 UTC on Wednesday morning, monero was down by 5.1%, trading at USD 303.6. The coin is currently ranked as the 29th most valuable cryptoasset by market capitalization, and the most valuable privacy-focused coin, ahead of competitors like zcash (ZEC) and dash (DASH), per CoinGecko.
It’s up 17.5% in a week, more than 40% in a month, and 221% in a year.
As recently as Sunday, monero also broke through the psychologically important USD 300 level for the first time since June, further boosting the sentiment among traders.
The latest price surge for monero has come as a new atomic swap implementation developed by the cross-blockchain protocol COMIT Network was rolled out on August 20. In a blog post on GetMonero.org, pseudonymous monero developer ErCiccione wrote that COMIT’s atomic swap implementation is now “mature enough to be used on Monero’s network.”
“For now, makers must buy Bitcoin and takers must buy Monero, but anyone can be a maker or taker,” the post said, while reminding users that the implementation is “brand new technology and might have unexpected bugs. Be careful and only test with small amounts.”
With its heavy focus on privacy, the ability to exchange value in a decentralized and private manner between bitcoin and monero is seen as essential. A fully functional atomic swap implementation also reduces monero’s reliance on centralized exchanges, which in the past have been pressured by regulators to delist the coin.
Not surprisingly, monero fans are cheering for the possibilities more private transfers between bitcoin (BTC) and XMR bring, with some even claiming that early bitcoin investors will now exchange some of their bitcoin for monero to “hide their wealth.”
Others again seem excited about how an easy swap between the two coins could make monero more useful for everyday purchases.
Aside from the atomic swap implementation, this summer has also seen the release of Monero’s General Fund report for 2020/2021. According to the report, 3,161 XMR (USD 987,148) had been received in donations for 2021 by its publication date in June, while 212 XMR (66,205 USD) had been spent by the team.
The General Fund receives donations from Monero’s community members, and is managed and spent at the discretion of the Core Team to benefit the project, they said.
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