Getting Started With Monero – Creating a Wallet

Mining cryptocurrency has become something of water cooler talk at the job, it’s what some of us talk about in social circles, and it is the craze that so many of us have been hearing about in the news. There is no doubt who the current cryptocurrency king is, it’s Bitcoin, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other worthy coins out there. There are the likes of Dash, Etherium, Litecoin, Zcash, and many more, but for me… it’s Monero.

You probably already know a bit about Monero if you landed on this page. However, I will give some of the basics for those of you that haven’t done much research yet. Monero is a cryptocurrency that centers around privacy. In many coins, you can trace where transactions are going, where they originated from, and how much they were. With Monero, all that is hidden, hidden in a stealth address in the blockchain. While I am not the authority on how all this works, the folks over at Monero offer up some easy to follow information.

Monero is the leading cryptocurrency with a focus on private and censorship-resistant transactions.

Most existing cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, have transparent blockchains, meaning that transactions are openly verifiable and traceable by anyone in the world. Furthermore, sending and receiving addresses for these transactions may potentially be linkable to a person’s real-world identity.

Monero uses cryptography to shield sending and receiving addresses, as well as transacted amounts.

Monero transactions are confidential and untraceable.

Every Monero transaction, by default, obfuscates sending and receiving addresses as well as transacted amounts. This always-on privacy means that every Monero user’s activity enhances the privacy of all other users, unlike selectively transparent cryptocurrencies (e.g. Z-Cash).

Monero is fungible. By virtue of obfuscation, Monero cannot become tainted through participation in previous transactions. This means Monero will always be accepted without the risk of censorship.

Simple Getting Started Instructions

Download Monero GUI Wallet
1. Windows: http://forums.computingondemand.com/files/file/34-windows-64-bit-gui-client/
2. MAC: http://forums.computingondemand.com/files/file/36-mac-os-x-64-bit-gui/
Extract to Folder
Run monero-wallet-gui.exe
Pick A language
“Create a new wallet.”
Name your wallet and write down your mnemonic seed
Give your Account a Password
Finish the configuration by clicking “Use Monero.”
Let the GUI sync the blockchain
Join a pool and start mining or buy some Monero on an Exchange

Extended Instructions

Now that you have some of the basics in the bag and you want to get started, the first thing you need to do is download the wallet. You can use pretty much any operating system out there for running Monero, but because most of you are probably running on Windows, we will stick with the easier side of things. The Windows GUI wallet is perhaps the easiest way to get started. Personally, I prefer the CLI wallet, but it can be a bit unexciting. The Monero GUI Wallet can be downloaded directly from the getmonero.com website, under the downloads section or by clicking this LINK.

Once downloaded, extract the contents of the .zip file somewhere, I use a “work” folder in my Documents Folder for things like this. Navigating through the contents will lead you on a journey through a slew of seemingly unimportant files, the one you are looking for is monero-wallet-gui.exe. Upon its execution, you will be prompted with some very simple screens, asking for some very basic information.

Right off the bat, Pick your Language.

Next, the application will ask you if you want to Create a new wallet, Restore wallet from keys or mnemonic seed, or Open a wallet from a file. Choose “Create a new wallet.”