Monero (XMR) Ecosystem
Monero is the de-facto privacy currency of anonymous markets because its privacy features are mandatory, not optional — ring signatures, stealth addresses and RingCT hide sender, recipient and amount by default. Researchers studying market payment flows need to understand these primitives first.
monero-project/monero
The core C++ implementation — the canonical reference for ring signature construction, stealth addressing and the RandomX proof-of-work algorithm.
monero-ecosystem/monero-python
Python library for interacting with Monero wallets and the blockchain. Useful for researchers building transaction-analysis tooling.
monero-project/monero-gui
The official Qt-based GUI wallet. Its source has been community-audited and is a good study object for wallet architecture and key management.
PGP & Encryption Tools
PGP remains the primary trust mechanism in anonymous markets: vendors sign listings, and market operators sign mirror announcements. Every verified onion address on this site is checked against PGP-signed messages.
gpg/gnupg
The GNU Privacy Guard — the standard open-source PGP implementation used to sign and verify market and mirror announcements.
openpgpjs/openpgpjs
OpenPGP in JavaScript. Powers browser-based encryption tools that let users encrypt messages in-browser without uploading private keys.
Tor & Network Anonymity
The Tor network provides the transport layer for hidden services. Understanding onion routing and the v3 hidden-service specification is essential for analysing how .onion markets achieve unlinkability.
torproject/tor
The Tor daemon itself — the core implementation of onion routing and the v3 hidden service specification.
torproject/stem
Python controller library for the Tor daemon, used by researchers building tools that interact with the Tor control protocol.
privoxy/privoxy
Privacy-enhancing HTTP proxy commonly chained with Tor. Strips identifying headers before traffic enters the Tor circuit.
Research Videos & Articles
Verified educational material on Monero, Tor and operational security from established sources.
- Monero: privacy by design — a technical walkthrough of ring signatures, stealth addresses and RingCT, for a technical audience.
- How onion routing works — circuit construction, guard nodes and the .onion addressing scheme, explained visually.
- PGP for beginners — key generation, signing and signature verification with GnuPG, step by step.
- RingCT documentation — the official Monero docs on confidential transactions, the mechanism that hides amounts on the blockchain.