Decentralization is fundamental to cryptocurrency, ensuring trustlessness, security, and censorship resistance. This article explores the Decentralization Index (DI) and compares Pirate Chain (ARRR) and Ryo Currency (RYO) based on emission schedules and mining algorithms.
The Decentralization Index (DI)
The DI is calculated as:
DI(t) = M × E(t)
M: Mining algorithm decentralization factor.
E(t): Fraction of emitted coins distributed in a decentralized manner.
Pirate Chain uses an ASIC-friendly Equihash algorithm (M = 0.3), while Ryo Currency employs the ASIC-resistant Cryptonight-GPU algorithm (M = 1.0).
The decentralized emission fraction for Ryo excludes the developer allocation (~13.56%).
Comparison of Decentralization Index (DI) Over Time
Years Since Launch
Pirate Chain DI
Ryo Currency DI
0
0.000
0.0013
0.75
0.150
0.0462
1.5
0.225
0.0912
3
0.238
0.1810
6
0.265
0.3607
10
0.300
0.6359
28
0.300
0.9971
Exponential Differences in Decentralization
To mathematically demonstrate the exponential difference in decentralization between Ryo Currency and Pirate Chain, we compare their Decentralization Index (DI) values over time using a logarithmic ratio:
Logarithmic Comparison of DI Growth
The ratio of decentralization between Ryo Currency (RYO) and Pirate Chain (PC) at a given time t is:
R(t) = DIRYO(t) / DIPC(t)
Taking the natural logarithm to emphasize the exponential nature of the difference:
log R(t) = log DIRYO(t) – log DIPC(t)
1. At 6 Years (t = 6):
DIRYO(6) = 0.3607, DIPC(6) = 0.265
R(6) = 0.3607 / 0.265 ≈ 1.361
log R(6) ≈ log 1.361 ≈ 0.134
2. At 10 Years (t = 10):
DIRYO(10) = 0.6359, DIPC(10) = 0.3
R(10) = 0.6359 / 0.3 ≈ 2.12
log R(10) ≈ log 2.12 ≈ 0.326
3. At 28 Years (t = 28):
DIRYO(28) = 0.9971, DIPC(28) = 0.3
R(28) = 0.9971 / 0.3 ≈ 3.32
log R(28) ≈ log 3.32 ≈ 0.521
These results show that as time progresses, the decentralization ratio between Ryo Currency and Pirate Chain increases exponentially, meaning that RYO becomes exponentially more decentralized than ARRR.
Why This Matters
Security: Greater resistance to 51% attacks, as mining power is more widely distributed.
Censorship Resistance: No single entity can control or shut down the network.
Trust & Resilience: A more decentralized network ensures long-term stability.
Economic Fairness: GPU mining allows more participants, avoiding centralization by industrial ASIC miners.
This mathematical model confirms that RYO’s decentralization advantage is not linear, but exponentially greater over time—making it fundamentally more secure, resilient, and fair than Pirate Chain.
Limitations and Final Considerations
While this model focuses on coin emission and mining algorithms, other factors such as marketing, investor interest, and adoption impact decentralization. However, these do not negate the exponential nature of coin distribution and its impact on decentralization.
On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 49 cryptocurrency addresses linked to the defunct Darknet Nemesis marketplace—44 Bitcoin and 5 Monero ($XMR)—targeting Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, the alleged orchestrator of the operation. Reported by The US Department of the Treasury, this action underscores a critical juncture for privacy coins amid escalating global enforcement efforts. Bitcoin’s transparent blockchain makes its sanctioning unsurprising, but Monero’s inclusion—long celebrated as the darknet’s untraceable cornerstone—raises serious concerns. While no evidence yet ties these Monero addresses to real-world identities, the implications are profound: Monero’s privacy may be faltering, its fungibility is at risk, and deanonymization technology is gaining ground. As confidence in Monero wavers, Ryo Currency ($RYO) emerges as the top contender to redefine privacy in the cryptocurrency landscape, with forthcoming upgrades like Halo 2 ZK-SNARKs and a high-latency mixnet poised to outshine Monero’s offerings.
Monero’s Privacy Vulnerabilities Exposed
Monero’s appeal hinges on its privacy tripod: ring signatures (mixing real outputs with 15 decoys), stealth addresses (concealing recipients), and Ring Confidential Transactions (hiding amounts). Since its 2021 update, Monero’s ring size sits at 16—a modest anonymity set that’s increasingly inadequate. A 2018 study, “An Empirical Analysis of Traceability in the Monero Blockchain,” revealed that poorly selected decoys shrink this shield, enabling chain analysis tools from firms like Chainalysis to uncover patterns. Metadata leaks—such as transaction timing or IP addresses—further erode its defenses. Monero’s Full-Chain Membership Proofs (FCMP) promise a fix by expanding the anonymity set to the entire blockchain, but in 2025, this remains experimental, bogged down by bloated proofs and slow verification times. Monero’s privacy set is fragile, and its upgrades lag behind the advancing tide of deanonymization tech.
In contrast, Ryo Currency is gearing up to tackle these weaknesses head-on. Its upcoming Halo 2 ZK-SNARKs will provide recursive, compact zero-knowledge proofs that fully shield transactions with unparalleled efficiency—leaving Monero’s ring signatures in the dust. Paired with a planned high-latency mixnet, Ryo will obscure network-level metadata, eliminating timing and IP vulnerabilities that plague Monero. Where Monero stumbles, Ryo Currency is set to deliver a robust, future-proof privacy solution.
Deanonymization Threatens Monero’s Reign
The Nemesis takedown hints at a broader trend: deanonymization technology is outpacing Monero’s defenses. Machine learning and AI-powered blockchain forensics can now sift through Monero’s ledger, identifying patterns in ring signatures or linking transactions via off-chain data like exchange records. The IRS has pursued Monero-cracking tools since 2020, and companies like Chainalysis are honing their craft. While OFAC hasn’t confirmed tracing Nemesis’ 5 Monero addresses, the capability looms large. If these outputs are linked to Parsarad’s future ventures—OFAC alleges he’s planning one—Monero’s reputation as the darknet’s untraceable king could collapse.
Ryo Currency, however, is preparing to stand resilient. Its forthcoming Halo 2 ZK-SNARKs will offer absolute cryptographic privacy, rendering transactions untraceable even to the most advanced forensics. The planned high-latency mixnet will add another layer, cloaking the who, where, and when of every exchange. Ryo won’t just resist deanonymization—it will render it obsolete.
Fungibility and Darknet Confidence: Ryo Currency Takes the Lead
Fungibility—where every coin is equal and untainted—is the darknet’s lifeline. Bitcoin lost this when tainted coins were blacklisted; Monero vowed to preserve it. Nemesis relied on Monero’s privacy for $30 million in drug trades across 30,000 users, but OFAC’s sanctions cast doubt. If those 5 addresses are traceable, fungibility breaks—vendors could see their $XMR rejected by markets or exchanges, shattering trust. The darknet doesn’t tolerate uncertainty.
Ryo Currency is poised to ensure true fungibility with its impenetrable privacy features. Every Ryo coin will be indistinguishable, backed by zero-knowledge proofs and a mixnet that guarantees anonymity. Darknet markets, quick to adopt superior tech, could shift to Ryo as Monero falters. Its Cryptonight-GPU mining further bolsters confidence by resisting botnet centralization—a flaw Monero’s RandomX struggles to address—ensuring a decentralized network that aligns with cypherpunk ideals.
Ryo Currency: The Future of Privacy Coins
Monero’s stumble could ignite a privacy coin renaissance, with Ryo Currency leading the charge. Bitcoin birthed darknet crypto; Monero refined it. Now, Ryo Currency is set to perfect it. Its forthcoming privacy tools—Halo 2 ZK-SNARKs and high-latency mixnet—will provide a level of security and anonymity Monero can’t match, positioning it as the ideal successor in darknet markets and beyond. Privacy enthusiasts, from dissidents to cypherpunks, will find in Ryo a coin that delivers uncompromising decentralization and untraceability.
As OFAC’s sanctions ripple through the crypto world, Monero’s weaknesses—its modest anonymity set, stalled upgrades, and botnet woes—stand exposed. Ryo Currency, with its cutting-edge technology and robust design, is ready to redefine privacy and decentralization. Whether agencies unveil Monero’s tracing or not, the darknet is watching—and Ryo Currency is poised to claim the throne as the number one contender in the privacy coin space.
For years, Monero (XMR) was hailed as the gold standard of privacy coins, a cryptocurrency designed to shield users from surveillance and financial tracking. However, the cracks in its armor have grown too large to ignore. From failing privacy guarantees to botnet-driven mining centralization, Monero is no longer the beacon of anonymity it once was. Even its upcoming “Full Chain Membership Proofs” (FCMP++) proposal does little to address these core issues and may, in fact, make things worse.
But not all hope is lost. Ryo Currency ($RYO) took a decentralized approach from day one, choosing GPU mining with CryptoNight-GPU and a fair, egalitarian emission schedule to ensure widespread coin distribution. Now, Ryo is taking another bold step forward,adopting Halo 2 ZK Proofs and a high-latency mixnet to secure financial privacy while maintaining true decentralization. With a revolutionary Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model on the horizon, Ryo offers a glimpse into the future of private, scalable, and censorship-resistant transactions.
The Failure of Monero’s Privacy Model
Monero’s supposed anonymity has long been its selling point, relying on ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions. However, recent research has exposed fundamental weaknesses:
Chainalysis Capabilities
Despite Monero’s privacy claims, blockchain analysis firms and intelligence agencies have demonstrated increasing success in tracing transactions. Unlike ZK-Proof-based systems, Monero’s decoy-based ring signatures have a history of being compromised by statistical heuristics and transaction analysis.
Knacc Attack: Monero’s Early Privacy Failure
The Knacc Attack, first demonstrated by Fireice_UK, the lead developer of Ryo Currency, revealed a major flaw in Monero’s transaction obfuscation. The attack exploits the fact that, in many cases, the real input in a Monero transaction is significantly more likely to be the most recent one compared to the decoys. By using statistical analysis on Monero’s blockchain, researchers were able to strip away decoys and isolate real transaction inputs with high accuracy.
While Monero has since increased its ring size to mitigate this specific attack, the fundamental weakness remains: Monero’s privacy is still probabilistic rather than absolute. Chainalysis and other firms have expanded on this method, refining heuristics to de-anonymize Monero transactions with even greater accuracy.
Real-World Evidence of Monero Tracing
In 2020, CipherTrace claimed it had developed Monero-tracing capabilities for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, despite Monero’s claims of untraceability. (Source)
Europol’s 2022 report acknowledged that Monero transactions had been successfully traced, indicating that governments are actively developing Monero-tracking techniques.
In the “Breaking Monero” research paper, researchers demonstrated how Monero’s ring signature model could be compromised through transaction graph analysis.
EAE Attack: The Exploit That Bypasses Decoys
The Empirical Anonymity Exploit (EAE) Attack takes advantage of weaknesses in Monero’s transaction selection process, particularly with ring signatures. Monero transactions mix the sender’s real inputs with decoys, but this attack identifies real inputs by analyzing spending habits, network timing, and clustering behaviors.
Researchers have shown that by analyzing the way Monero users select mixins (decoy transactions), a large percentage of transactions can be de-anonymized. The key weaknesses exposed by the EAE attack include:
Biased Decoy Selection: Older outputs in a transaction ring are often decoys, while newer outputs are real transactions, making it easier to identify the true sender.
Linkability Through Spending Patterns: If a user reuses Monero addresses or consolidates funds, their transactions can be linked over time, further degrading privacy.
Network-Level Surveillance: The EAE attack also shows that when combined with metadata leaks at the network level, an adversary can effectively correlate Monero transactions.
Ring Signature Limitations
Monero’s privacy depends on hiding a real transaction within a set of fake decoys. The problem? Older transactions have been shown to be mathematically predictable, and newer transactions are still vulnerable to timing and spending patterns.
The FCMP Mirage: A Flawed Solution
Full-Chain Membership Proofs (FCMP++), Monero’s latest stab at salvaging its crumbling privacy model, are being hyped as a revolutionary leap. Touted as an upgrade from the original FCMP concept, it promises to drown transaction origins in a sea of every past blockchain output—over 100 million and climbing.Yet, this isn’t a breakthrough; it’s a desperate, bloated patch that amplifies Monero’s weaknesses while papering over its fatal flaws.
Crushing Computational Load & Network Collapse
FCMP++ swaps Monero’s modest 16-decoys ring signatures for a cryptographic behemoth: proofs spanning the entire blockchain. Transactions now swell to around 4 KB— quadruple the size of current ones—bringing a cascade of pain:
Wallet Sync Nightmares: Syncing a wallet will crawl as users churn through these massive proofs. New adopters, already wary of Monero’s complexity, will flee at the sight of multi-hour wait times.
Node Centralization Spiral: Full nodes, Monero’s decentralized backbone, are already groaning under a 200 GB+ blockchain. FCMP++ jacks up CPU and storage demands, pushing resource-strapped hobbyists out and leaving the network in the hands of well-funded hubs—a privacy coin’s death knell.
Unsustainable Bloat: The blockchain’s growth, already a sore point, accelerates with FCMP++. At this rate, Monero risks becoming a bloated relic, impractical for anyone without industrial-grade hardware.
Developers wave off these concerns, claiming testnet trials (slated for mid-2025) will smooth things out. But the math doesn’t lie: bigger proofs mean bigger problems, and Monero’s scaling woes are only getting uglier.
Privacy Promises That Don’t Hold Up
FCMP++’s grand pitch—an anonymity set of millions—sounds impressive until you dig into what it doesn’t fix:
Timing Attacks Still Bite: Transaction propagation remains unchanged. Sophisticated observers, like chain analysis firms, can timestamp when transactions hit the network, linking them to real-world activity. FCMP++’s bigger haystack doesn’t hide the needle—it just delays the inevitable.
Metadata Bleeding Continues: IP leaks via flawed Tor integration and transaction merging (where multiple outputs tie back to one wallet) still expose users. FCMP++ ignores these gaping holes, focusing on sender obscurity while the network screams metadata to anyone listening.
Statistical Erosion: Sure, 100 million decoys sound uncrackable—until statistical analysis enters the chat. Patterns in spending habits, output ages, and network traffic chip away at the anonymity set. Research from 2024 already showed Monero’s privacy crumbling under sustained statistical assault; FCMP++ just gives analysts more data to chew on.
Even the much-hyped “forward secrecy” (quantum resistance) feels like a gimmick when today’s adversaries—governments and botnets alike—don’t need quantum tech to deanonymize you. They’re already doing it with timing and metadata.
FCMP++: Trading Usability for a False Shield
The cruel irony? FCMP++ doesn’t just fail to plug Monero’s leaks—it makes the user experience worse. Longer syncs, pricier nodes, and a fatter blockchain erode what little usability Monero had left.
This isn’t progress; it’s a mirage. Monero’s sinking ship—riddled with traceable transactions (some estimate 30%+ are partially deanonymized)—can’t be saved by a fancier bucket. FCMP++ heaps technical debt onto a network already buckling under scrutiny from chain analysis tools like CipherTrace, which cracked Monero cases in 2024. Users cling to a false sense of security while adversaries sharpen their knives.
FCMP: A Solution That Makes Monero Worse
The worst part? FCMP not only fails to fix Monero’s privacy issues—it actually makes things worse. By adding heavier cryptographic proofs and slowing down transaction validation, Monero is sacrificing usability without actually solving its privacy leaks. Users will suffer longer wait times, higher resource costs, and reduced efficiency, only to remain vulnerable to blockchain analysis techniques that have already been proven effective.
This is the true FCMP Mirage—a mirage of improved privacy that disappears the moment you examine its technical shortcomings. Instead of making Monero more private, it is only delaying the inevitable collapse of Monero’s anonymity. Monero users are left with a false sense of security, while adversaries continue to refine their de-anonymization techniques. The sinking ship of Monero privacy cannot be patched—it is going down, and FCMP is nothing more than a bucket trying to bail out water from a collapsing hull.
Operation Endgame & Stary Dobry: The Unraveling of Monero
Operation Endgame and Stary Dobry are two examples of global efforts targeting illicit cyber activities, including Monero transactions.
Operation Endgame: A collaborative effort by law enforcement agencies to track and shut down cybercriminal networks using privacy coins like Monero. Blockchain forensics, combined with timing attacks and metadata analysis, have been used to trace Monero transactions back to individuals.
Stary Dobry: A European cybercrime investigation that revealed the use of Monero in illegal marketplaces, leading to increased scrutiny and efforts to break its anonymity.
To understand the severity of Monero’s botnet problem and its implications for privacy and decentralization, watch this video:
These operations prove that Monero’s so-called untraceable transactions are, in fact, vulnerable to sophisticated tracking techniques.
Monero’s Decentralization Problem: The Botnet Curse
Beyond privacy failures, Monero’s mining ecosystem has become centralized in the worst possible way: through botnets. Instead of large mining farms, Monero’s mining algorithm—RandomX—has enabled a different kind of centralization where infected computers and compromised systems contribute hash power unknowingly.
How Botnets Control Monero Mining
Massive Hidden Hashrate: Monero’s botnet mining problem has led to malware-infected computers contributing substantial portions of the network hashrate. Infected machines unknowingly mine for hackers, further centralizing control over Monero’s blockchain.
Reduced Real-World Participation: Honest miners cannot compete with botnets running on thousands of compromised machines. As a result, real users who wish to participate in securing the network are disincentivized, further consolidating mining power in the hands of attackers.
No Real Decentralization: While Monero avoids ASIC domination, the trade-off has been an environment where shadowy actors—rather than a healthy, distributed miner base—control the network. This is a centralization nightmare wrapped in the illusion of “egalitarian mining.”
Ryo Currency: Designed for True Decentralization from the Start
Unlike Monero, Ryo Currency built its foundation on decentralization from day one.
GPU Mining for Everyone: By using CryptoNight-GPU, Ryo ensured that mining was open to a broad range of users rather than favoring botnets or a narrow group of high-end CPU miners.
Egalitarian Emission Schedule: Unlike Monero, which launched with a stealthy premine benefiting early adopters, Ryo Currency followed a fair emission schedule that allowed organic distribution.
This commitment to fairness ensured that Ryo’s coin supply was widely distributed, rather than being concentrated in the hands of a select few.
Enter Ryo Currency: The Future of Private Transactions
With Monero failing both in privacy and decentralization, where does that leave the future of private cryptocurrencies? Ryo Currency has stepped up with an innovative approach that will redefine privacy, scalability, and fairness in the crypto space.
Halo 2 ZK Proofs: The End of Transaction Traceability
Unlike Monero’s flawed decoy-based privacy, Ryo Currency is implementing Halo 2 Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs)—a cryptographic advancement that removes the need for decoys entirely.
Absolute Anonymity: ZKPs provide full transaction privacy without the need for rings, eliminating statistical weaknesses.
Scalability: Unlike Monero, where larger anonymity sets increase computational complexity, Halo 2 allows for privacy without compromising efficiency.
No More Decoy Attacks: Because Halo 2 doesn’t rely on misleading transaction outputs, adversaries cannot exploit heuristics to de-anonymize users.
High-Latency Mixnet: The Ultimate Privacy Shield
Monero transactions are susceptible to timing attacks and network-level surveillance. Ryo Currency’s high-latency mixnet solves this issue by obscuring the origins and destinations of transactions at the network level.
Breaking Metadata Analysis: Transactions are relayed through multiple nodes with high latency, making traffic analysis nearly impossible.
Defeating Global Adversaries: Even if an entity controls a large portion of the network, the mixnet ensures that no single observer can link sender and receiver.
Proof-of-Stake: Security Without Botnets
To break free from the mining centralization that plagues Monero, Ryo Currency is preparing for a transition to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model.
Eliminating Botnets: PoS removes the incentive for malware-driven mining, securing the network with honest participation.
Energy Efficiency: Unlike Monero’s CPU-heavy mining, which wastes power and fuels botnet expansion, PoS provides security without massive computational waste.
Network Governance: PoS allows for on-chain decision-making, reducing the risk of contentious hard forks that have split Monero’s community multiple times.
Conclusion: A New Era of Privacy is Here
Monero’s mission of financial privacy and decentralization has been undermined by its own outdated technology and vulnerability to malicious actors. The failure of its privacy model—combined with the botnet-driven centralization of its mining network—means that Monero is no longer the privacy solution it once claimed to be.
Ryo Currency, built from the start with GPU mining and a fair emission schedule, has proven that true decentralization is possible. Now, with its adoption of Halo 2 ZK Proofs, a high-latency mixnet, and a transition to Proof-of-Stake, Ryo is poised to take privacy cryptocurrency to the next level. The time for broken decoys and centralized botnets is over. The future belongs to truly private, scalable, and decentralized cryptocurrencies—Ryo Currency is leading the way.
The world of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero ($XMR) has long been celebrated for its commitment to decentralization and anonymity. However, beneath its promise of financial sovereignty lies a troubling vulnerability: botnets. These networks of compromised devices, often controlled by illicit operators, have exploited Monero’s mining ecosystem, raising questions about its security, decentralization, and even its design philosophy. This article explores the interplay between botnets and Monero, the evolution of mining algorithms, high-profile operations like Operation Endgame and Stary Dobry, the risks of a 51% attack, and how Ryo Currency ($RYO) offers a compelling alternative with its botnet-resistant approach and forward-thinking innovations.
Botnets and Monero: A Symbiotic Vulnerability?
Botnets—networks of hijacked computers, phones, and IoT devices—have become a pervasive force in cryptocurrency mining, particularly with Monero (XMR). Monero’s original mining algorithm, CryptoNight, was designed to democratize mining by favoring CPUs over specialized hardware like GPUs or ASICs. The idea was noble: anyone with a basic computer could participate, fostering a decentralized network. However, this CPU-friendly design inadvertently opened the door to botnets, which thrive on exploiting vast numbers of low-powered, compromised devices.
Unlike Bitcoin, where mining is dominated by energy-intensive ASIC rigs, Monero’s accessibility made it a prime target for “cryptojacking”—the unauthorized use of victims’ devices to mine cryptocurrency. Botnet operators could harness thousands, even millions, of CPUs to generate significant hashrate, reaping profits without the overhead of legitimate miners. This dynamic has fueled a persistent debate: does Monero’s design unintentionally favor botnets, and if so, does it undermine the coin’s decentralized ethos?
By contrast, Ryo Currency emerged as a response to these flaws. Built on the CryptoNight-GPU algorithm, Ryo shifts mining away from CPUs and botnets, requiring high memory bandwidth and parallel processing capabilities that GPUs excel at but CPUs—and thus botnets—struggle to match. Ryo’s approach prioritizes ethical, decentralized mining over the exploitable accessibility of Monero’s early design.
The Evolution of Mining Algorithms: From CryptoNight to RandomX
Monero’s mining algorithm has evolved significantly since its inception. CryptoNight, introduced with the CryptoNote protocol, aimed to resist ASICs by leveraging memory-intensive computations suited to general-purpose hardware. However, as ASICs adapted and botnets proliferated, Monero faced a dual threat: centralized hardware dominance and illicit mining networks.
In response, Monero forked its algorithm multiple times, culminating in the adoption of RandomX in 2019. RandomX further emphasized CPU mining by introducing randomized code execution, making it harder for ASICs and GPUs to compete. The goal was to restore fairness and decentralization. Yet, this shift doubled down on CPU accessibility, leaving the door ajar for botnets. Critics argue that RandomX, while ASIC-resistant, inadvertently cemented Monero’s appeal to botnet operators, who could still leverage vast networks of hijacked CPUs.
Ryo Currency took a different path. Its CryptoNight-GPU algorithm, introduced in 2018, targets GPU mining explicitly, sidelining CPUs and their botnet vulnerabilities. By requiring high memory bandwidth and parallel processing, CryptoNight-GPU raises the technical bar for mining, deterring low-effort botnet dominance while remaining resistant to ASICs and FPGAs. This design reflects Ryo’s commitment to fair, decentralized mining without sacrificing security—a stark contrast to Monero’s botnet-friendly evolution.
The Botnet Conspiracy: Does Monero Intentionally Favor Illicit Mining?
A controversial claim within the crypto community suggests that Monero’s developers intentionally designed botnet-friendly algorithms to bolster network security. The argument posits that botnets, by contributing significant hashrate, act as a decentralized “security force,” protecting Monero from 51% attacks by traditional miners or state actors. Proponents might argue that botnets, while illicit, distribute hashrate globally, aligning with Monero’s anti-establishment ethos.
However, this theory lacks evidence and ignores the centralization risks botnets introduce. Operation Endgame, a 2024 Europol-led crackdown on botnet infrastructure, revealed a startling statistic: a single botnet accounted for over 40% of Monero’s hashrate. Far from decentralizing the network, this concentration handed immense power to a single operator, undermining Monero’s core principles. If botnets were a deliberate design choice, it would represent a Faustian bargain—security at the cost of integrity.
Ryo Currency rejects this approach outright. Its developers argue that true decentralization requires fair participation, not reliance on illicit actors. CryptoNight-GPU’s botnet resistance ensures that no single entity—legitimate or otherwise—can dominate the network, aligning Ryo with a purer vision of decentralized mining.
Operation Endgame: A Wake-Up Call for Monero
Operation Endgame, launched in May 2024, was the largest coordinated effort against botnets to date. Targeting “dropper” malware used to deploy Monero miners, the operation disrupted networks responsible for cryptojacking on an industrial scale. Post-operation data showed a dramatic drop in Monero’s hashrate—estimated at 40%—highlighting how reliant the network had become on a single botnet. This event exposed Monero’s vulnerability: its decentralized facade masked a centralized reality, where illicit operators held sway.
The implications were profound. If 40% of the hashrate could vanish overnight, what prevented a coordinated botnet from pushing past 51%? Unlike Monero, Ryo’s CryptoNight-GPU algorithm disperses mining power across GPU users, reducing the risk of such extreme concentration. Operation Endgame underscored the need for botnet-resistant designs—something Ryo had already embraced.
Stary Dobry: Game Torrents Turned Mining Machines
The Stary Dobry attack, uncovered in early 2025 by Kaspersky, further illustrated Monero’s botnet problem. Cybercriminals laced game torrents—popular titles like Garry’s Mod and Dyson Sphere Program—with hidden XMRig miners, transforming players’ PCs into nodes of a massive Monero-mining botnet. This operation, named after a Polish phrase meaning “Old Good,” exploited Monero’s CPU-friendly RandomX algorithm, amassing significant hashrate while raising alarms about network security.
Stary Dobry wasn’t just a profitability scheme; it was a demonstration of Monero’s exploitable design. By contrast, Ryo’s GPU-focused mining would have rendered such an attack far less effective. CPUs infected via torrents lack the computational power to mine CryptoNight-GPU efficiently, limiting the impact of similar schemes and protecting Ryo’s network integrity.
The 51% Attack Threat: What Botnets Could Do
A 51% attack occurs when a single entity controls over half of a network’s hashrate, granting them the ability to manipulate the blockchain. For Monero, this could mean censoring transactions, double-spending coins, or undermining trust in its privacy features. Operation Endgame’s 40% figure suggests that a 51% attack is not hypothetical but plausible, especially if botnet operators collaborate or pool resources.
If botnets achieved majority hashrate, they could:
Censor Transactions: Block specific payments, disrupting Monero’s utility.
Double-Spend: Spend the same coins twice, defrauding users or exchanges.
Erode Trust: Expose Monero’s privacy as contingent on the goodwill of illicit actors.
The cost of such an attack, while high, diminishes when botnets—already profitable—coordinate. Monero’s total hashrate hovers around 2-3 GH/s, meaning a botnet with 1.2 GH/s (as one expert estimated) could tip the scales with allies. Ryo’s botnet resistance raises this threshold, requiring attackers to invest in GPU infrastructure rather than relying on hijacked CPUs—a costlier and less scalable endeavor.
Monero’s Front-Loaded Emission: Botnets and Supply Control
Monero’s emission schedule is front-loaded, with most of its 18.4 million coins mined in the first few years after its 2014 launch. By 2025, the tail emission (0.6 XMR per block) sustains the supply, but early miners—including botnets—reaped disproportionate rewards. Critics argue that botnets, active since Monero’s infancy, now control a significant portion of its circulating supply, centralizing wealth and influence.
Ryo Currency, launched in 2018, opted for a fairer approach: a 20-year emission schedule that gradually distributes its supply. This design prevents early dominance by botnets or whales, ensuring broader participation. While Monero’s front-loaded model rewarded early adopters (and botnets), Ryo’s gradual emission aligns with its ethos of democratization and resilience.
Ryo Currency: A Botnet-Resistant Alternative
Ryo Currency stands out as a privacy coin engineered to avoid Monero’s pitfalls. Its CryptoNight-GPU algorithm targets GPUs, sidelining CPUs and botnets while resisting ASICs and FPGAs. This shift doesn’t eliminate 51% attacks—no coin can—but it disperses power, making dominance harder to achieve. Ryo’s 20-year emission further democratizes its supply, contrasting with Monero’s botnet-favored early distribution.
Beyond mining, Ryo is exploring future-proofing through Proof-of-Stake (PoS) with Halo 2 zero-knowledge proofs. Traditional PoS on CryptoNote compromises privacy by requiring public stake selection, weakening ring signatures. Halo 2 zk-proofs, however, allow private stake validation, hiding amounts, ownership, and participation. This innovation could make Ryo the first fully private PoS privacy coin, blending security with anonymity.
Proof-of-Stake on CryptoNote: Challenges and Innovations
Adding PoS to CryptoNote coins like Monero or Ryo could mitigate botnet influence by reducing reliance on mining hashrate. A hybrid PoW/PoS model—say, 50% of blocks staked—could dilute botnet power while maintaining decentralization. However, PoS introduces privacy risks: stake selection exposes metadata, linking outputs and weakening anonymity.
Projects like Zano ($ZANO) have pioneered hybrid PoS with hidden amounts, but their solutions fall short of full privacy. Ryo’s pursuit of Halo 2 zk-proofs offers a breakthrough, enabling a PoS system where no information leaks. This vision contrasts with Monero’s PoW-only stance, which some defend as “fair” but leaves it exposed to botnets.
Conclusion: A Tale of Two Privacy Coins
Monero’s journey—from CryptoNight to RandomX—reflects a struggle to balance accessibility with security. Yet, Operation Endgame and Stary Dobry reveal a harsh truth: its botnet-friendly design has centralized power in illicit hands, risking 51% attacks and supply control. Ryo Currency, with its CryptoNight-GPU algorithm, fair 20-year emission, and Halo 2 aspirations, offers a counterpoint—a privacy coin that prioritizes decentralization without compromising on ethics or resilience.
As the crypto landscape evolves, the choice between Monero’s accessibility and Ryo’s resistance will shape the future of private, decentralized finance. Botnets may profit in the shadows, but coins like Ryo prove that privacy and fairness need not come at the cost of security.
The growth of cryptocurrency mining presents challenges in maintaining decentralization and security. Ryo Currency ($RYO), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, addresses these issues with the Cryptonight-GPU mining algorithm, which optimizes GPU mining while resisting ASIC, CPU, and FPGA influence, thereby supporting a more decentralized network. This article explores the role of GPU mining, the benefits of Cryptonight-GPU, and Ryo’s commitment to accessible, energy-efficient, and secure mining for all.
1. The Role of GPU Mining in Decentralization
Cryptocurrency mining, essential for transaction validation and coin distribution, can involve CPUs, GPUs, or ASICs (specialized circuits). GPU mining, with its balance of performance and flexibility, provides an entry point for individual miners and supports decentralization by lowering barriers to participation.
Advantages of GPU Mining
1. Flexibility: GPUs can mine various cryptocurrencies across different algorithms.
2. Decentralization: Supports a diverse range of participants, reducing reliance on centralized ASIC farms.
3. Cost-Efficiency: More affordable than ASICs, making GPU mining accessible to smaller miners.
For Ryo Currency, which is optimized for Cryptonight-GPU, GPU mining promotes a fairer, more inclusive mining ecosystem.
—
2. Cryptonight-GPU: Key to Ryo’s Decentralized Mining Vision
Cryptonight-GPU is a GPU-focused variant of the Cryptonight algorithm, designed to resist ASICs through high memory demands, making ASIC mining costly and impractical.
High Memory Requirement: Discourages centralized ASIC hardware in favor of widely available GPUs.
Enhanced Decentralization: Encourages broad participation and aligns with Ryo’s ethos of accessibility.
Benefits of Cryptonight-GPU for Miners
This GPU-centric algorithm makes mining affordable and practical for individual miners, reinforcing Ryo’s focus on decentralization.
—
3. Energy Efficiency and Value in Ryo’s Proof-of-Work Model
In proof-of-work (PoW) systems, energy expenditure secures the network and adds intrinsic value to the mined cryptocurrency. Ryo’s efficient Cryptonight-GPU algorithm uses energy resources effectively, reinforcing both network security and environmental sustainability.
Understanding Energy Storage in Mining
In PoW, miners expend energy to solve complex mathematical problems. This energy use isn’t wasted but rather stored in the blockchain as a “proof” of the work done. Every mined block represents an investment of energy, making it costly for malicious actors to alter transaction records.
Advantages of Energy Efficiency:
Security and Economic Value: Energy invested in PoW adds to the currency’s value by backing it with real resources.
Environmental Responsibility: By avoiding energy-intensive ASICs, Ryo minimizes its carbon footprint, supporting sustainable mining practices.
—
4. ASIC vs. GPU Hardware: Implications for Ryo’s Decentralization Strategy
ASICs, while powerful, lead to centralization by consolidating mining power among a few. In contrast, GPUs offer a more democratic mining approach due to their general availability and versatility.
GPU Benefits Over ASICs:
1. Accessibility: Lower cost of entry compared to ASICs, making mining accessible to a wider audience.
2. Versatility: Miners can easily switch between cryptocurrencies.
3. Resistance to Centralization: Promotes a decentralized mining environment by lowering entry barriers.
Ryo’s preference for GPU mining, rather than ASICs, aligns with its mission to maintain a decentralized, fair mining network.
—
5. Democratizing Mining: Empowering Smaller-Scale Miners with GPU Access
By lowering entry costs and enhancing flexibility, GPU mining enables a wider range of participants, from hobbyists to small-scale miners, to secure the network.
Empowerment through Accessibility:
Affordability: GPUs cost significantly less than ASICs, encouraging more participants.
Durability: Unlike ASICs, GPUs can be repurposed beyond mining, offering long-term usability.
This inclusivity fortifies the network, reinforcing Ryo’s decentralized, community-driven approach.
—
6. Security Advantages: Cryptonight-GPU’s Resistance to Botnets and CPU Exploits
Ryo’s algorithm deters CPU mining, reducing exposure to botnet exploitation—a common issue with CPU-minable coins like Monero (XMR). Cryptonight-GPU’s high memory demand and GPU focus make it impractical for botnet operators, enhancing Ryo’s network security. By resisting CPU mining, Ryo protects against cryptojacking, a tactic where attackers use malicious software to hijack unsuspecting devices for unauthorized mining.
CPU Mining and Botnets: Vulnerabilities in CPU-Friendly Networks
In recent years, CPU-minable cryptocurrencies, particularly Monero, have become attractive targets for botnets due to their compatibility with standard consumer devices. Unlike GPU mining, which often requires dedicated hardware, CPU mining can be conducted on virtually any computer, including compromised personal devices. This makes Monero a popular choice for attackers who seek to harness the power of thousands of compromised machines without the need to install specialized hardware.
Notable Cryptojacking Examples
Smominru Botnet: This botnet compromised over 500,000 devices to mine Monero, earning millions of dollars for its operators.
WannaMine: A cryptojacking malware that exploited the EternalBlue vulnerability, spreading widely to mine Monero and reinfecting devices persistently.
#Opendgame Operation: This operation caused a 40% drop in Monero’s hashrate when a major botnet went offline, revealing network reliance on compromised devices.
Strengthened Network Security: The network remains decentralized and resistant to malicious CPU-based mining.
This approach ensures that Ryo’s mining remains accessible and safe from large-scale botnet interference.
—
7. Ensuring Decentralization: Cryptonight-GPU’s Resistance to FPGA Mining
Cryptonight-GPU resists FPGA mining, which threatens decentralization by allowing large-scale miners to dominate the network. This resistance upholds Ryo’s goal of an open, accessible network for individual miners.
Decentralization Benefits:
Equal Playing Field: Ryo’s resistance to FPGA mining supports GPU miners without costly, specialized hardware.
Network Integrity: Reduces risks of network manipulation, sustaining decentralization.
This resistance to FPGA mining is integral to Ryo’s commitment to inclusivity and network stability.
—
8. Achieving Nvidia and AMD Parity in Cryptonight-GPU
Ryo’s Cryptonight-GPU algorithm equalizes performance between Nvidia ($NVDA) and AMD ($AMD) GPUs, enhancing accessibility across hardware types and ensuring that miners are not restricted by their choice of graphics card.
Implications of Hardware Parity:
Encourages Broad Participation: Both Nvidia and AMD users can mine Ryo effectively.
Supports Decentralization: Reduces dependence on specific hardware, preventing hardware-based centralization.
Environmental and Financial Benefits: Miners avoid unnecessary upgrades, reducing e-waste and costs.
This inclusive approach enhances accessibility, aligning with Ryo’s decentralized mining philosophy.
—
9. Ryo Currency’s Unique Approach with Cryptonight-GPU
Ryo’s Cryptonight-GPU implementation strategically combines decentralization, security, and sustainability. By resisting ASIC, CPU, and FPGA mining, Ryo avoids the risks of centralized mining, allowing individuals to secure the network without extensive resources.
Fair Emission Schedule: Ryo’s gradual, 20-year emission schedule, similar to that of Bitcoin ($BTC), supports long-term sustainability, avoiding rapid early hoarding and ensuring that late joiners can earn mining rewards. This “Plateau” model mirrors natural resource extraction, fostering long-term network stability.
Advancements in Privacy: Beyond mining, Ryo has contributed significantly to privacy technology, pioneering enhancements that even Monero has adopted such as short seeds, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), speedy payment IDs, and enhanced payment gateways. Ryo’s planned transition to second-generation ZK-proofs (zero-knowledge proofs) will elevate its privacy capabilities, setting a new standard for privacy in cryptocurrency.
—
10. Conclusion
Ryo Currency’s strategic focus on decentralization, sustainability, and privacy highlights its vision of a fair, community-centered cryptocurrency. The Cryptonight-GPU algorithm enables secure, accessible mining resistant to centralized ASIC, CPU, and FPGA mining. Its Nvidia and AMD parity further reduces hardware barriers, promoting inclusivity.
With a fair emission model and cutting-edge privacy enhancements, Ryo leads by example in creating a resilient, decentralized cryptocurrency. Through its balanced approach to mining and ongoing commitment to privacy innovation, Ryo is building a sustainable and inclusive future for cryptocurrency.
