A team of monero enthusiasts based in Hong Kong have launched an alternative version of LocalBitcoins.com.
Called LocalMonero.co, the website will connect buyers and sellers of the cryptocurrency based on country of residence. Users can meet and exchange monero for cash, or buy it online from a local seller.
Created in 2013, monero is a privacy-centric cryptocurrency that obscures user transactional data by use a cryptographic procedure called “ring signatures.”
Like the currency itself, LocalMonero.co is also committed to privacy, according to its founders. Launching the website in a Reddit post, user “optocomp” stated:
“We don’t keep any IP logs and we don’t require users to have emails. We keep trade chat logs for 180 days for purposes of dispute mediation. The logs are encrypted and all the attachments uploaded in the chat are watermarked and encrypted to prevent unauthorized use.”
Still, the quest for privacy is slightly complex, with the premise of the website being to connect traders based on locational data. LocalMonero defaults to Google APIs for this purpose, however, it also allows users to manually override the feature by entering their own longitude and latitude when searching for local trades.
The timing of the launch would seem opportune, however.
Monero grabbed headlines last week when it saw at 80% value increase in one day, as the price per coin rocketed from $35 up to $95. The price hike followed an announcement that South Korean exchange Bithumb would soon add monero as a trading pair.
The cryptocurrency was officially introduced to Bithumb on August 27, and reached an all-time high of $153.31 a day later. One monero token was worth around $128 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap.
Image via Pete Rizzo for CoinDesk
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