# Monero Academy

> A free, ad-supported education site teaching everything about getting and using Monero (XMR), from total beginner to advanced. Text lessons organized into courses by level, with quizzes. No accounts, no tracking, works without JavaScript, Tor-accessible.

## Beginner

### Crypto & Money Basics — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/crypto-and-money-basics
Start from zero: what money is, what cryptocurrency is and the problem it solves, how a blockchain works, and what a wallet is.
- [What Is Money?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/crypto-and-money-basics/what-is-money): Money explained from first principles — what it is, the properties of good money, and why sound money matters.
- [What Is Cryptocurrency?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/crypto-and-money-basics/what-is-cryptocurrency): A plain-English introduction to cryptocurrency: digital money you can hold and send without a bank.
- [What Problem Does Crypto Solve?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/crypto-and-money-basics/what-problem-does-crypto-solve): Why cryptocurrency exists: censorship, inflation, gatekeepers, and trusting third parties with your money.
- [What Is a Blockchain?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/crypto-and-money-basics/what-is-a-blockchain): How a blockchain works as a shared, tamper-resistant ledger that no single party controls.
- [Centralized vs Decentralized](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/crypto-and-money-basics/centralized-vs-decentralized): The core difference between a bank or exchange holding your money and you holding it yourself.
- [What Is a Crypto Wallet?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/crypto-and-money-basics/what-is-a-wallet): A wallet doesn't hold coins — it holds keys. The mental model that makes everything else click.
- [Payment Methods Compared: Cash, Cards, Banks & Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/crypto-and-money-basics/payment-methods-compared): How cash, debit cards, credit cards, bank transfers and Monero really differ — fees, settlement speed, privacy, reversibility and who is in control.

### What Is Monero? — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/monero-basics
What Monero is, why it's unique, where it came from, and the ideas — privacy and fungibility — that set it apart.
- [What Is Monero?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-basics/what-is-monero): Monero (XMR) explained: private, fungible digital cash that's untraceable by default.
- [Why Monero Is Unique](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-basics/why-monero-is-unique): Privacy on by default, fungibility, and a fair-launch community — what makes Monero different from every other coin.
- [The History of Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-basics/history-of-monero): From CryptoNote and Bytecoin to the 2014 fair launch, RandomX, and today — how Monero came to be.
- [Monero vs Bitcoin: Privacy](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-basics/monero-vs-bitcoin-privacy): Bitcoin is a transparent ledger; Monero hides sender, receiver and amount. Why that difference matters.
- [What Is Fungibility (and Why It Matters)](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-basics/what-is-fungibility): Why every coin being equal and interchangeable is essential to real money — and why Monero has it.
- [Community, Emission & Tail Emission](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-basics/monero-community-and-emission): No premine, no company, community-funded development, and the tail emission that keeps Monero secure.
- [What Gives Monero Value?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-basics/what-gives-monero-value): Why Monero is worth anything: utility, scarcity and trust — private fungible cash, sound issuance, decentralization, network effect and censorship resistance, and the honest difference between price and value.

### Your First Monero Wallet — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/your-first-monero-wallet
Everything about wallets and keys: the wallet types, public vs private (spend and view) keys, your seed phrase, and how to create, receive and send safely.
- [Types of Monero Wallets](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/your-first-monero-wallet/monero-wallet-types): Official GUI/CLI, Feather, Cake, Monerujo and hardware wallets — which to pick and why.
- [Public & Private Keys in Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/your-first-monero-wallet/monero-public-and-private-keys): Monero's unusual two-key design: spend keys and view keys, and what each one can do.
- [Your Seed Phrase (25 Words)](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/your-first-monero-wallet/your-seed-phrase): What Monero's 25-word mnemonic is, how it backs up your whole wallet, and how to store it safely.
- [Create Your First Wallet](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/your-first-monero-wallet/create-your-first-wallet): A step-by-step walkthrough of creating a Monero wallet and verifying your backup.
- [Receiving Monero & Addresses](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/your-first-monero-wallet/receiving-monero-and-addresses): Primary addresses, subaddresses and integrated addresses — how to receive privately.
- [Sending Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/your-first-monero-wallet/sending-monero): How to send XMR: addresses, amounts, fees, priority and confirming it arrived.
- [Wallet Security Basics](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/your-first-monero-wallet/wallet-security-basics): The handful of habits that keep your Monero safe from day one.

### Security & Self-Custody — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/security-and-self-custody
Hold your own Monero safely: the self-custody mindset, securing your seed, passphrases, spotting scams, backups, and inheritance.
- [The Self-Custody Mindset](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/security-and-self-custody/self-custody-philosophy): Why 'not your keys, not your coins' is the foundation of holding Monero — and the responsibility it brings.
- [Securing Your Seed](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/security-and-self-custody/securing-your-seed): Practical ways to back up and protect your 25-word seed against loss, theft and disaster.
- [Passphrases & Extra Protection](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/security-and-self-custody/passphrase-and-extra-protection): Adding an optional passphrase for an extra layer, and the trade-offs to understand.
- [Phishing & Scams](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/security-and-self-custody/phishing-and-scams): The common scams targeting Monero users and how to never fall for them.
- [Backups & Recovery](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/security-and-self-custody/backups-and-recovery): How to back up properly and confidently restore your wallet when you need to.
- [Inheritance Planning](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/security-and-self-custody/inheritance-planning): Making sure your Monero isn't lost forever — passing it on without compromising security today.

### Spending Monero in the Real World — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/spending-monero
How to actually use your Monero day to day: paying merchants that accept XMR, finding places to spend, gift cards and prepaid cards, swapping to pay Bitcoin-only merchants, everyday categories like VPNs and travel, and keeping your spending private and safe.
- [Ways to Spend Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/spending-monero/ways-to-spend-monero): The three main paths: pay XMR-accepting merchants directly, buy gift/prepaid cards, or swap to another coin to pay non-XMR merchants.
- [Finding Places That Accept Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/spending-monero/finding-places-that-accept-monero): Using directories like Monerica and community lists, vetting a merchant, and the categories of goods and services commonly available for XMR.
- [Gift Cards & Prepaid Cards with Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/spending-monero/gift-cards-and-prepaid-with-monero): Buying retailer gift cards and prepaid/debit cards with XMR to spend almost anywhere — with the fee, KYC and privacy trade-offs.
- [Paying Bitcoin (or Other) Merchants with Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/spending-monero/paying-bitcoin-merchants-with-monero): Using instant or atomic swaps to convert XMR at the moment of payment so you can pay a merchant that doesn't accept Monero.
- [Everyday Spending: VPNs, Hosting, Travel & Subscriptions](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/spending-monero/everyday-spending-with-monero): Categories where XMR is well supported, handling recurring payments, and keeping a separate spending wallet.
- [Spending Monero Privately & Safely](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/spending-monero/spending-monero-privately): Preserving privacy when you spend — address reuse, checkout and shipping leaks, payment proofs for disputes, and avoiding scams.

### Troubleshooting & Common Mistakes — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/troubleshooting-monero
The problems people actually hit — a pending transaction, a wallet that won't sync, a zero balance after restoring, locked funds, sending to the wrong place, and swap issues — plus a checklist to avoid the common mistakes in the first place.
- [My Transaction Is Pending or Stuck](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/troubleshooting-monero/transaction-pending-or-stuck): What 'pending' really means, the mempool, block time and the 10-block lock, fees and priority, and why a broadcast Monero tx isn't 'lost'.
- [My Wallet Won't Sync](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/troubleshooting-monero/wallet-not-syncing): How syncing works, remote node vs your own node, common connection and 'daemon busy' issues, and how to fix a slow or stalled sync.
- [I Restored My Wallet but the Balance Is Zero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/troubleshooting-monero/restore-height-and-zero-balance): The classic restore-height mistake that skips your funds, how to rescan from an earlier height, and confirming your primary address.
- [Locked vs Unlocked Balance](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/troubleshooting-monero/locked-vs-unlocked-balance): The 10-block unlock on received outputs, balance vs unlocked balance, change outputs, and the longer lock on mined coins.
- [I Sent to the Wrong Address or Amount](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/troubleshooting-monero/sent-to-the-wrong-place): Why Monero is irreversible, wrong-address cases, exchange deposits and payment IDs, and using payment proofs — with honest expectations.
- [Swap & Exchange Problems](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/troubleshooting-monero/swap-and-exchange-issues): Sending below the minimum, missing refund addresses, floating-rate surprises, stuck deposits and 'surprise KYC' — and how to resolve them.
- [Avoiding Common Mistakes](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/troubleshooting-monero/avoiding-common-monero-mistakes): A consolidated checklist: verify the address, test small, back up first, set the restore height, keep a refund address, and beware scams.

## Intermediate

### Getting Monero — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/getting-monero
Every way to get XMR — exchanges, no-KYC instant swaps, peer-to-peer, earning and mining — and how to choose based on privacy.
- [Ways to Get Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/getting-monero/ways-to-get-monero): An overview of all the routes to acquire XMR and the trade-offs between them.
- [Buying on Exchanges (KYC)](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/getting-monero/buying-on-exchanges-kyc): How centralized exchanges work, what KYC means, and the risks of buying Monero with your identity attached.
- [No-KYC Instant Swaps](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/getting-monero/no-kyc-instant-swaps): How to get Monero by swapping another coin with no account and no KYC, straight to your wallet.
- [Peer-to-Peer Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/getting-monero/peer-to-peer-monero): Buying XMR directly from another person — how P2P works and how to stay safe.
- [Earning & Mining Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/getting-monero/earning-and-mining-monero-intro): Getting Monero by accepting it as payment or by mining it with a regular computer.
- [Choosing How to Get Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/getting-monero/choosing-how-to-get-monero): Matching the acquisition method to your privacy needs, budget and skill.

### Swapping Monero — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/swapping-monero
Everything you need to convert other crypto into Monero (and back) without an account: how swaps work, doing one step by step, picking a trustworthy service, and understanding rates, fees and the privacy picture.
- [What Is a Monero Swap?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/swapping-monero/what-is-a-monero-swap): Trading one cryptocurrency for Monero with no account and no fiat — what a swap is and why it's the everyday privacy on-ramp.
- [How Instant Swaps Work](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/swapping-monero/how-instant-swaps-work): The mechanics behind the magic: deposit and refund addresses, fixed vs floating rates, and what happens at each step.
- [Your First Swap, Step by Step](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/swapping-monero/your-first-monero-swap): A complete walkthrough of doing a real swap into your own wallet — and testing small first.
- [Choosing a Swap Service Safely](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/swapping-monero/choosing-a-swap-service): How to pick a trustworthy no-KYC swap, use aggregators and the Monerica directory, and spot fakes and surprise-KYC traps.
- [Rates, Fees & Pitfalls](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/swapping-monero/swap-rates-fees-and-pitfalls): Spreads, network fees, minimums, rate timers and stuck swaps — get the best deal and avoid the common traps.

### How Monero Works — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/how-monero-works
The technology behind the privacy: what a Monero output actually is, stealth addresses, ring signatures, RingCT, network privacy, confirmations and fees — explained simply.
- [What Is 'a Monero'? Outputs Explained](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/what-is-a-monero-output): There's no 'coin' file — what you own is a set of unspent transaction outputs. The mental model that makes the rest of Monero click.
- [Stealth Addresses](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/stealth-addresses): How one-time addresses hide the receiver so your address never appears on the blockchain.
- [Ring Signatures](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/ring-signatures): How mixing your spend with decoys hides which output is really being spent — protecting the sender.
- [RingCT: Hidden Amounts](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/ringct-hidden-amounts): How Confidential Transactions hide the amount while still proving no money was created from nothing.
- [Dandelion++ & Network Privacy](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/dandelion-network-privacy): How Monero obscures which node a transaction came from, and why network-level privacy matters.
- [Confirmations & the 10-Block Lock](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/block-confirmations-and-locks): Why received Monero is locked for 10 blocks, and what confirmations mean for your funds.
- [Fees & Dynamic Block Size](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/fees-and-dynamic-block-size): How Monero keeps fees low with an adaptive block size, and how transaction priority works.
- [The Life of a Transaction](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/how-monero-works/transaction-lifecycle): Follow a Monero transaction from your wallet to confirmation, tying all the pieces together.

### Using Monero in Practice — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/using-monero-in-practice
The day-to-day skills: checking your transactions without a public explorer, subaddresses, payment proofs, paying with XMR, and using a node over Tor.
- [Checking Your Transactions](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/checking-your-transactions): Monero has no public explorer for your funds — how to verify payments using your wallet, tx keys and view keys.
- [Subaddresses & Accounts](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/subaddresses-and-accounts): Organizing funds with accounts and subaddresses for privacy and bookkeeping.
- [Payment Proofs](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/payment-proofs): How to prove you sent (or received) a specific payment without exposing your whole wallet.
- [Paying With Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/paying-with-monero): Spending XMR in the real world: merchants, point-of-sale, and getting confirmations right.
- [Running Your Own Node](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/running-or-choosing-a-node): Your own node vs a remote node, the privacy trade-offs, and a full step-by-step guide to installing and running monerod yourself.
- [Connecting Over Tor](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/connecting-over-tor): Routing your wallet and node over Tor to hide your IP from the network.
- [Run Your Own Node Over Tor (Most Private)](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/run-your-own-node-over-tor): The gold-standard setup: run your own local node, route its peer traffic over Tor, and point your wallet at localhost — the most private way to use Monero.
- [Accepting Monero with BTCPay Server](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/using-monero-in-practice/accepting-monero-with-btcpay): Advanced: run your own self-hosted BTCPay Server to accept Monero payments directly — no processor, no middleman, full self-custody.

### Monero Hardware: Nodes & Devices — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/monero-hardware
Run Monero on real hardware: plug-and-play node appliances like MoneroNodo, building your own node on a Raspberry Pi, using your hardware node day to day, and hardware wallets for key storage.
- [Monero Hardware: An Overview](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-hardware/monero-hardware-overview): The hardware that powers self-sovereign Monero — node appliances, single-board computers, and hardware wallets — and which you actually need.
- [Plug-and-Play Node Appliances (MoneroNodo)](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-hardware/hardware-node-appliances): What ready-made Monero node devices like MoneroNodo are, what they include, and who they're for.
- [Build Your Own Node on a Raspberry Pi](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-hardware/build-a-raspberry-pi-node): A practical build: the parts you need, why an SSD matters, and setting up a low-power always-on Monero node yourself.
- [Using Your Hardware Node Every Day](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-hardware/using-your-hardware-node): Point your phone and desktop wallets at your own hardware node — on your network and remotely over Tor — and keep it healthy.
- [Hardware Wallets with Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-hardware/hardware-wallets-with-monero): How hardware wallets keep your keys offline, which ones work with Monero, and how they fit alongside a hardware node.

### Mining Monero — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/mining-monero
Earn XMR with your CPU: how RandomX mining works, solo vs pool, P2Pool, and what to consider before you start.
- [What Is Monero Mining?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/mining-monero/what-is-monero-mining): How Monero's RandomX algorithm lets ordinary CPUs secure the network and earn rewards.
- [Solo vs Pool Mining](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/mining-monero/solo-vs-pool-mining): The difference between mining alone and joining a pool, and which suits you.
- [Setting Up Mining](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/mining-monero/setting-up-mining): A practical walkthrough to start mining Monero to your own wallet.
- [P2Pool: Decentralized Mining](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/mining-monero/p2pool-decentralized-mining): How P2Pool gives you pool-like steady payouts while keeping mining decentralized.
- [Mining Considerations](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/mining-monero/mining-considerations): Profitability, heat, electricity and privacy factors to weigh before mining.

### Accepting Monero as a Business — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/accepting-monero-business
The merchant's side of the circular economy: why a business would accept XMR, how to price and handle volatility, in-person and online payment setups, converting and managing cash flow, and refunds, records and day-to-day operations. Practical, not tax or legal advice.
- [Why a Business Would Accept Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/accepting-monero-business/why-accept-monero-business): Irreversible settlement, low predictable fees, no intermediary freezes, global reach and customer privacy — plus the honest trade-offs.
- [Pricing in Monero & Handling Volatility](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/accepting-monero-business/pricing-in-monero-and-volatility): Pricing in fiat and converting at checkout vs pricing in XMR, live rate feeds and quote windows, and strategies to manage volatility.
- [Point of Sale & In-Person Payments](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/accepting-monero-business/monero-point-of-sale): A fresh subaddress and QR per sale, confirmations vs zero-conf risk, the 10-block lock, receipts, and POS apps and appliances.
- [Accepting Monero in an Online Store](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/accepting-monero-business/monero-online-store-integration): The payment-processor pattern: BTCPay, a fresh subaddress per invoice, a watch-only wallet, e-commerce plugins and confirmation handling.
- [Converting Monero & Managing Cash Flow](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/accepting-monero-business/converting-monero-and-treasury): Turning XMR into fiat or other assets via exchanges or no-KYC swaps, treasury strategy, payout timing and hot/cold separation.
- [Refunds, Records & Day-to-Day Operations](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/accepting-monero-business/merchant-operations-and-refunds): Handling refunds without chargebacks, reconciliation and record-keeping, payment proofs for disputes, and operational security.

### Monero, Records & the Regulatory Landscape — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/monero-records-and-regulation
An educational, international overview — not tax or legal advice. How Monero combines privacy with owner-controlled transparency (view keys and payment proofs), the idea of keeping your own records, and a neutral, descriptive look at how regulators and exchanges approach privacy assets. Rules vary by country and change; consult a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.
- [Privacy with Selective Transparency](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-records-and-regulation/privacy-with-selective-transparency): How Monero is private by default yet the owner can choose to reveal specific information — privacy is not the same as being unable to prove anything.
- [Proving Payments with View Keys & Proofs](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-records-and-regulation/proving-payments-with-view-keys): How a private view key exposes incoming transactions read-only, and how payment proofs let you prove a specific payment for records or disputes.
- [Keeping Your Own Records](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-records-and-regulation/keeping-personal-records): General concepts of personal record-keeping and cost basis at a high level only — with the reminder that what matters legally depends entirely on your country.
- [How Regulators View Privacy Coins](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-records-and-regulation/how-regulators-view-privacy-coins): A neutral, descriptive overview of the international landscape: delistings in some places, general concepts like the travel rule and frameworks such as MiCA — approaches differ and change.
- [Monero, Exchanges & Compliance](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-records-and-regulation/monero-exchanges-and-compliance): Why some exchanges list Monero and others don't, KYC vs no-KYC venues, and how view keys can enable voluntary transparency where a party chooses it.

## Advanced

### Privacy Best Practices — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/privacy-best-practices
Use Monero well: threat modeling, network privacy, avoiding metadata leaks, the truth about churning, and real-world OPSEC.
- [Threat Modeling](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/privacy-best-practices/threat-modeling): Privacy isn't one-size-fits-all — define who you're protecting against before choosing tools.
- [Network Privacy: Tor & I2P](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/privacy-best-practices/network-privacy-tor-i2p): Hiding the network layer with Tor and I2P so your IP doesn't undermine Monero's on-chain privacy.
- [Avoiding Metadata Leaks](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/privacy-best-practices/avoiding-metadata-leaks): The subtle ways you can deanonymize yourself around an otherwise-private transaction.
- [Churning: Myths & Reality](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/privacy-best-practices/churning-myths-and-reality): What churning is, when it helps, when it doesn't, and the misconceptions to drop.
- [OPSEC for Monero](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/privacy-best-practices/opsec-for-monero): Operational security habits for receiving, holding and spending XMR safely.
- [Atomic Swaps: Trustless XMR↔BTC](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/privacy-best-practices/atomic-swaps): The most private way to swap: a peer-to-peer XMR↔BTC trade where no service ever holds your coins or can log you — how it works and its trade-offs.
- [Privacy Myths Debunked](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/privacy-best-practices/privacy-myths-debunked): Common myths about Monero's privacy — and what's actually true.

### Coin Control & Advanced Wallet Use — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/coin-control-and-advanced
Take full control: how outputs work, managing them to avoid linking, dusting attacks, multisig, hardware/cold storage, and watch-only auditing.
- [What Is Coin Control?](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/coin-control-and-advanced/what-is-coin-control): Understanding outputs in Monero and why controlling which ones you spend matters.
- [Managing Your Outputs](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/coin-control-and-advanced/managing-outputs): Practical output management to keep funds separated and avoid accidental linking.
- [Dusting Attacks](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/coin-control-and-advanced/dusting-attacks): What dusting is, why Monero resists it far better than transparent coins, and how to handle it.
- [Multisig in Depth](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/coin-control-and-advanced/multisig-in-depth): How Monero multisig works, when to use it, and its trade-offs.
- [Hardware & Cold Storage](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/coin-control-and-advanced/hardware-and-cold-storage): Keeping keys offline with hardware wallets and cold-storage workflows.
- [Watch-Only Wallets & Auditing](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/coin-control-and-advanced/watch-only-and-auditing): Using view keys and watch-only wallets to audit funds without exposing spend ability.

### Running & Operating a Node — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/running-and-operating-nodes
Go beyond using a node to operating one: run a public remote node over Tor for the community, read live network stats like fees and circulating supply, and prune your blockchain to save space.
- [Running a Public Remote Node](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/running-and-operating-nodes/running-a-public-remote-node): Open your node to the world: configure monerod as a public RPC node, serve it over Tor and clearnet, and help the community without risking your own privacy.
- [Checking Network Stats: Fees & Supply](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/running-and-operating-nodes/checking-network-stats): Read the Monero network live — current transaction fees, block reward, difficulty and the total circulating supply — straight from your node or a block explorer.
- [Node Pruning Explained](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/running-and-operating-nodes/node-pruning): How blockchain pruning works, what it keeps and drops, when to prune, and how to run a pruned node that still fully validates.

### Monero Internals: Cryptography & Protocol Deep Dive — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/monero-internals-deep-dive
For people who find the rest too easy. The real math and machinery: the Ed25519 group and key derivation, stealth-address ECDH, CLSAG ring signatures and key images, RingCT with Pedersen commitments and Bulletproofs+, the byte-level anatomy of a transaction, and RandomX, block weight and the fee algorithm. Ends with a brutal quiz.
- [The Curve: Ed25519 & Monero's Keys](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-internals-deep-dive/ed25519-and-monero-keys): The twisted-Edwards group Monero is built on, scalars mod ℓ, points, and how spend/view keypairs and addresses are actually derived.
- [Stealth Addresses: The Math](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-internals-deep-dive/stealth-addresses-the-math): One-time output keys via ECDH: R = rG, P = Hs(rA)G + B, how the receiver recovers the one-time private key, subaddresses, and view tags.
- [CLSAG Ring Signatures & Key Images](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-internals-deep-dive/clsag-ring-signatures): How Monero proves you own one ring member without revealing which — LSAG → MLSAG → CLSAG — and how the key image I = x·Hp(P) stops double spends.
- [RingCT, Pedersen Commitments & Bulletproofs+](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-internals-deep-dive/ringct-and-bulletproofs): Hiding amounts with commitments C = aH + xG, the balance equation, and how Bulletproofs+ prove a value is in range without revealing it.
- [Anatomy of a Monero Transaction](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-internals-deep-dive/transaction-anatomy-deep): A byte-level tour: inputs with key images, outputs with one-time keys and view tags, ecdhInfo, the range proof, tx_extra, fees and the balance proof.
- [RandomX, Block Weight & the Fee Algorithm](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-internals-deep-dive/randomx-and-consensus): The PoW VM that keeps mining on CPUs, plus the dynamic block-weight penalty and the fee formula that derive Monero's adaptive, low fees.

### Monero Protocol Engineering: For Contributors — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/monero-protocol-engineering
The level a Monero core or research contributor is expected to know. Implementation-grade detail: the Ed25519 cofactor-8 pitfalls and point validation, decoy selection and the output-age distribution, CLSAG's exact aggregated construction, the Bulletproofs+ weighted inner-product argument, multisig with the Janus and burning-bug edge cases, and the Seraphis/Jamtis/FCMP++ roadmap. Ends with a quiz built to gate real contributors.
- [Cofactor 8 & Point Validation](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-protocol-engineering/cofactor-and-point-validation): Ed25519 has cofactor 8, so points can carry a torsion component. Why key images must be checked for the prime-order subgroup, the hash-to-point map, and the bugs that ignoring this caused.
- [Decoy Selection & the Output Distribution](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-protocol-engineering/decoy-selection-and-distribution): Why decoys must mimic the real spend-age distribution (a gamma fit), how the selection algorithm works, and the deanonymization that a naive selector causes.
- [CLSAG: Exact Construction & Domain Separation](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-protocol-engineering/clsag-exact-construction): The aggregation coefficients, the domain-separated challenge hashes, and how one ring proves both key ownership and commitment opening — with the round-robin written out.
- [Bulletproofs+: The Weighted Inner-Product Argument](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-protocol-engineering/bulletproofs-plus-internals): Generators, the Fiat-Shamir transcript, the weighted inner-product that shrinks the proof, batch verification, and the transaction-weight clawback.
- [Multisig, the Janus Attack & the Burning Bug](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-protocol-engineering/multisig-janus-burning-bug): M-of-N key aggregation and its rounds, plus two subtle failure modes every contributor must know — the Janus subaddress-linking attack and the burning bug — and their mitigations.
- [The Roadmap: Seraphis, Jamtis & FCMP++](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/monero-protocol-engineering/seraphis-jamtis-fcmp): Where the protocol is heading: full-chain membership proofs via curve trees that replace ring signatures, the Seraphis transaction protocol, and the Jamtis addressing scheme.

### Building on Monero: Developer Integrations — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/building-monero-integrations
For developers: build your own Monero integration — a wallet, a BTCPay-style payment processor, or an instant-swap exchange — using monerod, the daemon RPC, monero-wallet-rpc, accounts and subaddresses, watch-only and hot/cold wallets, and light-wallet servers. By the end you understand how Cake Wallet, BTCPay and swap services are actually built, and could build your own.
- [The Monero Developer Stack](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/the-monero-developer-stack): monerod, monero-wallet-rpc, wallet2 and light-wallet servers — the components every Monero integration is built from, and the three main integration patterns.
- [Running monerod for Integration](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/running-monerod-for-integration): Run your own node for an integration: restricted vs unrestricted daemon RPC, ZMQ push notifications, pruning, auth and Tor, and why you must not trust a remote node.
- [The Daemon RPC API](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/the-daemon-rpc-api): The daemon's JSON-RPC and legacy endpoints — get_info, get_fee_estimate, get_outs, send_raw_transaction — the read-and-broadcast layer of the chain.
- [monero-wallet-rpc: The Workhorse](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/wallet-rpc-the-workhorse): monero-wallet-rpc as a service: accounts and subaddresses, get_balance, create_address, get_transfers, transfer and sweep_all — the engine behind most server integrations.
- [Receiving Payments: Subaddresses & Watch-Only Wallets](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/receiving-payments-integration): The payment-processor pattern: a fresh subaddress per invoice plus a watch-only (view-key) wallet to detect payments securely, with confirmations and the 10-block lock.
- [Sending Payments & Managing Outputs](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/sending-and-managing-outputs): Build the payout side: transfer, transfer_split and sweep_all, fees and priority, locked vs unlocked balance, change outputs, and hot/cold wallet design.
- [Building a Light Wallet](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/building-a-light-wallet): How Cake Wallet and MyMonero work: embedded wallet2 vs a light-wallet server, view-key scanning and view tags, and the security trade-offs of each.
- [Security, Architecture & Production](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/integration-security-and-architecture): Run it safely in production: hot/cold key separation, confirmations and reorgs, idempotency, monitoring, key management, and testing on stagenet first.
- [Building Real Services](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/building-monero-integrations/building-real-services): Capstone: assemble a BTCPay-style payment processor, an instant-swap exchange, and a Cake-style mobile wallet from the building blocks you've learned.

### The Math of Monero: Cryptography Across Blockchains — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/the-math-of-monero
The mathematics every cryptocurrency shares — finite fields, elliptic curves, the discrete-log problem, hashes and signatures — and exactly where Monero re-points that same toolkit from 'reveal and audit' to 'prove and conceal'. A comparative tour across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcash and Monero: same skeleton, different choices. By the end you can read any chain's math and name what it hides and how.
- [The Shared Math Under Every Blockchain](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/crypto-shared-math-foundations): The four ideas every cryptocurrency is built from — finite fields, groups and the discrete-log problem, one-way hashes, and signatures — and why Monero invents almost no new math.
- [Hash Functions: The Common Workhorse](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/hash-functions-across-chains): SHA-256 vs Keccak across Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero, the hash-to-scalar and hash-to-point maps Monero adds, and how hashing becomes commitment.
- [Elliptic Curves: One Idea, Different Curves](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/elliptic-curves-across-chains): Why Bitcoin and Ethereum use secp256k1, Monero uses Ed25519, and Zcash adds pairing curves — and how the curve choice follows from each chain's goals.
- [Digital Signatures: ECDSA, Schnorr & EdDSA](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/digital-signatures-across-chains): How all blockchain signatures descend from Schnorr, why ECDSA names the spender, and how Monero generalizes one signature into a privacy-preserving ring.
- [Where the Math Diverges: Transparent vs Private](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/transparent-vs-private-math): What a transparent transaction reveals, why pseudonymity isn't privacy, the three things a private chain must hide, and the two schools that solve it.
- [Monero's Math I: Hiding Sender & Receiver](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/monero-math-hiding-sender-receiver): Stealth addresses via ECDH (P = Hs(rA)G + B), ring signatures that hide which key signed, and key images I = x·Hp(P) that stop double-spends without naming the output.
- [Monero's Math II: Hiding Amounts](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/monero-math-hiding-amounts): Pedersen commitments C = xG + aH, the homomorphic balance check, the overflow loophole, and how Bulletproofs+ prove amounts in range with no trusted setup.
- [Same Tools, Different Trade-offs](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/the-math-of-monero/crypto-math-compared-tradeoffs): Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcash and Monero side by side: the shared foundation, the Zcash-vs-Monero assumption trade-off, why mandatory privacy matters, and the FCMP++ roadmap.

### How Monero Is Attacked — and Defends — https://moneroacademy.com/courses/attacks-and-defenses
The adversary's perspective on Monero privacy, and the defenses for each attack: the threat model, the pre-RingCT traceability lessons, decoy-flooding and poisoned-output (EAE) attacks, timing and transaction-graph analysis, network-level de-anonymization, and a sober look at chain-analysis claims versus reality.
- [The Privacy Adversary Model](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/attacks-and-defenses/the-privacy-adversary-model): Who attacks Monero privacy — chain observers, analysis firms, spy nodes, global network observers, KYC exchanges — and their goals, split into on-chain and network-layer adversaries.
- [The Pre-RingCT Traceability Lessons](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/attacks-and-defenses/pre-ringct-traceability): Historical weaknesses when rings were optional or small — zero-decoy cascade deanonymization and transparent amounts — and how mandatory RingCT and enforced decoys fixed them.
- [Decoy Selection, Flooding & Poisoned Outputs (EAE)](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/attacks-and-defenses/decoy-and-poisoned-output-attacks): How poor decoy distributions make the real input an outlier, the EAE known-spent flooding attack, and how gamma-based decoy selection and larger rings mitigate.
- [Timing & Transaction-Graph Analysis](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/attacks-and-defenses/timing-and-transaction-graph-analysis): Temporal heuristics, the guess-the-newest guess, merge and change-output heuristics, amount leaks in the transparent era, and the residual statistical risk that remains.
- [Network-Level De-anonymization](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/attacks-and-defenses/network-level-deanonymization): Linking a transaction to an IP via the node you broadcast to, spy remote nodes, Dandelion++ propagation, and Tor/I2P as the defense — often the weakest link.
- [Chain-Analysis Claims vs Reality](https://moneroacademy.com/learn/attacks-and-defenses/chain-analysis-claims-and-reality): A sober look at Chainalysis and CipherTrace claims, statistical probability vs certainty, and why user OPSEC is usually the real deanonymizer rather than broken cryptography.

## Quizzes
- [Crypto Basics Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/crypto-basics-quiz)
- [Monero Fundamentals Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/monero-fundamentals-quiz)
- [Wallets & Keys Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/wallets-and-keys-quiz)
- [Getting Monero Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/getting-monero-quiz)
- [How Monero Works Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/how-monero-works-quiz)
- [Swapping Monero Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/swapping-monero-quiz)
- [Using Monero Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/using-monero-quiz)
- [Privacy Best Practices Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/privacy-best-practices-quiz)
- [Coin Control Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/coin-control-quiz)
- [Mining Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/mining-quiz)
- [Node Operations Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/nodes-operations-quiz)
- [Monero Hardware Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/hardware-quiz)
- [Security & Self-Custody Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/security-quiz)
- [Monero Internals Quiz (Expert)](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/monero-internals-quiz)
- [Monero Protocol Engineering Quiz (Contributor)](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/monero-protocol-engineering-quiz)
- [Building on Monero Quiz (Developer)](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/building-monero-integrations-quiz)
- [The Math of Monero Quiz (Advanced)](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/math-of-monero-quiz)
- [Accepting Monero as a Business Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/accepting-monero-business-quiz)
- [Spending Monero Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/spending-monero-quiz)
- [Troubleshooting Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/troubleshooting-monero-quiz)
- [Records & Regulation Quiz](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/monero-records-and-regulation-quiz)
- [Attacks & Defenses Quiz (Advanced)](https://moneroacademy.com/quizzes/attacks-and-defenses-quiz)