Breaking Monero is a series of episodes by Justin Ehrenhofer, Sarang Noether and Brandon Goodell (Surae Noether) from Monero Research Lab that explain the limitations of Monero’s security and privacy in a comprehensive and understandable way. They give a sneak peek into some of the work done behind the scenes to evaluate risks and to make Monero better. The links below feature each episode, along with a transcription, or you can watch the entire YouTube Playlist.
![]() |
01: IntroductionIntroduction to the Breaking Monero series. |
02: Ring Signatures IntroductionThe history of Monero’s ring signatures and past approaches to improve them. |
![]() |
![]() |
03: 0-Decoy and Chain ReactionsSarang and Justin discuss 0-decoy (0-mixin) rings, perhaps the oldest and best-studied past limitation of Monero. |
04: Chain Splits (Key Image Reuse Attack)In this episode, Sarang, Brandon (Suare), and Justin introduce key image reuse concerns. |
![]() |
![]() |
05: Input Selection AlgorithmSarang and Justin explain more about how Monero selects decoys for ring signatures, more than just “randomly.” |
06: Unusual RingsizeDiscussing the unfortunate tradeoff when sending Monero transactions with unusual ringsizes. |
![]() |
![]() |
07: Remote NodesThe limitations of remote nodes, remote node attacks, and how to mitigate against them. |
08: Timing AttacksNetwork topography concerns and ways for users to mitigate their exposure to timing heuristics. |
![]() |
![]() |
09: Poisoned Outputs (EAE Attack)Monero’s ring signatures provide plausible deniability, but they aren’t perfect. |
10: Public Mining PoolsPublic mining pools provide a service to miners, but they also reveal a lot of output information that observers can use to learn more about transactions. |
![]() |
![]() |
11: Mailbag EpisodeBreaking Monero answers questions from audience members. |
12: Input/Output MetadataHow the metadata collected by looking at the number of inputs and outputs can limit privacy in some circumstances. |
![]() |
![]() |
13: Blockchain Explorer OpSecThis is a quick reminder to pay attention to the information you give block explorers. |