Monero (XMR): How to Check Balance

Introduction

Monero is a privacy-by-design cryptocurrency utilizing the CryptoNote protocol, developed by the anonymous Nicolas van Saberhagen. It stands out in the cryptocurrency world for its robust privacy features, ensuring transactions remain confidential and untraceable.

A Top-Level View on Monero

To stay privacy-centric, Monero makes use of various cryptographic primitives: ring signatures, stealth addresses, Pedersen commitments, and more. Working together, they empower the protocol with two distinctive features:

• Untraceability: for every incoming transaction, all possible senders are equally likely.

• Unlinkability means that no one can prove that two outgoing transactions were sent to the same person.

Practically, this means two things: the transacting parties remain anonymous, and the general public cannot see transaction details or wallet balances. As an outstanding feature in the cryptocurrency world, it introduces some difficulties. One of these difficulties relates to the concept of the Monero Block Explorer, where anyone looking at the block explorer with only the Monero address cannot view transaction details.

Monero’s Dual Key System

The thins is that Monero has two sets of keys: view keys and spend keys.

• Public View and Public Spend keys

These keys are generated in each Monero public address. They are public required to send and receive XMR on the Monero network.

• Private View and Private Spend keys

Private Spend keys function like any other private key in cryptocurrency and you should not share them with anyone. These keys give you control over your funds and you should treat them with the utmost care.

To be precise, Private View keys serve an additional function. Monero’s blockchain is to be private-by-design, but can optionally be transparent. This is where the Private View key plays a role, as sharing it along with your address can display all incoming transactions to this address.

Checking balance with NOWNodes

Here is a step by step guide, that can be used right away in Documentation for a Monero remote node.

1. Account Creation: Execute xmr.nownodes.io/xmr/account with your API key and address.
2. Resynchronization: Use xmr.nownodes.io/xmr/resync to update your account with recent transactions.
3. Balance Check: Check your balance using xmr.nownodes.io/xmr/balance/ with your API key, address, and view key.

First, you need to execute xmr.nownodes.io/xmr/account

The request body is:

{
"API_key": "your_API_key",
  "address": "your_address"
}

Using ZwmbBjvevr4JeRgeATb7Y3Ad as API key (hereinafter), you get:

{
    "id": "5efe03e5d56367002093e1a2",
    "address": "your_address",
    "isCreated": false,
    "isResynced": false,
    "createdAt": 1593705445,
    "resyncedAt": 0
}

Second, make a resynchronization xmr.nownodes.io/xmr/resync

In case you use an old address, this endpoint help to look through the last 10,000 blocks.

{
  "API_key": "your_API_key",
  "address": "your_address",
  "viewKey": "your_viewKey"
}

And you get:

{
    "request_fulfilled": true,
    "status": "Updating account with for importing recent txs successeful."
}

Third, check your balance xmr.nownodes.io/xmr/balance/

{
  "API_key": "your_API_key",
  "address": "your_address",
  "viewKey": "your_viewKey"
}

And you get:

{
    "blockchain_height": 2133546,
    "locked_funds": "0",
    "new_address": false,
    "scanned_block_height": 2133546,
    "scanned_block_timestamp": 1593700334,
    "scanned_height": 0,
    "spent_outputs": [],
    "start_height": 2133543,
    "status": "success",
    "total_received": "0",
    "total_sent": "0"
}

And so here you are. 

Conclusion

Monero offers unparalleled privacy features in the cryptocurrency world. While it presents some unique challenges, tools like NOWNodes make it accessible and user-friendly. As the demand for privacy grows, Monero’s role in the digital currency landscape is likely to expand.

Additional Resources For more information, visit the official Monero website and check out the Monero community on Reddit.

By addressing these points, the article will provide a more comprehensive and engaging overview of Monero.

NOWNodes is a modern user-friendly platform from the creators of ChangeNOW that offers secure access to full nodes of various cryptocurrencies, including Monero. Besides, we provide access to block explorers, including Monero explorer, and have a free plan for up to 20,000 requests per day — that makes us a unique and trusted partner.