Monero is the only major cryptocurrency whose creator remains entirely anonymous.

How it started:
being an anonymous user on Bitcointalk
nickname: thankful_for_today
April 2014
launches BitMonero
a version of CryptoNote
the community rejects its trajectory
it forks within a few days
the project is renamed Monero
("currency" in Esperanto)
the founder disappears permanently
The protocol itself comes from another ghost:
CryptoNote whitepaper (2013)
author: Nicolas van Saberhagen
also unknown
introduces ring signatures + stealth addresses
never identified
Since then, Monero has had no founder to imprison.
Only a community.
2014–2016: survival phase
a small team of programmers is born
entirely voluntary
mostly unknown
2014–2019: Spagni era
Riccardo Spagni (fluffypony) becomes the central figure
he is not the creator
never claimed to be
focuses on strengthening
collective governance
2020: network-scale privacy
Dandelion++ implemented
transaction masking distribution
improved IP address privacy
2022: the unpopular but correct decision
main emission ends
tail emission begins
0.6 XMR per block indefinitely
critics shout "endless supply"
programmers explain the mechanisms
2023–2024: siege phase
regulators attack privacy tools
sanctions on Tornado Cash
imprisonments of programmers elsewhere
P2P resists
2025: resilience tests
alarm over concentration of computational power
the community responds
mining decentralization strengthens
the chain persists
January 2026: still standing
Fluorine Fermi v0.18.4.5 released
Ledger fixes
FCMP++ in future plans
privacy of upcoming generation
new all-time high
Satoshi disappeared accidentally.
Monero's founders disappeared intentionally.