Monero is a privacy-by-design cryptocurrency made up using the CryptoNote protocol. This protocol was developed by Nicolas van Saberhagen, an anonymous author of whom nothing is known about.

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: for any two outgoing transactions, it is impossible to prove that they were sent to the same person.

Practically it means two things: transacting parties remain anonymous, and transaction details and wallet balances are concealed from the general public. Being an outstanding feature in the cryptocurrency world, it brings in some difficulties. One of them is connected with the idea of Monero Block Explorer, as transaction details are hidden for anyone looking on the block explorer with only the Monero address.

Two sets of keys

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 are like any other private key in cryptocurrency and should not be shared with anyone. These keys provide control of your funds and should be treated with maximum possible 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 Postman.

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.

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. Let’s work together — just drop us a line.