Monero

When it comes to our personal health information or our browsing history, we are all about privacy. If we have the same passion for privacy when it comes to our financial transactions, then the creators of Monero say they’ve got just the cryptocurrency we’re looking for.

Monero was created in 2014, and uses blockchain technology that’s somewhat similar to Bitcoin and Litecoin. But its big product differentiator is its emphasis on privacy and anonymity. No one can see or trace any Monero transactions. Not only can they not see or trace the transaction...they can’t even see how much the transaction was for, where it originated, or where it ended up. In fact, it’s so privacy-centered that, in 2016, it became the most favored cryptocurrency amongst a group that really, really values their financial privacy: drug dealers.

But on the plus side, Monero’s core development team also argues that this anonymity allows people to do stuff like buy books in countries that have banned them without worrying about being arrested—or possibly worse—because of their literary lawbreaking.