Frequently Asked Questions

Tor Browser is a modified version of Firefox maintained by the Tor Project that routes all traffic through the Tor network, a series of volunteer-operated relays that separate your identity from your destination. It also standardizes browser characteristics to reduce fingerprinting and is the only supported way to reach onion services. Using it rather than a standard browser with a proxy avoids common leaks such as DNS requests and WebRTC exposure.

The most reliable check is to visit the Tor Project's connection test page at check.torproject.org, which reports whether your request arrived through a Tor exit relay. Within Tor Browser itself, the circuit display in the address bar shows the relays currently in use for the site you are viewing. If either indicates a direct connection, stop and review your network settings before continuing.

Tor Browser offers three levels: Standard, Safer, and Safest, selectable from the shield icon in the toolbar. Safer disables JavaScript on non-HTTPS sites and blocks some media and fonts, while Safest disables JavaScript everywhere and removes most dynamic content. For sensitive browsing, Safer is a reasonable baseline and Safest is preferable when a site functions without scripts.

You can, but the benefit depends on the threat you are addressing. Connecting to a VPN first and then Tor hides Tor usage from your local network or ISP, at the cost of trusting the VPN provider with knowledge that you use Tor. Running Tor first and a VPN afterward is generally discouraged because it fixes your exit point and reintroduces a single party that can observe your traffic.

Every Tor connection passes through at least three relays operated by volunteers with varying bandwidth, and each hop adds latency and encryption overhead. Onion services add further hops because both sides build circuits to a rendezvous point. Some slowdown is inherent to the design; requesting a new circuit for the site or waiting for congestion to ease often helps, whereas disabling relays or reducing hops would undermine anonymity.

Unlike Bitcoin, where every transaction and balance is publicly visible on the blockchain, Monero applies privacy by default through ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions (RingCT). Together these hide the sender, the receiver, and the amount from outside observers. Because privacy is not optional, users cannot weaken it by mistake, and no transaction stands out as unusual for being private.

Monero is listed on many cryptocurrency exchanges, where it can be obtained in the same way as other digital assets, and it can also be acquired through peer-to-peer atomic swaps that exchange it directly for another cryptocurrency without an intermediary. Exchanges generally require identity verification, whereas atomic swaps do not. This is descriptive information only and not a recommendation to acquire any asset.

A subaddress is an additional receiving address derived from your main Monero wallet, distinguishable by its "8" prefix rather than "4". Funds sent to any subaddress arrive in the same wallet, but the addresses cannot be linked to each other or to the primary address by an outside observer. Using a fresh subaddress for each counterparty prevents anyone from correlating separate payments to you.

Your wallet software confirms incoming and outgoing transactions automatically by scanning the blockchain with your view key, and a transaction is considered final after ten network confirmations. To prove a payment to a third party, the sender can generate a transaction key or proof from their wallet, which the recipient or a block explorer can check against the transaction ID. Only the parties holding the relevant keys can see the details; the public blockchain alone does not reveal them.