Thought I'd do an FAQ as I see a lot of people on here have the same type of questions (understandable it's relatively new tech for us) so hopefully I can answer a few of these. For anything I don't cover feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer :)
How do I buy and use Monero?
- Here's a guide I wrote. You basically need to have an XMR wallet address (download and set up the official GUI from their website, I'll post links below in the comments) and then decide how to purchase it. You can either buy direct on localmonero or moneroforcash or buy a precursor coin with cheap fees and fast TX times such as LTC and then use Evercoin or Shapeshift (AM I know) etc to exchange for your XMR. This is very easy and fast if you already have a Coinbase account for example. This is all covered in the guide above. Which option is cheapest depends on your personal circumstances (what the localmonero rates are like around you) vs Coinbase / Evercoin's rates (these are usually very cheap to be fair - a whole lot cheaper than using BTC anyway. I have also heard you can buy directly with FIAT from exchanges like Kraken and Polionex but I've never tried this.
Do I need to run my XMR wallet on TAILS or can I run it on my normal OS?
- Not really you can run it on your regular OS in my opinion. This is covered in more detail in the question below.
Do I need to send from clear net wallet then to TAILS wallet then to the market?
- No This is the question I get asked the most and the answer is no. Most importantly there is absolutely no reason to have more than one Monero wallet - save yourself the transaction fees. This isn't bitcoin and you don't need to tumble or swap between wallets or anything like that. You have two options, either run a wallet on your normal OS or run a wallet on TAILS - don't do both there is no need t all. Running the wallet on TAILS offers marginally more safety but is a bit tricky to set up and you'll need a very large USB stick to store the block chain and run a full node. If you want to do this then here is the guide. I personally run my wallet on my regular OS and send from there straight to the market. I've covered this in a couple of threads but from running it on your local OS the absolute worst case scenario doing this is that if the police are physically sat at your PC with your computer password and somehow also your XMR wallet password (and also the technical know how to decrypt XMR transactions) they would be able to see which address's you've sent money to - that's all. My thinking is if the police are at my computer with all my passwords then I probably have bigger issues. (pro-tip: on Libertas you have a permanent deposit address which you can set up in the address book of the wallet to speed up deposits and also avoid the possibility of getting phished)
Can I send XMR straight from the exchange to the market / vendor?
- No. XMR's privacy comes from the sending side, so only the sender know where the transaction cam from, where it's going and how much it was for. If you use a web service such as Evercoin etc to send your XMR then they are actually the sender and you have to tell them the destination and amount. The transaction will still be anonymous on the blockchain so only Evercoin would know the details but I wouldn't count on any third party to protect your privacy. Send the XMR to your personal wallet and then on to the market. This means that you, the sender are the only person who knows anything about the transaction.
Should I run a full node (download the full blockchain) or connect to a remote node?
- Yes if at all possible. Running a full node is more secure but involves downloading the whole blockchain (about 40GB) which can take some time and also storage space and makes it difficult to run on TAILS which would typically be run on a smaller USB stick. If you want to connect to a remote node and use the wallet instantly connect to one from MoneroWorld and use a VPN so the remote node you put your transaction through cannot see your real IP address or if you're on TAILS then it'll be routed through TOR anyway so no action required - just connect to a remote node and you're good to go. As the blockchain takes a long time to download so what I did is just let it download and every time I wanted to make a TX I would connect to a remote node temporarily, do my TX, then go back to downloading the full blockchain. (Pro-tip: once you have a full node running you are helping with the denationalization of the network and can also use your processing power to mine XMR through the GUI. Unless you have a mega PC it's unlikely you'll make much money doing this but you might get a lil bit)
How much do transaction / miner fees cost?
- About 50-70p ($0.75-$1) at the moment which in my experience will get you 10/10 confirmations within 30 minutes. This is set to drop in the very near future when 'bulletproofs' are introduced which will decrease transaction sises and therefore fees by around 80%. This is live on the XMR test net at the moment so implementation should be very soon all being well. Pro-tip: set the fee to the lowest setting in the GUI. Your TX will still go through very fast and you'll pay lower fees
Where can I spend my XMR?
- Libertas market (XMR only), Zion market (both on the Reddit Superlist), Olympus accept it, Omega are implementing it and Odyssey supports it, all of these are being added to the Superlist in due time I beleive. Wall St also accepts it and Agora Reloaded is currently implementing it but as automod will point out these Wall St and AG reloaded should be avoided. Most vendors will also gladly accept your XMR over direct deals though Wickr etc.
How to turn XMR into another currency / use it at a tumbler?
- Monero can also be used as the most effective tumbler out there. You can swap your XMR back into BTC to deposit anonymously to BTC markets / vendors using xmr.to or BCH, Dogecoin or whatever you fancy using Evercoin / Shapeshift type services. Just make sure you use these services over a VPN/Tor so your IP address can't be attached to the transaction. Better yet just use XMR on an XMR market but if you must, this is the best way to break the link between your identity and the coins you're using on markets.
Anything I haven't covered please let me know and I will do my best to answer! :)
Wallet download and other info: https://getmonero.org/
Remote nodes and other info: https://moneroworld.com/
Localmonero: https://localmonero.co
Moneroforcash: https://moneroforcash.com
Coin shifting sites (courtesy of audomod)