Monero is a cryptocurrency launched in April of 2014 by an unknown developer or group of developers from an unknown location. The author(s) of the whitepaper went by the name of Nicholas van Saberhagen, thought to be a pseudonym like Satoshi Nakamoto.
Monero emphasizes privacy and anonymity and has utilized unique and proprietary technology to make things as anonymous as possible for users. Consequently, any Monero transactions hide information such as the address of the sender, the address of the receiver, and the amount sent.
As of 2019, Monero ranks 10th among cryptocurrencies in market capitalization.