Tari’s Two-Week Sprint: Privacy Coin Push with a Playful Twist

Tari’s Debut in the Privacy Coin Arena

Tari burst onto the scene in early May 2025 as a new privacy coin developed by early Monero contributors (notably Naveen Jain and Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni). The Tari mainnet officially launched on May 6, 2025, introducing a layer-1 blockchain built to make mining “accessible to everyone” through a slick app called Tari Universe. Every transaction on the network is confidential by default (thanks to Mimblewimble cryptography), meaning balances and histories are hidden from prying eyes. What really sets Tari apart from other privacy coins is its focus on ease of use: if you can install an app, you can start mining Tari on a regular PC or Mac within minutes. This approachable design is no accident – the team wants to accelerate mainstream crypto adoption by stripping away the usual hassles (no KYC dance or special hardware needed). As one contributor put it, getting started with many blockchains is “as painful as a root canal,” whereas with Tari it’s as simple as installing an app.

From day one, Tari positioned itself as privacy made easy. The network is even merge-mined with Monero, meaning anyone mining Monero’s RandomX algorithm can simultaneously earn Tari’s native token (ticker XTM) using the same consumer-grade hardware. Tari’s mission: combine Monero’s DNA of confidentiality with a friendly user experience and nostalgic mining fun, think visual block-building games and one-click mining controls in the Tari Universe app. In short, Tari emerged as an ambitious contender in the privacy coin space, aiming to bring secret transactions and fair mining to the masses.

Rapid-Fire Updates and a Hard Fork in Week 3

If you thought a new blockchain might take it slow, Tari’s developers have been moving at breakneck speed. In the past two weeks (mid-May to early June 2025), the project rolled out several updates – each with a whimsical codename, to refine the network and squash early bugs. On “Day 8” of mainnet, the “Infinite Pool” update (v1.0.8) went live, uniting all miners into a single shared mining pool to maximize everyone’s chances of earning rewards. No more guesswork or fragmented hash power – everyone mining Tari was essentially cooperating, which helped smaller miners compete with the broader network. This change polished the user experience and was quickly followed by a hotfix dubbed “Waves of Resolve” (v1.0.10) on Day 9, which improved the stability of Tari’s decentralized mining pool (p2pool) and fixed networking hiccups. It was clear the team was listening to feedback and iterating almost daily.

The most significant change came during Week 3 of mainnet: a planned hard fork upgrade titled “The Flow Supreme” (v1.1.1) rolled out to the network. This upgrade, activated at block 15,000, supercharged Tari’s mining by redefining how new blocks are produced. Post-fork, the network’s proof-of-work is split across three lanes of hashing power to broaden participation: approximately 33% of blocks are now mined via RandomX merged mining with Monero, 33% via RandomX solo mining just for Tari, and 33% via a SHA3-based algorithm. In other words, Tari opened up an extra “lane” for miners – roughly 240 additional blocks per day, creating an entirely fresh way to win Tari rewards for those with diverse hardware. This is a bold move to balance incentives between Monero merge-miners, CPU miners who focus solely on Tari, and even GPU/ASIC miners on the SHA3 lane.

To further boost mining fairness, the team introduced a new “Hatchling” mining pool as part of the v1.1.1 update. Hatchling is a low-fee (1%) centralized pool optimized for Tari’s RandomX solo mining lane. Why add a temporary centralized pool if Tari already has a decentralized p2pool? The developers noted that Hatchling helps provide a steadier, more predictable reward flow for everyday CPU miners while they continue refining the fully decentralized p2pool experience. Miners can still choose to solo mine if they prefer, but many welcomed this “training wheels” approach to smooth out early mining rewards. It’s a pragmatic tweak (with a cute name to boot) aimed at keeping new miners engaged instead of frustrated.

Pushing Updates: Fixes, Polish, and “The Song of Soon”

By early June (Week 4 of mainnet), Tari’s rapid update cadence continued with yet another release, v1.2.2 “The Song of Soon.” This update, announced on June 2, 2025, shifted focus from big structural changes to quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. The team addressed several issues users had flagged: for instance, GPU mining no longer requires a manual restart after the node syncs (previously a pesky workaround some had to do), and those annoying Mac OS Keychain password prompts were eliminated. The UI got some love too, Tari Universe added celebratory new animations when you win a mining reward (because who doesn’t love a little fanfare?), cleaned up visual glitches, and even plugged a memory leak that was consuming resources over time. Under the hood, a base node update reduced memory usage, improving performance for all users.

Developers also began internationalizing the app with new language translations, showing an eye toward Tari’s global audience from the start. It’s clear they want Tari Universe to be “the world’s best and easiest-to-use crypto app,” and they’re iterating quickly toward that goal. Notably, “The Song of Soon” update resolved the two big issues from the hard fork rollout, GPU miners and Mac users can breathe a sigh of relief, delivering fixes just as promised.

Of course, no project is perfect, and a few kinks remain. The team candidly shared a Known Issues list that they’re working on next. Some users have reported that the mobile wallet (yes, Tari has a mobile wallet too) can behave oddly – with occasional sync issues, missing transactions, or trouble recognizing exchange payment IDs. Additionally, a wXTM bridge (for wrapping the XTM token on other chains, presumably for liquidity on DEXs) is up but experiencing hiccups like transactions getting stuck or slow performance. A few users also noted syncing the network can stall at times (“Setting up Tari Node 3/5…” purgatory) or show incorrect block heights, and that wallet balance updates aren’t always timely. All these are fairly typical teething issues for a newborn blockchain, and Tari’s devs have pledged fixes are coming soon. The pace so far suggests these annoyances won’t last long. (One frustrated commenter did quip, “Don’t seem very functional when I can’t even connect or load the wallet…” in response to the June 2 update – a reminder that user experience can make or break the public’s patience.)

Adoption and Buzz: Tari Mines Its Way to Thousands of Users

Tari’s tagline of being “powered by you” isn’t just marketing fluff, early metrics show a surprisingly strong uptake in the community. During its months-long testnet, over 700,000 users signed up for the Tari airdrop program, and nearly 100,000 people downloaded the Tari Universe mining app to try out mining on testnet. This huge interest translated into an impressive mainnet kickoff. By the first day of the live network, Tari’s RandomX hashing power reached about 5% of Monero’s entire CPU hash rate. That means a significant chunk of Monero miners (or equivalent CPU power) jumped in to secure Tari right out of the gate, a major vote of confidence for a brand-new coin. The parallel SHA3 mining channel also ramped up beyond 1 terahash in the early days, indicating GPUs or specialized rigs joined the fray too. All told, nearly 10,000 miners were actively grinding away on Tari blocks in the first week, an impressive start for a PoW network barely out of the womb.

On social media and community forums, the buzz around Tari has been palpable. Many privacy-coin enthusiasts are excited about the prospect of a Monero-like network that anyone can mine without needing a PhD in computer science. The project’s decision to merge-mine with Monero has even been seen as mutually beneficial, it rewards Monero miners with extra coins (XTM) for no extra work, while bootstrapping Tari’s security with battle-tested hash power. One crypto observer on Twitter noted it was “crazy” that Tari miners had already amassed over 1% of Monero’s RandomX power before mainnet even went live, highlighting the strong interest even before launch. And in the Monero community itself, the response has been largely positive or curious. A thread on r/Monero where a user announced “Tari mainnet is live” drew clarifications that Tari is not a Monero layer-2, but a separate project that shares some DNA (namely Monero’s former lead maintainer and the mining algorithm). Monero fans appeared generally welcoming – after all, supporting Tari doesn’t harm Monero, and could even strengthen it via merge mining. One commenter on the Monero subreddit joked, “ok, now I can finally justify taking 2 laptops on vacation with me. mining tiiiiiiime”, upon Tari’s launch. That light-hearted remark captures the enthusiasm: people are dusting off spare laptops and PCs to join in the Tari mining rush.

Of course, along with the hype, there’s a dose of healthy skepticism. Some in the crypto community have questioned the project’s substantial 30% pre-mine (allocated to infrastructure, community, contributors, and early participants with long vesting periods), large pre-mines can be a red flag for decentralization purists. Tari’s team has been transparent about the token distribution, emphasizing that 70% of the 21 billion XTM supply is reserved for public mining rewards over time. The pre-mined portion is locked up with vesting cliffs starting 6-12 months post-launch, presumably to align long-term incentives. Still, it’s a point of debate whether this model is truly “community powered” or if early insiders have an outsize share. Another talking point is Tari’s two-token design: XTM on the base layer and XTR on a forthcoming second-layer called “Ootle.” Users will be able to burn XTM to mint XTR 1:1, with a dynamic rate throttle and fee-burning mechanism to manage supply. While this architecture promises technical advantages (scalability and more complex smart assets on layer-2), some crypto commentators have joked that it sounds a bit complex – and success will depend on whether real applications (like the private stablecoin plans) gain traction. The developers and backers are optimistic: notably, venture firms like Blockchain Capital and Pantera Capital have invested in Tari Labs, and Pantera’s Paul Veradittakit praised Tari’s blend of robust privacy with an “intuitive, one-click interface” for lowering barriers to entry.

XTM Price Trends: From Launch Hype to Early Trading

No crypto launch would be complete without some rollercoaster price action, and Tari’s XTM token is no exception. Within the last two weeks, XTM has begun trading on a few exchanges – enough to establish an initial market price and volume. Shortly after mainnet launch, smaller exchanges like Exbitron and community-favorite TradeOgre listed XTM, followed by at least one mid-sized platform (MEXC) in late May. These listings gave eager miners a chance to trade their freshly minted coins and speculators a chance to jump in. The price of XTM quickly rallied in its first days of trading, reaching an all-time high around $0.0777 (7.7 cents). For context, Tari’s fully diluted supply is large (21 billion), but only a tiny fraction was circulating initially, so early prices were driven by pure supply-and-demand excitement. Daily trading volume hit seven figures in USD on some days, indicating substantial interest for a brand-new coin.

As the initial hype settled, XTM’s price cooled off a bit. Over the past week, it’s been fluctuating in the $0.04–$0.06 range, and currently sits near $0.05 USD per token. In 24-hour trading, volume has averaged around half a million dollars, not bad for a coin barely a month old. Early miners who sold near the top may be smiling, while others are choosing to hold XTM in hopes of future growth as the network matures. It’s worth noting that Tari’s market capitalization is still an open question: with so much of the supply locked and undistributed, CoinMarketCap doesn’t even list a circulating market cap yet. In terms of ranking, XTM is hovering in the lower mid-tier of coin listings (around #3500 by preliminary ranking), essentially still under the radar of major investors.

What might drive XTM’s price in the near future? A few factors are in play. Public sentiment and trust in the project will be key – and that will be earned via the team’s delivery on promises (ongoing bug fixes, stability, and eventually real use cases on Tari’s network). If Tari can onboard a large, loyal user base (the way it hopes to via easy mining and eventually an app ecosystem), that could differentiate XTM from the many altcoins that fade after launch. Additionally, any progress on the “default private stablecoin” that Tari is built to host could be a game-changer. The team has hinted that an issuer is already lined up to launch a fully confidential stablecoin on Tari’s layer-2 (Ootle) once it’s ready. Such a stablecoin – effectively a private USD-denominated asset, would be a big deal in crypto, potentially drawing in users who value both stability and privacy. Successful deployment of that in coming months could boost Tari’s profile significantly (and likely XTM’s value, due to the burn-and-mint mechanism linking it to XTR). On the other hand, if broader crypto markets turn bearish or if Tari hits technical roadblocks, XTM could remain volatile or trend down. For now, it’s early days, and the token’s value is largely speculative – riding on the community’s enthusiasm and the project’s rapid progress.

Fair Critique, Good Humor, and the Road Ahead

In just two weeks post-launch, Tari has managed to both inspire and challenge the crypto community. The project deserves credit for an honest, heads-up approach: they celebrate wins (like quickly reaching thousands of miners and issuing frequent upgrades) and don’t shy away from acknowledging issues (like wallet bugs or network sync troubles). This transparency has earned goodwill among many early users. The tone around Tari is refreshingly down-to-earth and even playful – from the tongue-in-cheek release names (“Infinite Pool” and “Song of Soon” could be titles from an indie game) to the friendly banter of its community members. Co-founder Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, known for his humor and long-standing credibility in privacy tech, adds a bit of meme-worthy charm simply by being involved. It’s not often you find a privacy coin project that invites good humor while tackling serious issues of financial privacy and decentralization.

That said, maintaining trust will require delivering on promises. Tari’s core proposition, that it’s the most user-friendly way to enjoy privacy in crypto – will be tested as more people download the app and transact on the network. Competitors and predecessors in the privacy coin arena (Monero, Zcash, and others) have set a high bar for security and anonymity, but often lag in ease-of-use or performance. Tari is trying to flip that script by excelling at UX without sacrificing confidentiality. The next steps, such as launching the Ootle layer and bringing real applications (like private stablecoins, NFTs, or other assets) to users, will show whether Tari can move beyond just mining and into everyday utility. Public sentiment so far is cautiously optimistic: many applaud the initiative and see it as a friendly cousin to Monero rather than a rival, but there are also critical eyes watching to ensure Tari remains as private and decentralized as advertised. Some observers also note that initial excitement (like a huge airdrop signup count) doesn’t always translate into long-term usage – converting curious miners into loyal active users will be the true challenge.

In the broader context of [link to related privacy coin article], Tari’s emergence underscores a key trend: privacy coins are evolving to attract a wider audience. By lowering the barrier to entry (no specialized rigs, no complicated setup) and adding a bit of fun, Tari is inviting more people into the privacy coin ecosystem. This inclusive approach could strengthen the overall narrative for privacy-focused crypto at a time when financial privacy is both in demand and under scrutiny. At the same time, Tari’s team must remain “critically fair” with themselves – acknowledging where things aren’t perfect and iterating fast, which so far they have done admirably.

Finally, In the span of two weeks, Tari has gone from launch to a flurry of upgrades, gained a passionate mining community, navigated early growing pains, and even earned a small spot in the crypto market listings. It’s a lot for any newborn coin to handle, but Tari seems to be thriving in the fast lane. With strong backing, experienced hands at the wheel, and an enthusiastic community riding along (sometimes on two laptops at once!), Tari is carving out its niche among privacy coins. It’s informative, it’s honest about its pros and cons, and it’s even a bit witty, much like the tone of this very article. Keep an eye on this one; if the next two weeks are anything like the last, there will be plenty more to talk about soon.

Sources: The information in this article is based on recent updates from Tari’s official announcements and community forums, as well as data from crypto analytics sites and news outlets covering Tari’s launch and progress. All developments covered are within the two-week window leading up to June 4, 2025, ensuring a timely and accurate snapshot of Tari’s current state in the crypto ecosystem.