# XMR98 Category: tools · Charts & Portfolios Grade: B- Highlights: DASHBOARD, RETRO, AGGREGATOR Fees: Free. Swap rates come from Trocador's upstream — verify the quoted rate against an aggregator (Trocador directly / kyc.rip) before confirming the swap. No XMR98-side service fee documented as of fold-time. Web: https://xmr98.com Contact: X: https://x.com/babysolo_ Last verified: 2026-06-14 Operating since: 2025 (1y) > Windows-98-themed Monero desktop — swap aggregator over Trocador, live price + chart + hashrate + Fear & Greed widgets, Chat app, README, and a few decorative folders. By @babysolo_, who also runs GhostDrip and babysolo.net. ## Review **What it is.** A Windows-98-themed Monero "desktop" at `xmr98.com`. The whole single-page app renders as a Win98 desktop with icons for ten apps — Monero Swap, XMR98 Chat, Control Panel, README, Trading, Monero, Internet, Games, Help & Info, My Computer — plus sidebar widgets showing live XMR/USD price + chart, network hashrate, current block height + hard-fork version, and a Fear & Greed index. The Monero Swap app aggregates rates from Trocador with KYC-risk tags per upstream. It's a multi-feature Monero environment rather than a single-purpose service. **Background.** Built by **`@babysolo_`** — a known Monero-community figure since 2022 with ~3,336 followers and ~726 posts at fold-time, who also runs **GhostDrip** (a no-KYC DCA tool) and **babysolo.net**. XMR98 is positioned as a creative side-project; the Win98 aesthetic is the editorial framing, not a gimmick on top of a generic shell. The app self-discloses on the splash: *"On Tor Browser it runs at the 'Standard' and 'Safer' security levels"* — i.e. Tor *Safest* mode breaks it because the desktop is JavaScript-required end-to-end. **What you trust.** - **Operator carries community-tenure credibility.** `@babysolo_` has been visible in the Monero space since 2022 and runs other no-KYC projects under the same handle. That's not identity verification, but it's meaningfully better than the anonymous-newcomer pattern we usually grade C tenure-zero projects at — the operator's reputation on other projects is the implicit collateral here. - **The Win98 framing is honest about what's under it.** The Monero Swap app explicitly tells you: *"Rates aggregate dozens of exchanges via Trocador, each with a KYC risk rating. Your coins never touch our servers."* No pretence of a first-party swap engine. If you want to see exactly which upstream is quoting your rate, the UI shows it. - **Multi-tool dashboard rather than single-purpose pitch.** Live price + chart, network hashrate, block height + hard-fork (v16), Fear & Greed — sidebar widgets that give the page utility beyond the swap. If you're using it as a daily-driver bookmark for "what's XMR up to right now", the page works as a glanceable status surface. - **Static-page architecture, no backend custody.** The whole desktop ships as a single-page app from `/assets/index-*.js` + `.css`. Swap execution happens client-side through Trocador's API — XMR98 doesn't custody anything. **Operational specs.** - **Site.** `https://xmr98.com` — single-page Win98 desktop. JavaScript-required end-to-end (Tor Browser *Safest* mode breaks the swap flow; *Standard* and *Safer* work). - **Swap backend.** Trocador (already listed at Grade A in our `exchanges/Aggregators`). XMR98 is the UI layer; Trocador handles routing + execution. - **Operator channels.** X / `@babysolo_`. The operator also runs GhostDrip and `babysolo.net`; following the X handle gets you all three projects' updates. - **Desktop apps surfaced on load.** Monero Swap, XMR98 Chat, Control Panel, README, Trading, Monero, Internet, Games, Help & Info, My Computer — some are functional, some are decorative-but-charming, the README documents the project. - **Sidebar widgets.** Live XMR/USD price + 24h delta + sparkline chart (CoinGecko-class source, source not disclosed inline). Network: hashrate (e.g. `5.36 GH/s`), block height, fork version. Fear & Greed index pulled from a crypto-sentiment source. - **No Tor mirror advertised.** No `.onion` published as of fold-time. Tor users hit the site via clearnet exits. - **No published policies.** No `/about`, `/privacy`, `/terms`, or `/contact` page beyond what's inside the desktop (README + Help & Info apps). - **Donation / monetisation.** Not surfaced on the splash; check the Help & Info app inside the desktop for any tip address. **Operator philosophy.** The desktop framing is the point. The Win98 chrome is editorial commentary — *"Monero is a tool for adults who know what they're doing, presented in the aesthetic of an era when you actually owned your computer."* That's a different way to package the same swap-aggregator + price-ticker + network-stats combination most Monero tools ship as cleaner-looking SaaS pages. Whether the aesthetic works for you is taste; whether the operator is committed to the project is signalled by the fact that babysolo also runs GhostDrip and babysolo.net under the same handle, all with consistent editorial voice. **Grade rationale.** Listed at **Grade B-**. What lifts it above default-C: the operator carries real community-tenure credibility through `@babysolo_`'s other Monero projects (GhostDrip, babysolo.net) since 2022 — that's a substantively different signal than a fully-anonymous newcomer. The Win98 framing is also a genuine editorial choice rather than a relabel, and the swap-backend disclosure (Trocador, named in the UI) is honest. Held at the half-step rather than full B because XMR98 itself is brand-new (the operator isn't, but this specific project hasn't accumulated yet), the desktop is JavaScript-required end-to-end with no fallback for *Tor Safest* users, and there's no first-party `.onion` mirror despite the audience overlap. **Path to A**: stand up a `.onion` mirror, ship a no-JS fallback or at least a graceful *Tor Safest* degradation, accumulate operating-since visibility under the XMR98 brand specifically, and earn an independent third-party review (a forum post, a kycnot writeup, or comparable). **Useful when:** - You want a Monero status page that lives somewhere on the bookmark bar — price, hashrate, block height, sentiment, all on one glanceable surface — and you don't mind that the chrome is a Win98 joke. - You want a Trocador-fronted swap with a clearly-labelled UI that surfaces upstream KYC risk per option, packaged as one of several apps in a self-contained Monero environment rather than a standalone swap page. - You're following `@babysolo_`'s other no-KYC Monero projects (GhostDrip, babysolo.net) and want their full toolset in one place. **Caveats.** - **JavaScript-required end-to-end; Tor Safest breaks the swap.** The Win98 desktop is rendered entirely client-side from `/assets/index-*.js`. On Tor Browser's *Safest* security setting (JavaScript disabled globally) the page does not render. Use *Standard* or *Safer* for the actual swap flow. - **Backend is Trocador.** The UI is XMR98's; the swap engine is not. If Trocador's API changes, breaks, or removes a route, XMR98's swap stops working. Trocador's own listing (Grade A in our `exchanges/Aggregators`) is the underlying-trust surface — if you care about XMR98's rate quality, that ultimately resolves to Trocador's upstream selection. - **No `.onion` mirror.** The site is clearnet-only as of fold-time. Tor users connect through exit nodes; Vercel/whichever-host sees the exit IP, not the user's. - **No published policies on the splash.** Any policy text lives inside the README or Help & Info desktop apps rather than on conventional `/privacy` / `/terms` paths. Worth checking what's documented before quoting it. - **Tenure-zero on this brand.** XMR98 is brand-new. The operator's 2022 tenure carries elsewhere; this specific project hasn't accumulated yet. Source: https://xmr.club/tools/xmr98