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---
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title: Monero Pseudorandom Number Generator
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---
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# Monero Pseudorandom Number Generator
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Monero uses PRNG based on the Keccak hashing function.
Basically, output of the previous hashing round is input for the next one.
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The initial seed comes from entropy sources provided by operating system.
On Linux and MacOS the seed comes from `/dev/urandom` .
On Windows the WinAPI `CryptGenRandom` call is used for seeding.
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There is no reseeding.
## Caveats
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* This concerns the reference C++ implementation of Monero.
Please note there are many alternative implementations of private key generation,
including JavaScript, Python, Android/Java. These should be researched case by case for correctness.
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* In Monero source code you can also find libsodium based random bytes generator. It is part of the embedded library and apparently is not used in actual Monero code.
## Reference
* [Source code ](https://github.com/monero-project/monero/blob/1a4298685aa9e694bc555ae69be59d14d3790465/src/crypto/random.c )
* [StackExchange answer ](https://monero.stackexchange.com/a/2076/3218 )
