reply on: John McAffe has coke-fueled rant on Bitcoin vs. Monero \ stacker news ~monero

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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @028559d218 11 Mar \ parent \ on: John McAffe has coke-fueled rant on Bitcoin vs. Monero monero

The idea that Monero needs "mass adoption" to be useful misses the entire point of privacy coins. Privacy tools are valuable precisely because they're specialized - not because everyone uses them.

I respectfully don't understand this point (and it's been made elsewhere?) Anonymity set of people actually using it... matters a lot not just the on-chain set.

If you're the only person among millions using Monero... using Monero for anything and you automatically stand out in the real world. I have no reason to believe that Monero is commonly used... the only thing I've heard about it is that 'swapping in' is easy. Swapping out sometimes difficult due to low liquidity.

When governments inevitably track Bitcoin usage at grocery stores and gas stations, that's exactly when Monero becomes most valuable. Privacy isn't about "hiding" - it's about preventing financial surveillance.

I don't know how Lightning transactions (assuming they're common-place and widespread especially) can be tracked. The actual 'Lightning' transaction isn't on-chain.

Your tax reporting example actually makes the case for Monero. With Bitcoin, every coffee purchase creates a taxable event with a permanent public record. Monero gives you the same privacy as cash transactions.

I think people will use the network with the greatest liquidity, price performance, HW support and SW support, auditability, and chain-continuity (in absence of hardforks in other words) not to mention security (like multisig).

I don't know how people would even use the monero... or store it securely without the hardware wallets we have for Btc.

As for needing "specialized tools" - Monero's privacy is built-in at the protocol level. No complex "de-googled phone plus deep-dive in internet privacy" required. The privacy works by default.

If people want privacy they absolutely positively need a de-googled phone and a deep dive in internet privacy would help immensely. There is no privacy otherwise I think

The strongest privacy tool isn't one that requires "hundreds of millions" of users - it's one that works regardless of user count. That's Monero's fundamental advantage over Bitcoin's transparent ledger.

I don't believe this. Order something with the 'most private' crypto that practically noone uses... even if the shipping is private or otherwise discreet you are the only one using that crypto I don't see how privacy can be achieved/how this helps.

I understand your comments and I respect other points of view... however I haven't seen even the basic modicum of education around Bitcoin and Lightning with great Lightning wallets, price performance, and 'name brand' and that's with 'Bitcoin'. The adoption of 'something else' when it's 'hard to get' (Monero is delisted almost everywhere) not to mention low liquidity is a really hard sell.

If people can't easily get it, how can they save in it? And if they don't save in it, how do they learn about it first and foremost? And if it doesn't retain purchasing power why would merchants accept it to begin with?

There was an interview with the Founder of Proton a while back (GREAT company) and the Seth for Privacy Guy (?) and they had a long conversation which touched on the new Proton Wallet. I've listened to it a few times... and Andy's argument for a Bitcoin Proton Wallet is that it has by far the biggest network and adoption so far... and is the 'safest' product in cryptocurrency that they can support. And the only one they can support for the foreseeable future too. He says that 'fiat' is next... because that's what a lot of their users want.

Andy also said... that if Proton accepted Monero at all they might lose their accounting contractors due to its poor/illicit reputation where it's 'hard enough' to get accounting firms to work with Bitcoin. A very interesting listen Andy is pretty smart.