Oddbean

Just wanted to add...everything I said only applies if you are using it from your own self-custodial wallet. Obviously you have no privacy if you are on an exchange (applies to any coin, this is not unique to Monero). Acceptable to buy it on an exchange for some users (like on Kraken), but always withdraw to you real wallet first before spending. There are also a lot of way to get it p2p and without KYC (recommended): https://pb.envs.net/?986095e2935a9051#C5n1pSBatAZSXyhtz1dkh8A42BTNYUYGnjuFxZfKvaK2

Complementary. Monero carries on the original cypherpunk vision of digital cash the closest. Bitcoin narrative and development has drifted away from content and title of the white paper to pursue something else (SoV and speculation). Bitcoiners can continue to save in Bitcoin and use Monero for transacting (the domains where each shines). nevent1qqsq0wvj296nng95kwpw7p9trkt7uqvw97vgzqjal86tmrj46da2ujgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsyg90wsx3nzathrrmstg2guvwkd2tk0m2lx5cvwdct499eufhrj46s5psgqqqqqqs3jmj9t

Interesting. I guess I’m not sure why monero has to be an independent thing instead of a bitcoin L2 type deal. I see value in the privacy and MoE, but it presents a whole new system that would have to be vetted -things like fixed supply, pre-mine, security structure, etc…

I guess nothing is stopping it from becoming an L2 with sidechains (if that ever happens), but you would have to convince the current market to move over and that becomes increasingly difficult the longer time goes on. So far, any L2s sacrifice some form of sovereignty for any privacy they provide. Monero doesn't. Liquid and Ecash are custodial. LN, in practice, is custodial or permissioned (LSPs and custodial wallets). And even using your own LN node offers less transactional privacy than Monero, anyway. Monero is the largest crypto project behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum. It doesn't have a pre-mine or dev tax.

All these Bitcoiners seem to think Monero is great too: "Monero is a very good privacy complement to Bitcoin" -Nick Szabo "Maybe you need a Monero" -Michael Saylor "For really strong privacy, Monero is much better" -Andreas Antonopoulos "There's a lot of advantages to using Monero" -Matt Odell "Monero is the only goddamn currency that's used!" -John McAfee "Monero will be a champion in that space and we'll have a Bitcoin-Monero duopoly" -Max Keiser "Monero team captures the current crypto zeitgeist perfectly, IMO. These hacker/developers; part ninjas, part revolutionaries, are integral to the economy and community" - Max Keiser "All fiat systems and all tokens outside of Bitcoin and monero (to my knowledge) have middlemen you cannot get rid of" -Adam Curry "I would say Monero is not a shitcoin. I think it's a very innovative and new research project that works." -Max Hillbrand "Monero; Just use it. Objectively it's better than Bitcoin [for privacy]...it's obvious" -Amir Taaki "Monero is closer to our hearts than whatever Bitcoin is turning into today" -Samourai Wallet "Bitcoin is the reserve currency. Hold it. Privacy coins are transactional privacy. Use them...Monero: getmonero.org" -Balaji "99% of cryptocurrencies are complete and total garbage, but even among the upper echeleon of real ones, Monero is in the top percentile, so it deserves our respect" -Paul Sztorc "Surprising number of Monero lovers on #Nostr. It’s the only altcoin that I consider has a community of actual cypherpunks with similarly aligned values as bitcoin." -Guy Swann "Monero has always been the altcoin outlier for me, never a shitcoin because I have a valid use for it that I can't achieve with #bitcoin." -Peter McCormack