Oddbean new post about | logout
 In Bitcoin, every node independently verifies every transaction against a fully transparent ledger. The amounts, addresses, and transaction history are all visible and can be checked manually if desired. You don’t just trust the software; you can verify the entire ledger yourself.

In Monero, you can't manually verify individual amounts or trace transactions due to the privacy features like Pedersen commitments and range proofs. You have to trust that these cryptographic methods are flawless and implemented correctly.

So, the key difference in practice is that Bitcoin’s auditability is direct and transparent, while Monero’s is indirect and relies heavily on cryptographic assurances.

Hopefully this quite important difference is clear now.