Subnostr

As far as I'm concerned, this whole BTC vs XMR debate is silly. Or at least, the common BTC maxi position completely excluding any use case for anything other than BTC is.

Is anyone talking about using XMR to store wealth long term? Maybe there are some, I don't doubt it. But that's not what I see most commonly.

People seem to advocate for XMR as a privacy tool for exchanges, often explicitly describing it as a complement to BTC's SoV use. To me, that makes total sense and is something I can see myself doing, if I ever find myself needed private spending in the future.

In that light, the hypothetical long term depreciation of XMR vs BTC is irrelevant, because XMR wouldn't be used long term. You just buy some XMR with BTC when you have to spend it, and keep your savings in BTC all the same.

It's exactly the same with fiat, which I keep arguing that will never go away for this exact same reason: it doesn't matter at all that it depreciates vs BTC -- unless you get to a hyperinflation kind of scenario when not only the SoV function of fiat no longer holds, but its the unit of account function ceases to exist as well.

The argument for XMR as currency vs fiat is privacy. So three things, to summarize:

1. BTC as SoV

2. Fiat as unit of account and medium of exchange with no privacy

3. XMR as medium of exchange with privacy

That's how I see things at least.

Anchorite 1y ago

True, but like nostr:npub159wczz79n0x95p4vq5rggdkhz36u3852n8xfwv3u4ehdylrnr97qnpcsm3 says I believe we can achieve similar levels of privacy by leveraging BTC tools properly, such as lightning.

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Discussion

hh 1y ago

Yes, I know the argument.

I just don't like giving up custody for privacy, when I can simply use a tool that's private and self-custodial by default.

Anchorite 1y ago

Fair enough, as long as you're aware that you're potentially trading the value of your savings for convenience. IMO it's incredibly important to explain that whenever promoting Monero.

hh 1y ago

But I'm not saving in Monero. So I'm not sacrificing my savings or my future purchase power.

And my argument is not convenience, it's self-custody. If I wanted convenience I would spend the BTC I already have, without need to exchange them for Monero or whatever, incurring fees and time costs in the process.

And I'm not promoting Monero, by the way. As much as I am a BTC maxi as far as Store of Value is concerned, I am totally agnostic as far as private currency goes. I think it's an easier problem to solve than SoV, so there are and will be lot of options to pick from.

It's just that Monero is the project that seems to have the best arguments as a private currency. A replacement for fiat cash when it ceases to exist.

Anchorite 1y ago

I'm more in the Highlander there can only be one camp, given the network effect of currencies. There is logic to your argument, but anyone who copies you without understanding the caveats is liable to get wrecked. That's dangerous IMO. I'd rather promote private use of lightning and avoid the pitfalls.

hh 1y ago

I see where you're coming from, it's a fair take. And being currency-agnostic, I'm totally open to be convinced about this.

There's time to develop more solutions too. I don't think the shit is hitting the fan just yet. We'll see it happen, just not yet.