As long as Bitcoin remains a transparent ledger, it will always offer subpar privacy to Monero.

Any L2 privacy comes with a trade off of custody, final settlement, or centralization.

So I believe you are wrong. So much friction and pitfalls in staying reasonably private with Bitcoin. That is why Monero is slowly taking over DNMs.

Is it easier to hide mining with an ASIC (sound + energy draw) or blend in and mine on practically any general purpose consumer hardware?

I'm not saying Bitcoin will collapse or that Monero will overtake it, but that Monero operates better in the dark and in adversarial conditions more easily.