The apps I listed are light client phone apps (no node is running on them), what you do is connect to one of a number of trusted public nodes or your own node.
Even with a Monero public node, the privacy you give up is not nearly as severe as connecting to a public node on Bitcoin. The only thing a malicious node could glean is your IP address (you could hide this behind Tor or VPN) and find out the the true spend in a transaction. But the reciever and amount would still remain unknown to them.
So a malicious public node could potentially know the true spender in a ring of decoys, but never *how much* was spent or *who* recieved it. Which is not very much info.
But, ideally, you would want to run your own node at home and have your phone wallet connect to it while you're away for maximum security and privacy.
I also see a lot of potential in Nostr. Truly owning your digital identity and censorship resistance is powerful. It's the parallel of bitcoin but for social networks.
Yes, the TCP/IP stack and Tor/I2P analogy for L2s is a common way people conceptualize it.
I see you are from the privacy community. I listen to Surveillance Report every so often. My journey actually went from Bitcoin -> Bitcoin privacy world -> general foss/privacy community -> Monero
Yes you can directly onramp into Monero with something like LocalMonero or Bisq
...Or swap from Bitcoin or another crypto using Trocador or Unstoppable Swap
Popular mobile wallets I recommend are: Monerujo, Cake Wallet, or Stack Wallet/Duo. Currently enjoying Stack/Duo
All open source and all good choices.
I have a question for you. If you are not into crypto, what brought you to Nostr?
I know there is no excplicit connection between nostr and crypto, but you are a unique case because most people on Nostr are Bitcoiners. And the remaining are other crypto communities like Monero, some Ethereans, etc. Just curious
So Enigma and Ark are different concepts. Enigma is the framework of the emergent behavior if you add Covenants to a network similar to how Lightning is the emergent behavior of adding channels to a network. As Submarine Swaps are to Lightning, Ark is to Enigma. So it doesn't really make sense to compare them in that manner. Nor does it make sense to call them vaporware. Enigma itself isnt even something for me to code, it's me talking to people who are already collaborating such as Lightning Service Providers and wallet developers and convincing them to integrate covenants into their systems. CTV is active on both Signet and Thunder (Drivechain network) already so it's accessible there. Sapio is a frontend for Bitcoin core to allow you to do it yourself. I also don't get this thing where we've started calling things vaporware after a week. It kinda degrades it, need to reserve that for things like duke.
Monero could potentially bootstrap CTV but it has a long road ahead. It currently can't even do Pre-Signed Transactions (PSBT's) yet, it needs a hard fork to do it.
https://comit.network/blog/2021/07/02/transaction-presigning/
I like to give monero the benefit of the doubt since it currently provides real utility that Bitcoin can't quite yet give. But that paper and article gives a good insight to the challenges of monero's premature optimization. I also think if you do add covenants, you'll have to ask yourself if you also want channels as they're similar in nature except one is deterministic and the other is indeterministic. I think the criticism of trying to onboard the entire population into a single indeterministic primitive is quite valid, hence my work, but I also think we've also lost the plot somewhere along the way. I like to nudge the BCH guys because their culture is "layer one" but due to their recent upgrades, they're now capable of both lightning and potentially Enigma, there's some limitations but the only thing holding them back now is a cultural limitation, if BTC were to fail, would we not migrate there and use the lightning network there? The BTC culture is overly reliant on Lightning but that's where i provide a counter narrative that's hopefully palatable for everyone
Very interesting.
Poly, are you familiar with Monero Talk? Would you be willing to be a guest to talk about Covenants, CTV, Enigma, Ark, etc.? I think you would be a great guest and it is right up your alley. There is a lot of overlap and the community is generally pretty open to criticisms of Monero. Will not be contentious. Bitcoiners, bitcoin cashers, and other privacy crypto guests go on there all the time.
No pressure, just think everyone would enjoy it and also to spread the word more about these things.
Yes, sorry, L1 = Layer 1
Bitcoin has L2s (Layer 2s) that purport to fully replace Monero. But this is simply not true. Moving into L2 comes with it's own set of trade-offs.
For example - LiquidBTC, Fedimints, and Ecash all offer privacy on a layer above bitcoin (L2+), but you give up custody to gain that privacy. A critical pillar of bitcoin is self-custody. You can keep both with Monero.
Monero is not an L2 on Bitcoin. It's a completely different crypto from Bitcoin to be clear.
No problem.
Monero has it's own fair criticisms and set of trade-offs, but Monero exceeds bitcoin in privacy (in both quality and simplicity) and fungibility (an ideal quality of money). With cheaper transactions (currently under one cent) all these things combined make Monero a superior L1 medium of exchange.
It's a bit paradoxical to call something "adaptable" that is so resistant to change and prioritizes ossification and immutability (also can be a good thing).
Bitcoin security budget is a valid concern. There are 3 possibilites:
1. Bitcoin transaction fees become too expensive for everyday transactions so most transactions move to L2+
2. Bitcoin changes it's protocol to expand blocksize and/or increase bloick subsidy.
3. Security falters and the bitcoin expirement fails.
#1 seems the most likely to me, but comes with trade offs different from L1 . L2s are abstractions of bitcoin afaic and not true bitcoin. #2 would break one of the most important value props of bitcoin.
Me pointing out criticisms doesn't mean im anti bitcoin btw. I know Monero has it's own set of trade-offs and is not perfect.
No.
It's possible to get an acceptable amount of privacy with much friction and upkeep, but bitcoin is ultimately a traceable public ledger. And coinjoins don't make bitcoin as a whole fungible.
Reciever address and amounts don't appear on the Monero blockchain at all.
Sender and IP address are automatically obfuscated.
Private, anonymous, fungible transactions.
Just like cash but digital. And without rampant unpredictable inflation.
Theyre scared and insecure. Monero makes private fungible transactions better and easier than bitcoin. Not even debatable.
apparently AgoraDesk is on iOS too
Android phone? Check out AgoraDesk. P2P similar to HodlHodl but requiring even less info. Don't even need an email. They have an open source app too.
The Canadian trucker donation fiasco is what really got me from a Bitcoin-only person more into Monero. If random normies cannot easily use it privately, adoption will be mostly surveilled.
Also, you can't transact nearly instantaneously over long distances with the physical Argentininian peso. And a digital version would be centrally persmissioned and not private like all fiat.
It's just another tool.
Use it if it provides utility (fungibility and privacy, much cheaper txs). You can continue saving in bitcoin simultaneously.
If you believe the trend will continue, use it, dont hodl longterm
Fair. Bitcoin is a better SoV. Monero is a better MoE imo.