Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide adoption?

Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by rvz on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @11:51AM (#32239954)

> I consider Web3/NFTs to be a scam

Not all NFTs are the same or even JPEGs. 90% of them are useless though.

The blockchain domains are the only valid NFTs that cannot be right-click saved and are useful.

> the only utility I see in cryptocurrency is the anonymous and decentralized transfer of value.

> However interestingly the coins that do this well like Monero are not seeing wide adoption.

The regulators would like you to pick one trait of (not so) 'anonymous' or (not so) 'decentralized' cryptocurrencies.

Those that can fully guarantee both decentralization and privacy are the privacy coins like Monero, MobileCoin, Grin, Zcash, etc (To some extent Litecoin with mimblewimble privacy) which will basically be banned from exchanges as they are attractive to money laundering, illegal activity, ransomware and payments between criminals and scammers. No legitimate business wants to be associated with that, hence why they haven't got any wide spread legitimate adoption.

But they all do have widespread adoption with illegal activity.

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Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by bcatanzaro on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @12:09PM (#32240169)

The regulators are acting in the interest of society, to a first order. People actively don’t want privacy and decentralization because it means crime, theft, and economic instability.

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Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by snikeris on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @12:33PM (#32240508)

Money was initially private and decentralized. When it lost those attributes theft and economic instability became the norm.

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Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by bcatanzaro on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @12:47PM (#32240701)

I think it's the opposite. Theft and economic instability were the norm until we developed things like economic regulations and a banking system. The Wild West was not known for its economic stability for example. Neither were the Dark Ages.

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Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by snikeris on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @02:33PM (#32254565)

What passes as economic stability these days just makes things more fragile, e.g. propping up failing businesses w/ other people's money.

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Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by pc86 on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @12:11PM (#32240194)

Let's pretend that in my mind, "NFT === JPEG === scam for idiots and speculators" - what is a "blockchain domain," why does it have to be an NFT (or why is being an NFT better than not being one), and how is it different from the above?

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Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by ZiiS on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @12:40PM (#32240602)

blockchain domain are equivelent of domain names in DNS, i.e. they ae human readable wallet addresses. Making them nonfungable is a requirment (If it pointed at two wallets someone else could get your payment). Making them decentralised is a requirement to prevent someone else (and so ultimatly govenments) to decide where your payments go.

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Re:Ask HN: Why are privacy coins like Monero not seeing wide... by anonymoushn on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @12:25PM (#32240388)

broadly agree.

Weirdly you can trade mobilecoin on a major centralized exchange, but is "proof of intel" really a good consensus mechanism lol

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