So, to put it simply, I like peer to peer cash.I want to replace banks and give people tangible freedom. But privacy is also important to me. Recently I tried to cashfusion on BCH, waited all day just to find out it didnt work, something to do with the amount or utxos... I was thinking, dang, wouldn't it be nice if i didnt have to worry about this? This started my kick on thinking of Monero. I forgive BCH/Cashfusion for this, as its my fault, it was just the type of inconvenience that made me really stop and think about the advantage dynamic at play.
So Ive had some things on my mind, arguments for and against Monero, and im trying to make sense of it. I need help figuring out what is what so i can begin the process of weighing my choices here. I like both BCH and XMR, or at least I say I do, but i hate the mental overhead of worrying about two different money systems, so wondering what fills the top spot in my mind feels like a big deal, to me personally.
Before I continue I will point out theres many in BCH who do not like me, especially in rbtc, and its because Ive hopped around in crypto land a few times trying to figure it out and figure myself out, and getting in too many unnecessary fights with others looking for them (this is the internet after all, and I am naive to not think im not naive), but this does not bother me so much anymore, as I also have my fair share of friends in BCH and I see myself as a future value contributing actor as I approach my dream of being a software engineet closer and closer everyday. All that to say if i get any of those comments here I will try to ignore them.
So heres my thought process so far.
Advantages of Monero, over Bitcoin Cash:
1) Its actually private, its fully private, and if a normie friend uses it they will be private too
This isn't necessarily the reason that stands out in my mind the strongest, I personally see privacy as a facet of a good money rather than the core characteristic... But its definitely not insignificant, and it deserves the top of the list.
2) Automatic Blocksize?
I dont actually know how this works, and would like verification from someone on this. But i LOVE the idea of automatic blocksize limits. The problem with BTC that created BCH in the first place was the blocksize limit, and to me its irritating that despite it, it was not even removed from BCH, just increased and modified. I think its a tenet of centralization for developers to merely promise to change some parameter later, and after seeing what happened to BTC im scared to acceot a reality where that hardcoded limit is not burned with fire. So if Monero has done this in its own way and responsibly, this could be a huge reason for me to want to switch over.
3) Decentralized Mining?
So is it true i can somewhat easily mine monero on my laptop, at least exponentially easier than BCH and BTC? This is meaningful in my opinion, seeing as how the mining hashpower on the bitcoin networks has cartelized quite a bit.
4) Brand Strength
When I talk about Bitcoin Cash, to some extent, i feel like im shilling. I feel like im reeing into the void about how BTC is wrong and BCH is right and nobody cares. But when i talk about Monero... I feel foundationally strong. Like i can shill this to a friend and it doesnt feel like shilling, it feels like responsible advice. I understand this is somehow entirely psychological and probably specific to me, but i think theres a profound brand strength with Monero that could really boost its afoption from here if events play out well.
Some Concerns I have about Monero
1) Adoption Unreadiness?"
When i first started learning about Monero, years ago, i tried to install a node and failed, as it took too long to sync the blockchain. I didnt know how else to use it so i gave up. Fast forward years later, I tried again with a wallet but it made me select my own node, and I remember the UX was just weird... Im wondering if this has changed at all and if Monero is closer to being adoption ready? Can i jump into it and immediately start using it?
2) Disappearing balances
I remember using monero before and every time i send or receive my balance would go back to pending. I strongly disliked this and thought it took control of my money away from me. But someone told me there was a change coming in to potentially fix this. Is that true?
3) Concerns about fees, scalability, and basic smart contract capability
Average fees are about 4x more expensive on Monero, which honestly isnt so bad. I can see that as just paying for the privacy, so whatever im cool with it. But what about scaling? Can we get Monero to world adoption levels? Will the blocksize keep growing and fit all of commerce in it?
And what about basic smart contracts? Like on BCH theres some stuff like covenants and escrow stuff, and you can even build sidechains like smartbch on it. Can monero have sidechains? Does it have sidechains? What about a memo field / op return? Theres some usecases for that I think, im not sure how strong those usecases are, but one that comes to mind is memodotcash and decentralized social media (not that its really taken off on BCH, in all fairness)
4) Adoption?
I want to live off cryptocurrency. I have a Bitpay card. How do i live off of Monero? The only way i heard of is gift cards. Do i have to use gift cards forever now to live on Monero? Isnt that the hugest inconvenience ever? Also im not even sure what exchanges i can buy and sell from.
Anyways, these are my thoughts which i wish to discuss and straighten out. Please let me know what im getting wrong or right.
My goal is to support decentralized money for the whole world, and I dont care if that means reevaluating myself and the situation to assess that.
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