Bitcoin VERSUS Monero

Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR) are decentralized digital currencies that use cryptography to secure financial transactions and to verify the transfer of assets. They both offer certain benefits and drawbacks as money and store of value.

XMR is essentially digital cash, in the sense that each unit is fungible, unlike any other crypto asset. Like using physical cash, it’s completely untraceable to both the sender and receiver. Whereas every single BTC can be fully traced to who and where, including transaction amounts.

As money, both Bitcoin and Monero can be used to make online and in-person purchases, but they have some differences in terms of acceptance and accessibility. Bitcoin is (currently) considerably more widely adopted / accepted and is easier to convert into fiat currency (e.g., US dollars) than Monero.

Monero offers complete privacy and anonymity to Bitcoin’s pseudonymity, as it uses advanced cryptographic techniques to obscure the sender, recipient, transaction details and wallet balance.

As a store of value, both Bitcoin and Monero can be volatile and subject to fluctuations to supply and demand. Bitcoin being the first and therefore oldest cryptocurrency, it has a long history and has been used as a store of value for a longer period of time than Monero – although XMR is one of the oldest and has been battle tested just as much. Investment wise, they both have historically been some of the best performing assets in financial history.

Monero’s focus on privacy and anonymity may make it more attractive to some people as a store of value, especially in countries with strict capital controls or high levels of corruption. Or for individuals or groups who require their assets kept completely secret, akin to numbered Swiss bank accounts.

While XMR doesn’t have a fixed supply like Bitcoin, it was brilliantly coded with tail emissions which makes it one of the least minted (supply) coins giving it currently 1 percent inflation of which will increase to 0 slowly over time.

In terms of privacy, Monero is definitively more private than Bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrency). As mentioned earlier, Monero uses advanced techniques to obscure the sender, recipient, and amount of each transaction, making it impossible for outsiders to track and trace these transactions.

By contrast, Bitcoin’s transaction data is publicly available on the blockchain, which means that it’s possible for anyone to see the details of every singe Bitcoin transaction and wallet balances.

XMR can effectively be used as an anonymous bank with flawless secrecy and security while BTC is a public ledger with flawless visibility and security.