Crap, i forgot about last week. Time for another Skepticism Sunday!
Stay on topic:
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This thread is only for comments discussing the uncertainties, shortcomings, and concerns some may have about Monero.
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NOT the positive aspects of it.
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Discussion can relate to the technology itself or its economics.
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Talk about community and price is not wanted, but some discussion about it maybe allowed if it relates well.
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Be as respectful and nice as possible. This discussion has potential to be more emotionally charged as it may bring up issues that are extremely upsetting: many people are not only financially but emotionally invested in the ideas and tools around Monero.
How it works:
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Post your concerns about Monero in reply to this thread.
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If you can address these concerns, or add further details to them -- reply to that comment. This will make it easily sort-able.
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Upvote the comments that are the most valid criticisms of it that have few or no real honest solutions/answers to them.
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The comment that mentions the biggest problems of Monero should have the most karma.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.
This is not skepticism. This is bullshit, plain and simple. Unless you have behind-the-scenes knowledge that the public does not currently possess, there is zero evidence to suggest that almost all of Monero's usage is crime-related. As of 2024, the IRS has still not paid out their final bounty for a tool to trace Monero transactions, and almost all spokespeople for chain analysis companies (some of which I have personally talked to) say that Monero is effectively untraceable in the majority of cases. As such, I don't see how you conjured up this statement unless you have a specific distaste for Monero and no sense of obligation to speak truthfully. Please point to a source where chain analysis "proved" the majority of Monero usage is illicit. Even if we take at face value that Monero is the currency of choice for many criminal rings, there still needs to be evidence of actual numbers related to the criminal volume versus total Monero volume. Some organizations have tried scoping this out, but I honestly know of no source that pins it anywhere near that high. Most place it around the same as USD and BTC at ~1-3%, with some going as high 15%. There is a ton of variability in those figures, and all acknowledge that comprehensive data collection is inherently impossible (criminals don't report their transactions, and good financial data is hard to collect even for honest participants), and not a single one has ever claimed to "prove" any of those figures.
Monero usage from criminals can be tracked from CEXes, swaps, and cross-chain bridges. It can also be tracked by vulnerabilities mentioned in the "Breaking Monero" series. You are being dishonest by ignoring the main use of Monero among criminals. Your community is also vocal about Monero replacing Bitcoin on darknets and view it as positive.
Sources: https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/csam-cryptocurrency-monero-instant-exchangers-2024 https://www.ft.com/content/13fb66ed-b4e2-4f5f-926a-7d34dc40d8b6 https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/2024-crypto-money-laundering
None of those linked articles support the claim that "almost all of Monero’s usage is crime-related".
The "sources" are extremely sus. Most CEXes have delisted Monero and no-KYC exchanges by definition don't have KYC. The addresses are not stored on the blockchain. If an address is known to be CSAM, it would be blocked off so no transactions would have been made and because of the previous point, you can't go back in the blockchain to find past offenders. The CSAM site likely has other non-CSAM porn so many actual purchases would be legal so usage on honeypot exchanges would not mean much. Reading between the lines, the article is basically coming up with its statistics via inference. (1) Most BTC blockchain activity is speculation, (2) CSAM makes up a significant percentage of BTC actual usage, (3) Monero's popularity is growing, (4) Criminals prefer privacy, (5) therefore Monero's growth is mostly from CSAM. The main counterpoint to this is Monero's increase use in coin cards, VPN and other privacy tool/services purchases, Shopinbit, etc where Monero's use exceeds that of BTC and lightning. So (1) does not apply to Monero, and it's likely (2) if it were ever true is increasingly not the case so (5) is absolutely false.
Criminals will use the best tool of their choice as USD. Monero and cash works as intended regardless if it's used by criminals or not. Privacy is a right.