The Future of Privacy Coins?

A lot of political narrative is currently being disseminated about how Bitcoin is being used for illegal purposes. However, for those unfamiliar with crypto, Bitcoin does not provide the privacy or anonymity that politicians like Senator Warren and the mainstream media claim it provides. In the end, I believe that Monero is the best coin for secure and private #DeFi transactions. While there is some anonymity in #BTC transactions, there is still enough of a paper trail.

This suggests that BTC is less likely to be used for illegal activities, at least among educated offenders. Monero’s (XMR) architecture obfuscates even the most routine transaction details. As a result, the IRS promised a reward to anyone who broke Monero’s blockchain. In response, the Monero development team made important system updates. It will be interesting to see where XMR goes as regulations are implemented, as on/off ramps may become increasingly difficult to find for the project, but it is worth noting that the anonymous nature of the technology itself would allow Proof of Work to continue (likely) undetected because there is no minimum energy requirement for proof of work.

There is no reason why proof-of-work could not or would not continue to operate within those constraints if strong conservation requirements were introduced, such as increasing energy costs or setting metering limits. Despite a lack of energy, Monero will never fully collapse or perish. To mine, there must be enough electricity to keep the lights on, which effectively divides the CPU/GPU/ASIC hashrate among themselves. I predict that this may force XMR away from primary exchanges in certain countries until restrictions are fully enacted, although networks will most likely continue to exist via Tor.

Central banks’ engagement with Ripple and XRP has been widely addressed. The BIS, World Bank, and IMF have expressly mentioned Ripple’s solutions. XRP and XRPL are emerging as key components of a changing monetary system. I anticipate substantial balancing will occur in the crypto world. Regulatory constraints will kill some ventures, while others will find a foothold to develop and grow in a less competitive environment.