“Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.” Ayn Rand
“To be left alone is the most precious thing one can ask of the modern world.”
― Anthony Burgess
Here at the Impartial Lens, we are primarily focused on cryptos that offer its users privacy at the protocol level. Monero is top of the list in this regard and hence it is one that we keep a close eye on. Monero ensures mandatory privacy for all transactions by default. This privacy feature makes Monero fungible as a result. A unit of account is fungible when it is indistinguishable from another and interchangeable. The vast majority of cryptocurrencies in the market including Bitcoin and Ethereum do not offer its users this important feature. We are strong believers in sound money which should be able to act as a medium of exchange, a store of value, a unit of account, be portable, durable and divisible. Furthermore, sound money should not be created out of thin air. We also love Gold and Silver because they also have the properties of sound money.
Bitcoin has been a joy to behold over the past decade and has been a great educator in the fallacies of fiat currencies which are indeed created out of thin air. From our perspective, Monero goes a step further than Bitcoin to become a true cryptocurrency by offering its users privacy by default and therefore fungibility. The sender, receiver, and amount of every single transaction are hidden through the use of three important technologies: Stealth Addresses, Ring Signatures, and RingCT. Unfortunately as a Bitcoin user, your opponent or any thief for that matter can now use blockchain analytic tools to check your transactions and even your wallet balances. Who wants this information in the public arena? In December last, one of the largest blockchain analytics companies Chainalysis announced that it will launch a solution for tracing and monitoring Lightning Network transactions: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/lightning-network-support/ At the very least, Monero is an interesting proposition as a hedge for Bitcoin investors.
Monero and other truly private cryptocurrencies are an important adjunct to those of us that value privacy in our financial lives. In a world where governments are becoming drunk on their own power and enforcing more and more tyrannical rules on its people, we need to learn how to protect ourselves and our loved ones. There are many steps involved in protecting ourselves from the prying eyes of big tech and online spies who may have a nefarious agenda. From choosing messaging services, operating systems to conducting financial transactions and storing your funds, securing and maintaining your online privacy is essential. Removing counter party risk to your funds would be an astute maneuver in the current climate: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/prison-threats-fines-world-turning-heat-unvaccinated/ Who is next and where does it end?
Monero’s $USD price has surged +17.8% in the past week and is +23% for the month. On the 2 year chart above, we can see a double bottom pattern with the 120 EMA providing support. The 50 SMA has provided support since July 2020 and is now acting as resistance after the recent positive price action. Monero is down almost 60% from its all time high 4 years ago. There is no hype with Monero, just real dynamic features which make this a bona fide cryptocurrency. For further info:
https://www.getmonero.org/get-started/what-is-monero/
After a long grind down in the price against Bitcoin, we have seen early signs of a reversal for XMR/BTC in the past month but as we see below on the 5 year XMR/BTC chart, there is much work to be done. This is where we spot an opportunity. Monero is greatly undervalued in the crypto market for reasons outlined above.
Here is a list of the impressive work groups built from within the community: https://web.getmonero.org/community/workgroups/ for starters.
We will delve into more positive developments for Monero in the coming weeks and months. We expect Monero and other ‘Freedom’ coins to catch a bid especially once decentralized exchanges take off. Haveno for example is a private and decentralized way to exchange Monero for national currencies or other cryptocurrencies. Haveno uses peer-to-peer networking and multi-signature escrow to facilitate trading without a trusted third party custodian: https://haveno.exchange/ Haveno is aiming to be deployed in late 2022.
There is a lot of hype in the crypto market with a jillion freshly printed dollars sloshing around trying to make a quick buck. There are not many cryptos which have the characteristics of sound money and the ones that do, have a very low market capitalization right now. Impatience abounds as the herd chase the latest ‘Number Go Up’ hotty. Patience is required before the cream of the crop inevitably rise to the top. We feel strongly about this undervalued theme as we did on Ethereum back in 2016: https://theimpartiallens.com/digital-disruptors/
