For holding (HODL) I'd recommend Anonero. The site is only reachable through tor (anonero.io). And technically it's two apps. Anon (for your offline-only device) and Nero (for your everyday/online phone). The spend keys are stored only on Anon. Nero has only view keys. If you want to do a transaction, you need to scan QR codes with the devices a few time to transfer information and the signed transaction.

For everyday use probably cake wallet.

Oh wow, it's already funded xD

Important milestone that needs to be researched for FCMPs. Let's hope they find a proof!

Why should the goverment stop at the point where they can see your incoming balance? They probably gonna outlaw it completely.

If you still believe a monopoly on force (aka goverment) is A: warranted and/or B: needed I can't really help you.

The state is the biggest threat to our liberty and well being. Monero is here to help us get rid of it (or to just get our well deserved freedom back).

They're going to introduce their CBDCs so they're able to see every transaction (in- and outgoing). To automatically deduct taxes and block you from transacting completely if you don't comply.

As far as I know PoW leads to more decentralization (especially in combination with ASIC resistance) and therefore a more secure network. Energy efficiency comes through advancements in chip manufacturing.

Another full node selfhoster here. I did not notice any problems for me (except some transactions taking some time for confirmations), but I tried to onboard someone earlier and wondered why his freshly installed cake wallet acted weird. You might be onto something about official/public full nodes being overwhelmed or something.

I agree blockchain growth could become a problem someday. I think it's not right now and it probably won't be in the next few years (as @monerobull already pointed out).

I'd recommend watching this monero talk episode, because near the end Luke Parker (kayabaNerve) talks about what's next for monero after seraphis/jamtis. And to me it sounded like there is a solution for the blockchain growth problem in there (nova or what it's called?). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhNljgiQKp8

I think for now full chain membership proofs are one of the most important things for us (i.e. fixing the weakest link in the system aka ring signatures). After that we're mostly set on privacy and focus on other things like blockchain growth/accessability etc. (which seraphis/jamtis also tackles).

About the currency and store of value topic: In the literature it's often said money or a currency has three functions -> store of value, transfer of funds and unit of accounting. Thorsten Polleit argued in one of his latest books that these three functions actually can be condensed into a single one -> transfer of value. Store of value is just a transfer of funds through time. And unit of accounting is just that a business wants to pick the most liquid exchangeable good which circles back to transfering funds effectively and efficiently.

If you're now saying monero should be aiming for becoming the best currency, but not a store of value, you limit it's capability as a currency as transfering value (through time) is the fundamental function of a currency.

So we need to find a technical solution to that problem without compromising on the currency aspect.

So to wrap up, I appreciate your input as I agree, we need to always keep the shortcomings of monero in mind and work on improving them. I think the discussion around and permanent reevaluation of monero is one of the things that made it what it is today and if we can keep the spirit going it's what it'll make it successful in the future too :)

Are you aware of Localmonero? Also with services like Allark, Coincards, ShopInBit, ProxyStore, Monezon and AnonShop I don't really see a big problem of converting your XMR into fiat or products you need :)

Wait for ~4h, churn (send to your own wallet), repeat this a few times and then start to cash out (not everything at once)

How instant? Monero transactions can be seen in seconds (in the mempool) which is okay for smaller transactions. And 1-2 confirmations take roughly 2-4 minutes which is recommended for bigger transactions. So still pretty fast for real world stuff.

And what is your reasoning for PoS > PoW? I'm very curious!

Lost it all in a boating accident :(

Thank you for the info! Great to hear. I'm not so worried about a delay. I'd rather wait a little more, donate some more and get even better tech :)

Commis can't compute that I'm afraid 🤡 Take my upvote brother!