Аnother privacy first coins

Monero

so someone made a thread on some other 'privacy' coins (in summary, not very good)
https://monero.forum/thread/what-do-you-guys-think-alt-privacy-coins-like-zcash-pirate-chain-zano-wownero

hopefully someone can chime in with personal opinions on those you mentioned. I can give an ai generated summary of them though xD

I have no idea about the current day validity of the below, but it does sound nice.

If the goal is:

«“Average person, no VPN/Tor/advanced opsec, just normal usage.”»

Then privacy isn’t only about cryptography. It’s also about liquidity, anonymity set size, exchange access, and long-term survival.

Monero — still the benchmark.

Default privacy on every transaction means users can’t easily screw themselves by forgetting settings. Biggest userbase, liquidity, merchant support, and strongest community confidence by far. Regulatory pressure is the main weakness, not the tech.

Firo — strongest alternative technically.

Spark privacy is excellent, arguably among the best designs. Main issue is low liquidity and small network effect. Strong tech, weaker ecosystem.

Verus — interesting project, not really a Monero replacement.

Optional privacy is weaker than mandatory privacy because user behavior fragments the anonymity set. Good grassroots community and tech, but privacy is not its central identity.

Secret Network — private computation > private money.

Good for confidential smart contracts, but not the cleanest “private cash” experience for average users. More complexity, more room for misunderstanding what’s actually private.

Haven — hard pass currently.

Too many confidence and ecosystem problems, weak liquidity, and diminished trust after past crises.

Overall ranking for average users:

1. Monero
2. Firo
3. Verus
4. Secret
5. Haven

Main takeaway:
The best privacy coin is not just the one with the fanciest cryptography. It’s the one with strong default privacy, deep liquidity, large anonymity sets, active development, and a community that still expects it to exist 10 years from now.

@LibreVi The only privacy coin that i fully trust is monero then firo second as far as how i see their tech goes and the last is wownero

@LibreVi Monero is the only cryptocurrency I’m certain about. I’m unsure regarding the others; there was an article suggesting Firo may have compromised some of its privacy features, but I could be mistaken. For now, I’d stick with Monero.

Honestly outside of Monero, I don't really keep up with many privacy coins. The only one I've paid any kind of attention to (and vibecode some things for) is JunoCash, a fork of Zcash that's 100% shielded by default. But Monero is still my main focus though.

Monero is the one <3
You can look for Zano