The cryptocurrency platform Binance already delisted Monero in February. Now it's Kraken's turn, as it will stop offering Monero for EU customers in November. Why is Monero so dangerous?

Monero transfers are not traceable, which poses a problem for an EU that wants to track cryptocurrency transactions in the same way they track traditional money transfers. Kraken has thus been forced to delist Monero for EU customers.

However, in other countries you can still buy Monero legally and there are decentralized platforms and channels where you can buy and sell Monero. One example is Haveno-reto, which runs on Tor to preserve the privacy of participants.

Will the EU also prohibit cryptocurrency platforms from selling and buying Zcash, Dash or Litecoin¹? I don't think so, because these coins are not private by default, unlike Monero.

Fiat currencies keep losing value and are controlled by a small elite. On the other hand, there are open-source cryptocurrencies that cannot be inflated and work in a peer-to-peer network, without the need for a central bank or single administrator. Why pay attention to them and use them? How to do it?

These currencies keep gaining value compared to fiat currencies, because they cannot be created out of thin air as central banks do when it is in their interest. That is why people who save or invest in cryptocurrencies have a big advantage over people who save in fiat money.

But they are not just an investment tool; they are currencies that can be used to buy all kinds of goods and services. There are a large number of companies that accept cryptocurrencies. If a company does not accept them directly, it is often possible to purchase gift cards through companies that act as intermediaries¹. It is possible to live on your own only using cryptocurrencies; I have done so for some time and continue to use them in my day-to-day life.

Keep reading Cryptocurrencies are free-software money, so I use them

Ignorant people rant about the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies. They don't know shit. How many wars were created over fiat currencies and the power plays of politicians and central bankers?

Fiat currencies are inflationary, so they encourage economic growth (at what cost? At whose expense?). That inflation also attenuates the indebtedness of states, it is like an invisible tax against the poor and the financially uneducated.

Dumb journalists, central bankers and politicians try to hinder financial independence and privacy with bans and biased news. They have failed; they will not succeed. It would be like trying to ban precious metals.

There are cryptocurrencies that are trash, that don't provide privacy, etc., but you can't tar everything with the same brush. Moreover, the environmental impact is minimal compared to fiat currencies. There are cryptocurrencies that pollute more than others, of course. For those who care more about the environment, there are cryptocurrencies that do not use proof-of-work algorithms.

According to Statcounter, GNU/Linux is the operating system used on 3.77% of desktop computers (laptops and desktop computers)¹. In the chart we can see that in January 2021 the share of GNU/Linux was 1.91%, which means that in three years it has doubled its popularity. It's also worth mentioning that the share of Chrome OS (which uses the Linux kernel) is 1.78%.

However, this statistic is not fully representative, since Statcounter's tracking code is installed on only 1.5 million websites². Also, some GNU/Linux users — those who care more about privacy — use tools that change the User-Agent (an example is Tor Browser, which always claims to use Windows to camouflage itself better).

In any case, this is an impressive growth that will probably continue in the coming years, as GNU/Linux is increasingly used in educational institutions and many countries are trying to increase their technological sovereignty (GNU/Linux is the cheapest and safest way to do it).

Many people think that cryptocurrencies are anonymous, but that's not the case. Most of them are pseudo-anonymous, as transactions can be traced and thus reveal who owns the Keep reading Cryptocurrencies, anonymity, decentralized economy