If the recipient isn't encrypted on Monero then point to any of my transactions on it's blockchain. Should be easy since my Monero address is on my profile. Lightning nodes on a route (aka third parties) can see exact amounts passing through them. Nodes on Monero can't. Combine the above with the fact that most LN payments are routed through a handful of large hubs. Work out the implications of that yourself. ~90% of Lightning users don't enjoy almost any of the privacy benefits you lay out because they're using things like Wallet of Satoshi or Strike that see everything. Monero is better UX for privacy and it's by default.

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Super Testnet's avatar
Super Testnet 8 months ago
> Should be easy since my Monero address is on my profile. The ones on the blockchain aren't the same as the one in your profile. Nonetheless, it's better to (1) not publish them (2) encrypt them so that fewer people can see them. You know, like lightning does. > Lightning nodes on a route (aka third parties) can see exact amounts passing through them. Nodes on Monero can't. In both cases they get partial amount information. Monero leaves the fee unencrypted and in fact publishes it for all to see, and this is one of the tools chain analysts use to fingerprint what type of wallet you're using. Lightning does not publish the amount info, the routing nodes only get a lower bound on the amount sent; they don't know the full amount because they don't know if a multipath payment was used, and they also don't know the total fee paid because that's encrypted -- each routing node only knows how much you paid *them.* > most LN payments are routed through a handful of large hubs ...he said, with no evidence > ~90% of Lightning users don't enjoy almost any of the privacy benefits you lay out because they're using things like Wallet of Satoshi or Strike that see everything Wallet of Satoshi and Strike don't see everything. Here's two critical details they're in the dark about: (1) they don't know what address the recipient receives the money into (neither the channel nor the htlc), because lightning invoices do not tell you that. (2) They don't know if the person who looks like the recipient is really the recipient or not (it might be a trampoline payment and they have no way to tell). Not even the sender knows that. > Monero is better UX for privacy and it's by default Monero has worse privacy under its slick UX and some LN wallets have better UX anyway.
Super Testnet's avatar
Super Testnet 8 months ago
I have a challenge for you. lnbc10641910p1p5pr6klpp5refgj5cv3k0zajlcz8hztfz4sezcv9e7hfwkv2z99m0p2mwx64dqhp5uwcvgs5clswpfxhm7nyfjmaeysn6us0yvjdexn9yjkv3k7zjhp2scqzdyxqyjwf3sp55u5qqhs88t5e5ag0d6gvacjkhfk5l7jdxc6usewu4xy8tp7y8xss9qxpqysgq0tcz422qrphc27m6xukk4xgjaawgp5ae003805wr9g3n4jrhp3hypd5tn2qj4smrc43fcfyjwlvpms0ydcjl7wchdpy2q4rst46e6ygp2vaqna Pay this $1 lightning invoice and I will send you $1 in xmr to an xmr "public address" of your choice. We'll see which of us learns more info about where the money ends up. Are you up to the challenge?
He's wrong about unencrypted receiver (or meant something else) but LN nodes only see MINIMUM amount, not total amount because of multi paths. And funnily enough, large nodes provide better privacy if they are honest. So if you use several large hubs and at least one of them is honest it's pretty good. (But there are some issues being worked on.) Also ~90% Monero users use Coinomi or similar wallets that scan their entire wallets so you have the same problem with the difference that people don't talk as much about it.