When comparing privacy-focused coins to Bitcoin, there's an important distinction worth examining. Monero implements mandatory ring signatures and stealth addresses by default, creating a fundamentally different transaction architecture than Bitcoin's transparent ledger. Bitcoin's design prioritizes immutability and verifiability at the cost of privacy—every address and transaction is permanently traceable on the blockchain. Monero, conversely, obscures sender, receiver, and transaction amounts by default. This raises questions: Is privacy by design a feature or a vulnerability? Bitcoin offers transparency for security auditing, while Monero offers confidentiality that appeals to users prioritizing financial privacy. Neither is inherently 'better'—they serve different use cases. Bitcoin dominates as a settlement layer and store of value, partly due to network effects and institutional adoption. Monero excels in scenarios requiring transaction confidentiality. Understanding these technical tradeoffs matters more than dismissing one as inferior.