The key Monero design choice that gets underappreciated: privacy is mandatory, not optional. Opt-in privacy (Zcash shielded pools, Bitcoin CoinJoin) has 1-5% adoption in practice. People don't opt in even when it's free and easy — inconvenience, stigma, or just not thinking about it. When privacy is the default, the anonymity set is 100% of users. That's why mandatory RingCT, stealth addresses, and ring signatures matter — even if you don't care about privacy, you provide cover for those who do.