I’ve been wanting to make anonymized payments for stuff like supporting this website for instance.
I’ve read this whole page: Private Payments - Privacy Guides
As per this, Monero isn’t really anonymous:
Privacy coins have been subject to increasing scrutiny by government agencies. In 2020, the IRS published a $625,000 bounty for tools which can trace (at least to some extent) Bitcoin Lightning Network and/or Monero transactions. They ultimately paid two companies (Chainalysis and Integra Fec) a combined $1.25 million to further develop tools to do so. Due to the secrecy surrounding tools like these, none of these methods of tracing cryptocurrencies have been independently confirmed. However, it is quite likely that tools which assist targeted investigations into private coin transactions exist, and that privacy coins in their current form only succeed in thwarting mass surveillance.
And you can’t really buy Monero anonymously (or it’s complicated) as per this:
Acquiring cryptocurrencies like Monero privately can be difficult. P2P marketplaces (platforms which facilitate trades between people) are one option, though the user experience typically suffers. If using an exchange which requires KYC is acceptable for you as long as subsequent transactions can’t be traced, it’s much easier to purchase Monero on a centralized exchange or purchase Bitcoin/Litecoin from a KYC exchange which can then be swapped for Monero. Then, you can withdraw the purchased Monero to your own self-custody wallet to use privately from that point forward.
What’s the point then?