Just as a reminder, you can bridge from EVMs to Monero via the SECRET bridges, which seems to have the Monero community's blessings on consensus models. There is ample liquidity as well.
So there is bi-directional access to and from the broader crypto ecosystem without centralized exchanges and without the selectively scamming shapeshift-style sites, and for the pros: without OTC desks either.
Well Secret isn't exactly the broader ecosystem, it uses the EVM (as most smart contract platforms do these days) but isn't Ethereum Mainnet. So you'd have to bridge more from there. Of course you could bridge into Ethereum or other chains directly with something like WXMR as well. Everything is getting bridged these days, there's going to be 1000 bridges soon. Users should be aware of the risks!
That said Secret is interesting. Another thing to note though in terms of privacy is that Secret token transactions aren't anonymous afaik, despite the name suggesting otherwise. Only the smart contracts are. It's an interesting design choice, there are probably arguments pro and contra both.
I didn't feel the need to specify how many bridges you had to take, just that you can have XMR and get to the broader ecosystem via SECRET. That is 100% accurate and orders of magnitude better than before the SECRET bridges existed.
Correct, yes, on SECRET network, smart contract variables are private, which means all token transactions are while the native currency is not. There are a variety of ways to leak data anyway.
So SCRT is the native currency while sSCRT is the token version that therefore has the variables (to, from, amount) private.
How so? They claim they keep custody of your tokens in exchange for the WXMR one, that's how any bridge works in essence. And yeah, you're right it would better to do swaps, this wasn't supposed to be an endorsement. There is an inherent danger in ceding custody to a third party, be it on Secret or Ethereum.
So there is bi-directional access to and from the broader crypto ecosystem without centralized exchanges and without the selectively scamming shapeshift-style sites, and for the pros: without OTC desks either.