Filter ยท fewer decisions
One coin only
An unusual filter and a real one. Some people want fewer decisions at the moment of payment, not more, and exactly one entry in this catalogue is built that way.
| Market | Since | Coins | Addresses | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlackOps Market | 2024 | XMR | 3 | Global, English |
Why anybody wants fewer options
Because a choice at checkout is a choice made under mild time pressure, usually by somebody who has already decided to buy and wants the step finished. That is not the moment when people weigh a public ledger against a private one carefully. It is the moment they pick whatever they already have.
A market that takes one coin moves that decision earlier, to the point where you were acquiring the coin rather than spending it, and earlier is where it belongs.
Keep the claim the right size
This is a genuine argument and it is a small one. It changes when a decision happens, not what the right decision is. Somebody who would have chosen Monero anyway loses nothing by having the option, and somebody who reaches for Bitcoin out of habit is the reader this filter is really for.
What it costs
| Cost | What it means |
|---|---|
| You need the coin before you start | If you hold Bitcoin there is a conversion step with its own fee and its own record |
| No fallback at checkout | Every other market here gives you at least two ways to pay |
| One market qualifies | This filter leaves you with a single option and no spare |
The other way to get the same thing
Decide for yourself that you only pay one way, and then use any market you like. The discipline does the same work as the policy and it does not narrow your catalogue to one entry.
That is genuinely the better arrangement for most people. All nine markets here take Monero, so a personal rule of paying in Monero costs you nothing at all in options, while relying on a market to enforce it costs you eight of the nine.
Who the filter still fits
People who know their own habits well enough to distrust them. If you have reached for the convenient coin before while telling yourself you would not, a market that does not offer it is a fence rather than advice, and a fence works when advice has already failed.
The same idea applied to other decisions
Removing a choice in advance works better than deciding well under pressure, and it is worth using in more places than payment. A flat rule about never releasing funds early, or never accepting a discount to pay outside escrow, does the same job for the same reason: the moment of the request is exactly when your judgement is being aimed at.
Where a fence is worse than a decision
When it costs you options you actually need. A single coin market narrows this catalogue to one entry with no spare, which is a heavy price for a discipline you could impose on yourself for free. Use the fence where you have already proved you need one, and not as a general principle.