How does Monero protect users from inflation bugs if the blockchain can't be audited?

Question

Many Monero critics use statements like:

How does Monero protect users from inflation bugs if the blockchain can't be audited?

Supposedly there is a way to audit the Monero supply. I've never done it, I've only read that its possible and that other people have done it. But how does one do it in a step by step way?

Can someone make a post about this so we can just point to this answer every time someone brings it up? Annoying to see people post about this all the time with the same people trying to give an answer but not really actually giving it.

How do you audit monero coin supply step by step?

Answer 1

The daemon command print_coinbase_tx_sum is useful for auditing the supply (sum of all coinbase transactions).

help print_coinbase_tx_sum

Command usage: 
  print_coinbase_tx_sum <start_height> [<block_count>]

Command description: 
  Print the sum of coinbase transactions.

You then verify, the amount obtained from above, is less than per the Emission curve allows for. Example code to get this value for a given height here.

For anything else, you would have to audit the code (for bugs) and the math (for soundness).

Answer 2

monero_inflation_checker is an independent tool created in Python to verify there's no hidden injection through mining or transactions: https://github.com/DangerousFreedom1984/monero_inflation_checker