Why does Monero refresh even if I use remote node?

Question

I haven't used my wallet for a couple of months. Today I opened my wallet and it started refreshing, even if I use remote node. It refreshes about 150k blocks and it has already taken about 2 hours and I'm still waiting. So why is that?

For instance, I may not use my Bitcoin wallet for a long time as well, but I will be able to access the funds without waiting for any refreshing. Why does Monero require refreshing of new blocks even if I don't run a local blockchain daemon?

Maybe I am doing something wrong. Can someone explain please. Thanks!

By the way, is there any way to speed up refreshing process?

Answer 1

It is because of Monero Privacy. You request the remote node to get XXX transactions and your computer does some calculation to see if one of the key_images belong to you. Nobody else knows.

You can't really say that address "4ABCD" has 1 XMR. Because Monero is Private. But you can do so with BTC, it's not priate. Therefore it doesn't need to check each transaction.

Oh and monero also has upcomming hardfork later this year which is going to speed-up this process. ;) Look up https://localmonero.co/knowledge/view-tags-reduce-monero-sync-time or https://localmonero.co/knowledge/remote-nodes-privacy

^^

Answer 2

Why does Monero refresh even if I use remote node? ... Why does Monero require refreshing of new blocks even if I don't run a local blockchain daemon?

A wallet still needs to refresh (scan) the blockchain for two reasons:

1. so it can find new transactions sent to you and
2. so it can select a sensible set of decoys when sending Monero.

By the way, is there any way to speed up refreshing process?

When using a remote node, choose one that is near to you and has a fast connection.