Bitcoin Forum

Not sure where to post this thread, however, if this is the wrong place, move it!

Well im developing and launching a new bitcoin related project, and i dont know which is the best solution about the anonymity.
Few words: this project should be anonymous or not?

Considering that i have no intention to steal money from my users and i want to create a stable and trusted service...

ANONYMOUS (hyde my identity)
PROS:
- avoid tax audits
- avoid becoming the target for some hackers, thieves and so on
- cold storage in a safe place and nobody know that i have some hidden money

CONS:
- little confidence of users
- lack of transparency for the nework

NOT ANONYMOUS (show my identity, domain registrant, public press and so on)
PROS:
- trusted by users
- trusted by the bitcoin network

CONS:
- became a target for hackers, thieves and so on
- became a target for governments and taxes
- no cold storage, for the previous CONS points

What would you do in my situation?

I would have to go with NOT.

Firstly, try register the project (ie domain or whatever is needed) in a different country if you do need to register something. This will help avoid the tax man to a degree.
Please elaborate on your "Cold Storage". If you mean a bank account offshore, you can still do that. If its a safe at your house, well again, you can still do that.

As for Hackers, well just try and be as safe as you can against them, build your solution around Anti-Hacker and you should be ok  :P Encryption is your friend :p

Also never have a decrypter in the same place (ie website).

You are right but forget that if my government discover that i own a site that produce a gain, well it doesnt matter if i have cold storage or an offshore bank account. They will ask me some questions  :D

It all depends on your country. I live in an "unhappy" one, so I understand your concerns.

On the other hand, being public gives you a lot of advantages in terms of trust and that's a big part that is rare in Bitcoin world.

So I'm afraid you are the one who will have to weigh the benefits vs risks of going open, based on how much screwed up your country is. After all, you live in it :) you should know better than any of us the risks associated with being public.

As a Bitcoin enthousiast I'd like not anonymous
As a Bitcoin developper I'd advise anonymous

Thanks for replies  ;)

However, i live in a REAL UNHAPPY country, so the dilemma is: i want to show my identity, because i love bitcoin, i love this forum and also i really love my project, but my country for some strange reason does everything in his power to harm youth entrepreneurship.

Websites that are anonymous do not have a good track record when Bitcoin is involved.

I would never keep much BTC on any anonymously run website and if I did I would certainly not do so for very long.

So this is my fate: publish the site, show my identity, and fight against my government, as the bitcoin project itself teaches  8)

Another thing to consider is how much trust exactly your project requires. If it's rather small sums, then you can probably get away with being anonymous. If it's something large - then probably not. Maybe you can tweak your operations somehow to decrease the amount of trust people need to grant you?

Also, consider opening a company in some offshore, but regulated, zone. It can be sort of a middle-ground solution for you.

You can always start anonymous, and if everything is working great and/or the situation in your country change, you can change it to more public.

But you can't do the opposite.

ps: no trust in an anonymus project? Just two words: Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi *gave* us Bitcoin and charged us nothing for it - it doesn't sound as though this project is going to do the same.

Yeah, i know, its not the same :)

I am not sure which way is better. MPOE-PR says you shouldn't be anonymous to be successful. But there is number of successful examples of anonymous businesses as well, e. g. Silk Road and possibly btc-e (is it anonymous?).

I would have to agree that Silk Road has done rather amazingly well and anonymous *can* work with exchanges as well - in both cases most people are basically just doing transactions (and presumably only to the level that they feel comfortable to risk).

Im developing a gambling project.
I believe that users must trust a site where they bet their money, but a gambling site draws attenction  ;D

I'm investing a lot of money and most of my free time, so i really care about my project and i want users to trust me.

Well, considering that is a gambling site, what would you do?

IMO just do a provably fair game, no need to show your identity probably. You can find info about provably fair methods on this forum.

How original  ::)

That's what Bitcoin needs, another gambling site... But Ok, it's a free world :)



People who gamble is not a very good example of people who know how to manage risks :)

So you might get away with it. They will bet small amounts and lose them in hope of one big win, so there's not much trust involved.

I agree with this and indeed for gambling a site I think anonymous is not a big deal (people will only make small bets anyway).

Please don't spam the blockchain though. :)

It's not a "standard" gambling site, obviously i cant explain my full project and all i can say is that its physically hard to show that is "provably fair", its not a dice or a roulette.


As above, its not standard, its quite strange and also site users will be different from other bitcoin gambling sites.
How to explain?  :D

However, considering that is a site that could be put under "gambling sites" but its difficult to show that is "probably fair", i think i will show my identity.

Indeed i HATE blockchain spam, dont worry i wont do that   :)
Its only hard in my case to explain that is provably fair, but ill try, and if i cant i will show my identity!

If it's "fair" then it's not exactly gambling. Either you provide a valuable service or you tax ignorant and overly-optimistic people. Which one is it? :)

Well in my site users will bet against other users. Its not a "game against a machine" site in which i have to demonstrate that my code is provably fair.
My only job will be to monitor the progress of betting and block users who try to cheat other users with fake bet and so on.

So i cannot demonstrate that my site is provably fair, because i will fight against "cheater".
All i can do (and its just done) is to automatically refund money to fair users if i find a cheater. It quite difficult (you will see) but i NEED to protect my fair users.

Think about a poker site. How site owner can demonstrate that is provably fair? He can only watch to poker challenges and block cheater.
Any other idea? All suggestions are welcome  ;)

How are you gonna make money?

There is an house edge on each bet.

EDIT: for example an house edge of 98%  ;D  ;D  ;D (kidding)

Congratulations, you are doing classical gambling :)

I dont think so, you will see..however the problem is that till now i cannot demonstrate that is provably fair because i only create the "space" in which users bet. I dont care if a user win/lost thousand $ or cents...i only have to watch at the bets and eventually refund fair users.

So, i think ill show my identity

When the site is ready, will you test it with me? I will pm you  ;)

Find a Trusted partner from some other country, Run project on his details.

There is a third option which erases most of the cons of anonymity you listed.  Go anonymous in that your IRL is never divulged, but create a strong identity and presence with your forum handle.  Be active and have great customer service and do everything you can to reach out to your userbase and the community.  Be as transparent as you can possibly be with revealing yourself, use cryptographically "provable" techniques for your service whenever possible.  Help users verify things.

It may take longer, but you will gain trust and reputation and eventually have a flourishing service.

(At which point you can pull a Pirate and disappear with our monies, having pulled a very successful long con.)

Exactly :)

I wish more people would self-defeat their own arguments  ;D

This was one of my favourite solutions, but i realized that it not the same if i show my REAL identity.


+1
now on this forum i have a little more then 70 messages, so i will surely keep posting and "living" on this forum but till now i dont have a "strong forum" identity, and obviously i dont want to spam in order to obtain it  :D

regarding site support, it will be one of the most important focuses of my staff.

i know that when the site will be online and working, i will build my strong (real) identity by answering to all critics and support messages and by explaining my project here on this forum, but the only thing that will make user trust my site since opening is to show my identity

Using my real identity this will be hard to do, i think

You know what you can start doing to help improve your online identity? Capitalizing the 'i'.

It can be hard to maintain anonymity if you scam as well, Pirateat40 being Trendon Shavers is one example. The scam accusations board has many more...

oh, your advice is so generous  :-*


this confirm my point, real identity is the solution

Start anonymous, see how that goes.  Once you have something going, you can always reveal yourself.

Find a way to make the gambling provably fair for your users. Without this it will get difficult, no matter if you as the operator are anonymous or not. IF the site operates provably fair there is no need for you to be public. Math is always better than a pseudo-public identity which could still be a carefully laid out fake.

Well, there's been people who have sullied their real names to scam as well,  but many of the scammers operating under their real names simply overpromised and failed in the face of reality.

What you really need to do as you build your site infrastructure is build a reputation for competence and honesty. Trade frequently whether you do it under a real or assumed name. Do join the WOT. Maybe test the registration and login process with a couple other names first so you don't register a key only to find you can't log in.

You can bit coin with a real name or pseudonymously (like anonymous, but some people retain your powerword), but don't assume any screen name can be completely separated from meatspace.

You are already not anonymous.

You are Nicolò Maria Lazzarin of Montemarciano, Italy. I'll refrain from calling you to demonstrate my point.

Anonymity on the Internet is a myth. Trying to hide your details will only flag you as a proto scammer. It will protect you from nothing.

 :D  :D  :D
And..? I'm just informing with my official account of this forum  ;)
I know a lot of users that do not use their official accounts when they talk about their projects  ;D

if I decide to start the project anonymously, of course I will not use this account, my ip, my computer, my phone, my email, my site, etc etc ...and you'll only have an italian user that has placed his problems, and a LOT of new bitcoin-related projects each day, which one you will choose? but this question does not exist at all: I decided that I will use my real identity, so...

...when my project will start, I'll continue to use THIS account on the forum  :D

Do not get me wrong: I was only trying to find a compromise between "became a target of my government" and "make sure that users will trust me", but I've just learned that there is no compromise: I love my project and people will know my name (I mean even people who do not play spy  :D)