Bitcoin Forum

I was thinking, if you buy your BTC at Coinbase and then transfer them wherever, anyone with access to Coinbase's records will be able to track your BTC and tie them to you.  Is that right?

Bitcoin is not anonymous

Access to any exchange would allow you to track the coins, this isn't something specific about coinbase. Some methods of exchange may be slightly closer to being anonymous, but none are completely anonymous. If you really want to get coins in a way that can't be tracked, then solo mine so that no one has any info on you.

or try gate.bitcoinfog.com

If you then move to another address of yours, nobody without records of your addresses can be sure they are still yours.

Right. Bitcoins are not anonymous.

bitcoins which are coming through mining just anonymous and which are coming through companies not its very usual stuff nothing special in this  :)

They have a high degree of "anonymity" but not complete. If you Pay BTC's from any source you can be linked to that BTC and I presume you are talking about the ID/Confirmation before bank deposit thingy,
the point is how deep are you linked? ,for example you bough BTC's from Coinbase and then bough silver with it and money was send to "ABC" ,Later "ABC" buys something illegal from "NBC" who buys cat food with it etc etc etc... making it nearly impossible to follow BTC and actually determine who did a specific thing with it considering wallets are not named and only direct exchangers who require ID's can link that ID with an Address but not the one after it etc...
also it think it worth mentioning that most gambling/wallet/exchanging/auction sites send the BTC's given/taken from different addresses to cover the amount for your address and payment.
Just my 2 μBTC  :)

So when the government looks at Coinbase's records, since Coinbase ties user accounts to bank accounts, the government knows how many coins each person has and how much they've appreciated?

Fixed.

As others have mentioned, it's possible to move bitcoins you've purchased from Coinbase in a way that is indistinguishable from spending them, so you can create plausible deniability with regards to still possessing them.

Sorry, I'm still new and I don't have the same grasp as most here.  How are BTC moved from Coinbase in a way that is indistinguishable from spending them?

Any centralized entity has this drawback. If you buy BTC on an exchange, yes, they have your IP logs, and yes, they if it came down to it, your coins could likely be tied to you. Then again, you could always mix them....

Mix them?

Yep. And Coinbase's connections to the banking world make it just a short skip and a jump to the rest of the domestic intel sector.

Yes, use a coin mixing service so that the coins you bought aren't the coins that are in your possession -- ie. the Coinbase coins that were tied to your IP/bank account are no longer the coins you hold. Then you just need to come up with a story re what ever happened to those coins, should it come up. Like, when the tax man comes knockin.  :)

An exchange knows who you are, but how do they know if the address you're withdrawing your coins to is your's?

Legally you are allowed only to withdraw to your addresses, AFAIK.

You say legally, but you must mean according to the Coinbase terms of service, right?  Or is there actually a law dictating this?

BTC really isn't as anonymous as I thought.  I don't think many people will want to send BTC to a third party (myself included).  It sounds like the government will be collecting a lot of taxes from BTC appreciation.  Are people already paying taxes on this?

I guess there's a law, otherwise why should exchanges care about were you transfer your money?

They can't tell how many you spent. You only have to pay taxes when you cash them out. I would guess.

If I cash out some Bitcoins on Coinbase.  I will add up all the money spent on Bitcoins and the amount of  Bitcoins I have ever bought. Figure out the average cost of my Bitcoins. Then subtract that from the amount of each Bitcoin sold. To get the appreciation rate.

Then if it is determined that I have to pay off the mafia government. I will do it (at gun point of course) to keep them from trying to steal my stuff.

thing is they can follow the coins, but can they tie it to fiat conversion? isn't that what matters?

Oh I see, it must be a money laundering thing.

Can't they tell how many are associated with your address and thereby how many you've spent?

I'm wondering about this too.  In the US, you have to pay tax on appreciated stocks even if you don't sell them.  On the other hand, you don't have to pay tax on appreciated real estate until you sell it.  What about BTC?

Assuming taxes aren't due before they're sold (as with stocks) I think this is the best option too.  It's just not worth it otherwise.

Which company that you trust with your BTC and fiat are you confident is not infiltrated by the US government now and will not be in the future?

With stocks and bonds you only pay taxes on the yearly dividends before you cash them out. Bitcoin doesn't have dividends and more closely matches a currency. And since it isn't backed by anyone it isn't the same as a foreign currency. 

I'm not sure about bonds, but with stocks (in the US) you have to pay tax when they appreciate even if you don't sell them.

Nope. Only the dividends. It isn't appreciation it is the  dividends you pay tax on every year.  And I'm positive because I own stocks and bonds. If you sell the stocks-bonds you generate a capital gain or loss from appreciation or depreciation. .  

You're right.  I don't know why I had that wrong.