Bitcoin anonymity is more fragile than many believe, according to a research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
As a decentralised cryptocurrency , which means transactions are encrypted and there is no central authority or issuer like a bank, Bitcoin is favoured by the politically oppressed, the criminal underworld and technophiles suspicious of traditional banks.
But the evolution of blockchain analysis – the piecing together of transaction details to reveal details of otherwise obscured transactions – and regulatory changes sought by numerous governments could expose the identity of users of the peer-to-peer digital currency, says Vijay Michalik, research analyst for digital transformation at Frost & Sullivan.
Lw enforcement can deploy blockchain analysis, which collects metadata, incidental information linked to transactions and IP addresses and establishes common connections, to identify and blacklist criminals.
Seeking to undermine the financial activities of terrorists and criminal gangs many governments are seeking to ban end-to-end encryption, which is also used in popular consumer software like WhatsApp or Apple’s iMessage.
http://www.ifsecglobal.com/bitcoin-anonymity-myth-says-analyst-governments-seek-ban-end-end-encryption/
