New here - few questions about purchasing Bitcoin

[aquafina2016]

Dear Members,

I am new here and I have a few questions about purchasing Bitcoin:

1) If I purchase Bitcoin and then use the Bitcoin to buy something online, can the person I bought from trace me? Meaning can they find out my identity and physical location?

If so, how to avoid this?

2) If I purchase bitcoin with cash, how does the person I buy the Bitcoin from, send me the Bitcoin?

I understand how it works online, you just enter your Bitcoin wallet address on the website you are buying Bitcoin from.

But in person, how do you give someone your Bitcoin wallet address? You can’t write it down on a piece of paper, because it is too long of a code.

If I email them my Bitcoin wallet address, then I am no longer anonymous.

3) About Bitcoin wallets: I started using Blockchain wallet yesterday. Seems pretty nice and professional. But then I read that I should use the anonymous TorWallet. Now I am confused. Which to use?

Thank you so much, sorry for the basic nature of my questions. I just started with Bitcoin yesterday.

A.

[pearl11]

Dear Members,

I am new here and I have a few questions about purchasing Bitcoin:

1) If I purchase Bitcoin and then use the Bitcoin to buy something online, can the person I bought from trace me? Meaning can they find out my identity and physical location?

If so, how to avoid this?

2) If I purchase bitcoin with cash, how does the person I buy the Bitcoin from, send me the Bitcoin?

I understand how it works online, you just enter your Bitcoin wallet address on the website you are buying Bitcoin from.

But in person, how do you give someone your Bitcoin wallet address? You can’t write it down on a piece of paper, because it is too long of a code.

If I email them my Bitcoin wallet address, then I am no longer anonymous.

3) About Bitcoin wallets: I started using Blockchain wallet yesterday. Seems pretty nice and professional. But then I read that I should use the anonymous TorWallet. Now I am confused. Which to use?

Thank you so much, sorry for the basic nature of my questions. I just started with Bitcoin yesterday.

A.

Bitcoin= anymous
No one can trace you but they can report your wallet adress to make it blocked
And unless if you give your details to the person whom you deal with.

[pedrog]

1) He cannot, unless you give your identity or he is able to get it from someone you gave it to.

The best thing to do is to lose your coins trace in the blockchain, you can 'mix' the coins or just send them to some place that has a hot wallet, like a casino, an exchange, a wallet like Coinbase or Xapo.

2) An email address is as anonymous as a bitcoin address.

You can also make a QR code with your address and seller just scan it and send you the coins.

3) You probably don't need that kind of anonymity, but you can use Blockchain.info through TOR:

https://blockchain.info/wallet/anonymity


Never use shady services, you'll lose your coins.

[JohnnyBrown]

Theres no way that you other people can trace you unless theres an identity or you show to them your location or any personal details.

[fllipperr]

you can purchase bitcoin without having any personal dertails attach .. you will remain anonymous still.

[maltize]

maybe they will knew you but not all  your personal  details    its on you if you keep your details private or not.

[DannyHamilton]

Step 1: Ignore all the advice you've received on this thread so far.  It appears to just be a bunch of people making shit up and stating it as if they know what they're talking about.

Step 2: Understand that "anonymity" isn't like a light switch.  It's not something that you "have" or "don't have".  Anonymity, like security, is a matter of putting in to practice various processes until you feel that you have as much anonymity as you need for your purposes.

Step 3: Learn what things leak information about you, and how much of that information you are comfortable leaking.

Step 4: Decide who you are trying to hide from.  The processes needed to hide from a parent, child, or relative, is different than the processes needed to hide from a neighbor, which is different than the process needed to hide from a private detective, which is different than the process needed to hide from a police force, which is different than the process needed to hide from a government security agency.  A lot of the difference has to do with the amount that those entities will be willing to spend and the resources they have available to them.

Step 5: Put into practice the processes that you have decided will provide you with the level of anonymity that you feel comfortable with.

[owm123]

Bitcoin= anymous
No one can trace you but they can report your wallet adress to make it blocked
And unless if you give your details to the person whom you deal with.

Nope its not: http://www.bitcoinisnotanonymous.com/

[odolvlobo]

1. It is not clear which seller you are talking about. The bitcoin seller can potentially identify you because you have to give them money somehow. The goods seller can potentially identify you because they have to get the goods to you somehow.

2. If you have a wallet on your phone or other mobile device, the seller can usually scan a QR code containing an address. They send the bitcoins to that address from the wallet on their phone. If you email them a bitcoin address, then you can potentially be identified because they have your email address.

3. Blockchain.info is an adequate online wallet. Its primary vulnerabilities are phishing and keyloggers. As DannyHamilton wrote, your level of anonymity depends on how much effort you put into be anonymous. Don't store you bitcoins on a Tor site. It is likely to be a scam.

[pooya87]

Dear Members,
I am new here and I have a few questions about purchasing Bitcoin:
1) If I purchase Bitcoin and then use the Bitcoin to buy something online, can the person I bought from trace me? Meaning can they find out my identity and physical location?

it is possible to find your IP address if you are the one who is broadcasting the transaction to network with your full node. check out a transaction on blockchain.info to see what i mean (although it is not 100%)

also if the bitcoin address is somehow linked to you personally you can do some research and for example by using something like walletexplorer.com you can find other btc addresses and eventually with some searching find you. but it depends on how much information you have available out there.
for example if you search my bitcoin address in google you find my bitcointalk account here. and if i have an address here you get the link to me.

If so, how to avoid this?
2) If I purchase bitcoin with cash, how does the person I buy the Bitcoin from, send me the Bitcoin?
I understand how it works online, you just enter your Bitcoin wallet address on the website you are buying Bitcoin from.
But in person, how do you give someone your Bitcoin wallet address? You can’t write it down on a piece of paper, because it is too long of a code.
If I email them my Bitcoin wallet address, then I am no longer anonymous.

using email doesn't mean no anonymity, don't use gmail use another email provider that respects your privacy.
besides you can use QR code if you want to do the trade face to face.
QR code is a picture with some dots on it which you can scan with your mobile phone and it will be translated to something, in this case a bitcoin address.

3) About Bitcoin wallets: I started using Blockchain wallet yesterday. Seems pretty nice and professional. But then I read that I should use the anonymous TorWallet. Now I am confused. Which to use?
Thank you so much, sorry for the basic nature of my questions. I just started with Bitcoin yesterday.
A.

i have no idea what a TorWallet is (have never heard if it) and i suggest you stay away from things like this.

also i suggest you to do what i did:
- google TorWallet
- read the results
- haha, what do you know, they have an scam accusation here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=112327.0
- also https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=87387.0

[xht]

Dear Members,

I am new here and I have a few questions about purchasing Bitcoin:

1) If I purchase Bitcoin and then use the Bitcoin to buy something online, can the person I bought from trace me? Meaning can they find out my identity and physical location?

If so, how to avoid this?

2) If I purchase bitcoin with cash, how does the person I buy the Bitcoin from, send me the Bitcoin?

I understand how it works online, you just enter your Bitcoin wallet address on the website you are buying Bitcoin from.

But in person, how do you give someone your Bitcoin wallet address? You can’t write it down on a piece of paper, because it is too long of a code.

If I email them my Bitcoin wallet address, then I am no longer anonymous.

3) About Bitcoin wallets: I started using Blockchain wallet yesterday. Seems pretty nice and professional. But then I read that I should use the anonymous TorWallet. Now I am confused. Which to use?

Thank you so much, sorry for the basic nature of my questions. I just started with Bitcoin yesterday.

A.

1. they can tracked you transaction id but not your indentity
2. could be better if you buy in the exchange have reliable and if you still want to buy bitcoin from one of the members of this forum. My suggestion to use an escrow service