Is it really Bitcoin Anonymous?

[squatter]

Without using any of the tools to obscure internet activity, how are you going to track me in the following situation.

Set up a node using public WiFi, and a copy of the blockchain I've already downloaded.
Receive Bitcoin into that wallet.
Use the Bitcoin to purchase gold coins.
Wipe the hard drive on the computer with the core node.

Let's start with the lowest hanging fruit. Where did you acquire the BTC and gold from? I assume the coins didn't magically appear in your wallet. If you bought the coins from an exchange or ATM, you probably had to give up your identity, or at least some identifying details -- phone number, etc. which can be used to track you down. Even in a pseudonymous P2P cash transaction, you are still usually connecting through a centralized service (e.g. Localbitcoins) who knows certain things about you. And meeting in a public place to exchange cash for coins could potentially expose your identity as well. On the other side, you need to transact with the gold dealer. Many gold dealers require ID even below the $10,000 reporting threshold.

There are other more paranoid considerations. You didn't obfuscate IP address. Where are you -- an internet cafe? The transaction is linked to that specific time in that specific internet cafe. Are there cameras? How many potential witnesses?

[doolittle]

no point in talking about going anonymous
look what the OP did

Name:    doolittle
Posts:    321
Activity:    321
Merit:    100
Position:    Full Member
Date Registered:    July 17, 2012, 10:08:27 PM
Last Active:    Today at 09:00:40 AM
Bitcoin address:    166QzXhNF7NySB9DuVFWHpUoH4Unjws6hY

no point asking a network to be anonymous if your literally linking your address to things that can reveal things about you.

which. even knowing the problem.. seems people dont listen and think its expensive....

People Framing themselves and lose their anonymity. They publish his bitcoin wallets on all Internet platforms (Bitcointalk, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, etc) [/i]

It turns out that thanks to our mistakes, we deprive ourselves of the most priority feature in bitcoin - anonymity.

But how to be ordinary users who do not want to show their income from cryptocurrency and transactions on them. How to be in this situation? is there a way?

It's a crude way of anonymity: the "obfuscation" method. To do this, a lot of transactions are made, the purpose of which is to untie a person from a specific address. However, in bitcoin it is very expensive, if at all possible,

(facepalm)

Beautiful)))) I was waiting until someone noticed it and told me personally! I'm glad you did that!!!

In fact, when I wrote this post, I thought about it that I have a bitcoin wallet listed on the my page. But I did install it long ago, for safety. There is a thread on the forum, in which the old-timers (moderators or administrators) wrote that would restore your account, in case of hacking, thanks to the bitcoin wallet.

Wallet installed this is only for this purpose. And if you note that I have not used this wallet for a long time.

[pooya87]

I think we should have know this already? The US based authorities even have announced that BTC related criminal activities went down as for the reason it is easily tracked and they are using other anonymity based cryptocurrencies like Monero (XMR). Our transactions are always linked to our BTC addressed and once they know who owns that btc address all of our in going and out going transactions will be monitored and will be linked back to us. BTC being anonymous now seems to be impossible as majority of the countries now are requiring some kind of KYC for their citizens.

i am afraid cash is still the most anonymous currency that you can use to stay really anonymous. even the anonymous coins such as Monero are not safe enough to keep your identity secure, specially in case of the criminals who are trying to hide themselves. for instance recently there was some bug in Monero that made it traceable!

[BigBos]

I think we should have know this already? The US based authorities even have announced that BTC related criminal activities went down as for the reason it is easily tracked and they are using other anonymity based cryptocurrencies like Monero (XMR). Our transactions are always linked to our BTC addressed and once they know who owns that btc address all of our in going and out going transactions will be monitored and will be linked back to us. BTC being anonymous now seems to be impossible as majority of the countries now are requiring some kind of KYC for their citizens.

i am afraid cash is still the most anonymous currency that you can use to stay really anonymous. even the anonymous coins such as Monero are not safe enough to keep your identity secure, specially in case of the criminals who are trying to hide themselves. for instance recently there was some bug in Monero that made it traceable!

I think no one is truly anonymous in making official transactions. well, if your transaction really follows the path, maybe your identity will open. well, for now, I think bitcoin users don't do it anonymously anymore. yeah, so, right now, bitcoin isn't really anonymous.

[Kakmakr]

All of this is only possible if you re-use the same Bitcoin Address for all the things you do. I always try to use separate Bitcoin addresses for different purposes and I never link these Bitcoin addresses together by transferring funds between them. If I have to transfer money between addresses, then I use mixer services to hide my tracks.

If you do not do it in this way, all addresses will be linked together and you will have virtually no anonymity at all.    Feel free to use the mixer service in my signature, because they are very good.   <chipmixer.com>

[taiwww]

I like the diagram that has plotted here, very smooth and clear presentation of from where to where.

But, lets think about it one more time. I only see some big names, single person (satoshi), entities, service providers and networks in the diagram but I dont see name of rest of the million users in it. There might be big data mapping that can be done with this but its not repenting the personal information of someone at all. For example, I dont see my name or I cant read myself anywhere in that mapping. Now thats what we call as anonymous nature of crypto. Even if the addresses can be linked or seen then also everything remains the same because there is personal name attachment to them and thus by any way it remains pseudo-anonymous.

[panukurap]

bitcoin is not completely anonymous, many people think bitcoin is anonymous but actually not completely anonymous,
because every bitcoin transaction is monitored or checked.

[Helex]

Its literally anonymous unless you link your bitcoin address with your identity.

Blockchain's main motto is visible transactions. If someone wants true anonymity they can turn towards monero like privacy coins.

[rosemary4u]

In one sense, bitcoin is really invisible when you want to identify the name or identity of the owner of a particular bitcoin wallet address. On the other hand, the anonymity of bitcoin is debatable since almost all transactions on the blockchain network can easily be tracked or monitored.

[cxmyifan16]

I think that it is impossible to guarantee that btc will be anonymous for long because government will do everything not to allow this. I think that it will be possible to enjoy confidentiality not for years but now i am sure that it is the only coin with such benefit

[ratatat bangbang]

For me yes, bitcoin is anonymous because we cannot exactly tell who the people behind each account. It needs to undergo many process before knowing the I.p address, account name and others which is very hassle and time consuming.

[bloodyvio]

as long as you don't tell your bitcoin address then you are anonymous
even though anyone can make a deep analysis and identify who owns it
but still it's just guessing
as long as you don't confess that it is your bitcoin wallet then you remain anonymous
so bitcoin isn't designed anonymously

[shursight]

Bitcoin is only anonymous if you know HOW to be anonymous, and it all depends on you and how do you manage your funds.

There are several ways, and several tools, but you only need to know how to protect yourself from the internet and all the things that you do.

It is all upto the user, just like in any other thing of this life

[FlightyPouch]

Bitcoin and altcoin are not anonymous as people still think, if you get or sell bitcoin and altcoin on Exchange with KYC, they can track you

What? That is not the purpose of KYC. KYC(Know your Customer) is not for tracking he user who made the transactions but for the proof or an information they can show into a site or a project that they are real. Bitcoin is not that anonymous since you can track your information in a site, altcoins are the same but there are new crypto currencies that is fully anonymous making it a great currencies to be used on some crimes or illegal transactions.

[bitfocus]

if you think that way, nothing in the world is now anonymous - but Bitcoin is kind of anonymous as it's really hard to link between you and your address/addresses.

[Micerker]

Bitcoin is really anonymous, but this is anonymous in the deal. In fact, each address stores the transaction, but through the address, you know how the transaction takes place, you can not tell who made the transaction. Incognito here is the stigma in getting current transactions and possessions.