Can we find Bitcoin wallet?

[Wapinter]

Can we find out which online wallet a particular bitcoin address belongs to?I keep my coins at blockchain.info and some coins at Zebpay,Is it possible for someone to identify which address belongs to which of above wallet or any wallet?

[teddy5145]

Well if you post your address blatantly on the internet
Yes, it's possible to link it to your ID to your wallet
Like my address that is listed on my profile
By seeing my address, everyone knows that I'm the owner to that address
And if i somehow being a scammer and posted it with my address then everyone would know that i was the scammer
That's why Wallet like Xapo uses Many Address for their user's transactions
To keep them hidden

Correct me if im wrong

[Lauda]

You're asking a difficult question that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. Bitcoin is a publicly stored ledger; this means that all the transactions are traceable (a lot of people seem to forget this when they say that Bitcoin is truly anonymous; which it isn't). Now if you're asking whether somebody can determine if address X belongs to service Y, the answer is likely yes. Can somebody determine that the answer is owned by you (identity)? It's possible, but much harder. However, every-time your address directly or indirectly interacts with services on which you're registered on, you leave a bread crumb (a trail). For example, if you are registered somewhere with personal details (ID and such), that service most likely knows a lot of your other addresses (expert users could avoid this or at least make it much more difficult).

[Wapinter]

You're asking a difficult question that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. Bitcoin is a publicly stored ledger; this means that all the transactions are traceable (a lot of people seem to forget this when they say that Bitcoin is truly anonymous; which it isn't). Now if you're asking whether somebody can determine if address X belongs to service Y, the answer is likely yes. Can somebody determine that the answer is owned by you? Well that becomes harder, however every-time your address directly or indirectly interacts with services that you're registered on you leave a bread crumb as a trail. For example, if you are registered somewhere with personal details (ID and such), that service most likely knows a lot of your other addresses (expert users avoid this or at least make it much difficult).

If my btc address can be traced to the wallet it belongs to i.e blockchain,xapo etc,I can also be traced because most of these services require some kind of other traceable info at the time of sign up

[Lauda]

If my btc address can be traced to the wallet it belongs to i.e blockchain,xapo etc,I can also be traced because most of these services require some kind of other traceable info

Nobody is forcing you to use web wallets. Actually it is not recommended to use one. However, keep in mind that those services hold onto your information and you are fine until something bad happens (e.g. hack). If you want more privacy/anonymity you need to use a desktop client (e.g. Electrum). If you want the full experience then you use Bitcoin Core (keep in mind that you have to store the whole blockchain).

[ATguy]

Can we find out which online wallet a particular bitcoin address belongs to?I keep my coins at blockchain.info and some coins at Zebpay,Is it possible for someone to identify which address belongs to which of above wallet or any wallet?

When you send Bitcoins from blockchain.info wallet you should see on the public records of the address on blockchain.info, under transaction which sending Bitcoins from that address (red amount) first seen from IP address as blockchain.info, while when you send Bitcoins from Zebpay it should be random IP address.

But if you just received Bitcoins and never spend, you cant say it is blockchain.info wallet address

[shorena]

Can we find out which online wallet a particular bitcoin address belongs to?I keep my coins at blockchain.info and some coins at Zebpay,Is it possible for someone to identify which address belongs to which of above wallet or any wallet?

When you send Bitcoins from blockchain.info wallet you should see on the public records of the address on blockchain.info, under transaction which sending Bitcoins from that address (red amount) first seen from IP address as blockchain.info, while when you send Bitcoins from Zebpay it should be random IP address.

But if you just received Bitcoins and never spend, you cant say it is blockchain.info wallet address

While that is true for blockchain.info payments I could create a TX and broadcast it via blockchain.info. It would show the same info you described. There are many ways to find things out, but there also ways to obfuscate the information available.

[eternalgloom]

You're asking a difficult question that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. Bitcoin is a publicly stored ledger; this means that all the transactions are traceable (a lot of people seem to forget this when they say that Bitcoin is truly anonymous; which it isn't). Now if you're asking whether somebody can determine if address X belongs to service Y, the answer is likely yes. Can somebody determine that the answer is owned by you (identity)? It's possible, but much harder. However, every-time your address directly or indirectly interacts with services on which you're registered on, you leave a bread crumb (a trail). For example, if you are registered somewhere with personal details (ID and such), that service most likely knows a lot of your other addresses (expert users could avoid this or at least make it much more difficult).

Is the IP address of the person sending a transaction publicly visible? I've noticed there are some ip addresses attached to transactions, but figured they must be from node or pool.

[Pk880058]

You're asking a difficult question that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. Bitcoin is a publicly stored ledger; this means that all the transactions are traceable (a lot of people seem to forget this when they say that Bitcoin is truly anonymous; which it isn't). Now if you're asking whether somebody can determine if address X belongs to service Y, the answer is likely yes. Can somebody determine that the answer is owned by you (identity)? It's possible, but much harder. However, every-time your address directly or indirectly interacts with services on which you're registered on, you leave a bread crumb (a trail). For example, if you are registered somewhere with personal details (ID and such), that service most likely knows a lot of your other addresses (expert users could avoid this or at least make it much more difficult).

Is the IP address of the person sending a transaction publicly visible? I've noticed there are some ip addresses atached to transactions, but figured they must be from node or pool.

I think as per my knowledge IP address are publicly not visible if a person is sending that will be through the wallet address and wallet dont disclose the IP address. If i am wrong correct me.

[Lauda]

Is the IP address of the person sending a transaction publicly visible?

No.

I've noticed there are some ip addresses atached to transactions, but figured they must be from node or pool.

That's the IP address of the node that relayed the transaction. It even says on Blockchain.info:"It does not necessarily mean the IP address is the source of the transaction.".

With some effort, people/company/government can find out which IP relay that transaction.
But, since sender and many nodes broadcast transaction to bitcoin network, it's difficult to track specific person.

With a lot of effort. What if you were connected to some public Wifi and sent your transaction from there (or used TOR or VPN)? This information can be useless.

[SebastianJu]

As long as you don't do something illegal you should be fine. If you get sued and used an address from an online wallet or exchange then it is likely that everyone can connect the dots and find out that this address belongs to that online wallet. He then you sue you and the police might ask the online wallet owners to provider your details.

But surely you don't want to do illegal things right? 

[amacar2]

I don't think this could be done because those wallet doesn't have any specific vanity inside the address they generate for you. But if you stake your address somewhere in internet than someone can link those address to your name. If you don't post your address anywhere you are good with your privacy. 

[SebastianJu]

I don't think this could be done because those wallet doesn't have any specific vanity inside the address they generate for you. But if you stake your address somewhere in internet than someone can link those address to your name. If you don't post your address anywhere you are good with your privacy. 

At least website bitcoin addresses can be connected to that websites wallet as long as the website is using a shared wallet. So you have deposit addresses but the addresses you pay from are addresses you can't chose.

I'm not sure how it is done on zebpay.

[Wapinter]

If my btc address can be traced to the wallet it belongs to i.e blockchain,xapo etc,I can also be traced because most of these services require some kind of other traceable info

Nobody is forcing you to use web wallets. Actually it is not recommended to use one. However, keep in mind that those services hold onto your information and you are fine until something bad happens (e.g. hack). If you want more privacy/anonymity you need to use a desktop client (e.g. Electrum). If you want the full experience then you use Bitcoin Core (keep in mind that you have to store the whole blockchain).

Wouldn't a desktop client makes it more vulnerable to be traced since finding an ip of a device i.e pc would be much easier?

[Lauda]

Wouldn't a desktop client makes it more vulnerable to be traced since finding an ip of a device i.e pc would be much easier?

No, this doesn't make sense. Exactly how do you plan to get the IP address? Even if you did that how would you connect the IP address to a person? What if they were on a public Wi-fi, or using TOR or a VPN?

[shorena]

Wouldn't a desktop client makes it more vulnerable to be traced since finding an ip of a device i.e pc would be much easier?

No, this doesn't make sense. Exactly how do you plan to get the IP address? Even if you did that how would you connect the IP address to a person? What if they were on a public Wi-fi, or using TOR or a VPN?

Depends on the client, an electrum server would have your IP as its your only connection.

[Lauda]

Depends on the client, an electrum server would have your IP as its your only connection.

My question was in the form of:"How would user X get the IP address of someones transaction?", in the case where user X is not the owner of such a server (for example). It is definitely not "much easier".
Update: Exactly. This confirms that the statement of the user is false.

[shorena]

Depends on the client, an electrum server would have your IP as its your only connection.

My question was in the form of:"How would user X get the IP address of someones transaction?", in the case where user X is not the owner of such a server (for example). It is definitely not "much easier".

Certainly not. If you are just anyone that has a TX ID chances are you will never find the IP of the person that created it. It was more a remark in terms of "desktop wallets are not always more secure".

[Randian Hero]

Can we find out which online wallet a particular bitcoin address belongs to?I keep my coins at blockchain.info and some coins at Zebpay,Is it possible for someone to identify which address belongs to which of above wallet or any wallet?

It depends, wallets can leave some footprints. Default behaviour of your blockchain.info wallet is that change is sent back to the same address you sent from. Your other wallet I don't know. Default satoshi client behaviour is to always create a new change address. If I knew you used Satoshi client and blockchain.info wallets  and had the to ids I could probably tell which one you sent from.

[Wapinter]

As long as you don't do something illegal you should be fine. If you get sued and used an address from an online wallet or exchange then it is likely that everyone can connect the dots and find out that this address belongs to that online wallet. He then you sue you and the police might ask the online wallet owners to provider your details.

But surely you don't want to do illegal things right? 

Its not about me.I keep reading here and there every now and then that bitcoin is being increasingly used in illegal activities.I think the only usrs criminals prefer bitcoin is that it cannot be traced and receiver csn cash It out easily any time anywhere.That makes me wonder if there is a way to catch the culprit in such cases.