gold/silver far better than bitcoin? I hope you can prove me wrong.

[lorax2013]

OK I'm just a noob and I really do hope bitcoin is the next big thing.  But from my extremely limited knowledge, bitcoin seems to have a serious problem compared to gold/silver.

Anyone can buy/sell up to $10,000 in gold/silver with TOTAL anonymity.  You just walk into any coinshop and hand over cash.  Heck you can even buy from online precious metal dealers with anonymous money orders.  Your total commission on a purchase is as low as 2 or 3% with gold. 

Now with bitcoin, I don't see any clear anonymous method in the USA.  Please don't tell me to buy from some guy off the street - you can do that with gold too but nobody does because it is unsafe and inconvenient.   So please tell me, is there any ANONYMOUS way to buy and sell bitcoins with commissions of say 2% or less - or even under 5%???   

If not, then it would seem to me bitcoin has the same basic flaw that allowed the government (banks) to kill egold and the other early online currencies.  The govt will at some point start requiring that capital gains be tracked and taxed, and when that can't be done (as it couldn't be done for egold), then the all the traceable deposits into your NON-anonymous accounts at the bank, dwolla, etc will be setting you up for a tax audit at the least. 

So please tell me that there actually is an anonymous way to buy and/or sell bitcoins.

[Vuxil]

The way I did it was mine myself some a bit first, transfer the BTC directly into MGTox, sell it for USD, buy BTC back when the opportunity arose, and repeat. I'm up to $294 now using this method on MTGox, though I won't be buying for a while now that the price spiked

[Severian]

How do I send gold through the internet?

[AnonyMint]

The way I did it was mine myself some a bit first, transfer the BTC directly into MGTox, sell it for USD, buy BTC back when the opportunity arose, and repeat. I'm up to $294 now using this method on MTGox, though I won't be buying for a while now that the price spiked

What makes you think you are anonymous?

The governments are going to access all the records and come after you for capital gains taxes you did not report and pay.

When ever you FX to any currency, you are now required to report to FinCEN or your exchanger must keep records of your identity.

If you are in a jurisdiction where this does not apply (Europe?), your tax man will be coming... don't worry...

The Proof-of-Work in Bitcoin favors large investors in terms of obtaining coins from mining. I have a better design that would let all regular users mine more coins (you need a terabyte hard disk only). But this is not implemented.

Bitcoin : The Digital Kill Switch

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=160612.0

[Muhs]

I like using localbitcoins.com and arranging to meet at a safe place like inside a bank.

[AnonyMint]

I like using localbitcoins.com and arranging to meet at a safe place like inside a bank.

Illegal?

FinCEN compliance?

[Stephen Gornick]

Anyone can buy/sell up to $10,000 in gold/silver with TOTAL anonymity.  You just walk into any coinshop and hand over cash.

Ok and 24 hours later my friend walks into that same coinshop with the same "$10,000 in gold/silver" that I just bought.  What will the coinship give him (other than a hard time)?

[po1992one]

I dont buy Gold/Silver because I have no way to confirm what Im really buying, you really have to trust the seller. As I undersand density measure doesnt help because Gold and Wolfram are very similar, so how are you sure what you buying guys? With Bitcoins it is much easier, you dont need to trust anyone to be sure you really have 1 BTC

[AnonyMint]

Buy gold and silver shot, little tinny BBs, very costly to make it filled.

AMEX sells it in USA. Small refiners sell it every where in world.

But it is harder to sell.

Coins are easy to sell and you can discern if they are fakes usually very easily. Have a good one for comparison, then hit them with a spoon and listen to sound.

[lorax2013]

Anyone can buy/sell up to $10,000 in gold/silver with TOTAL anonymity.  You just walk into any coinshop and hand over cash.

Ok and 24 hours later my friend walks into that same coinshop with the same "$10,000 in gold/silver" that I just bought.  What will the coinship give him (other than a hard time)?

The coin shop will give your friend (or you) $9,800.  Happens every day - no ID required.  But if you're really worried, just go to a different coinshop.

[AnonyMint]

Anyone can buy/sell up to $10,000 in gold/silver with TOTAL anonymity.  You just walk into any coinshop and hand over cash.

Ok and 24 hours later my friend walks into that same coinshop with the same "$10,000 in gold/silver" that I just bought.  What will the coinship give him (other than a hard time)?

The coin shop will give your friend (or you) $9,800.  Happens every day - no ID required.  But if you're really worried, just go to a different coinshop.

And buy a wig and sunglasses. I look 27 years old with this hippie wig I bought. (I am 48) it is fun, feels more exciting.

[lorax2013]

How do I send gold through the internet?

I agree, if you want to just buy and sell through a (supposedly) untraceable market like Silk Road, then bitcoin seems to work great.  However at some point most people need to take those bitcoins and turn them into cash to interact with the rest of the world.  Also, you need to obtain bitcoins in the first place and many of us have no interest in mining or selling on Silk Road to obtain bitcoins anonymously.  

One solution I can think of is Silk Road sellers actually mailing you cash for you bitcoins and vice versa (cash can be sent insured through US mail up to $25,000).  However, that would perhaps incur as much risk and commissions as buying from some sketchy individual in person.