How important in anonymity in Bitcoin transaction for the users?

[silzero]

One of the issues that widespread use of Bitcoin is the irrevocability of the transaction. This itself is a good feature. But in absence of trust, this is feature is an additional hurdle. I'm trying to see if anonymity were to lessened (more like how Amazon/Paypal validates users) would this be a deal breaker for Bitcoin?

Now that mainstream population is aware of Bitcoin, this might be a chance for Bitcoin to become more mainstream.

Thanks,
-SZ

[1714006881]

1714006881

[1714006881]

1714006881

[1714006881]

1714006881

[mai77]

you are  starting a FUD campaign ?  

[silzero]

you are  starting a FUD campaign ?  

No. This is to try to clear the FUD that's being pumped by mainstream media.

[Akka]

Anonymity not necessarily.

But Privacy. IMO People have a right to engage in private Transactions and it's a necessity for a non repressive society to function.

And that's a function Bitcoin has. Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous, they are pseudonymous. As soon as a person can be linked to an address all transaction this person has ever made with this address are known and they are stored in the Blockchain for eternity.

Imagine a criminal using Bitcoin to launder his money. When his PC is seized for example an his addresses are now known than the authorities have a perfect record of all transactions he has ever made.

[silzero]

@Akka: Nice points. Privacy a viewpoint I had not come across before (I'm still new and learning)

Thanks.

[lassdas]

I'll liquidate all Bitcoins if this feature were removed

Anonymity is not a feature of Bitcoin, so how could it be removed?

If you don't like to deal with anonymous users, just don't.
What currency, or payment system you use doesn't really matter.

[Elwar]

In some ways, Bitcoin is less anonymous than the dollar.

All of your transactions are right there for the world to see.

And you mention Amazon, PayPal, etc. for the non-anonymity of the dollar.

I see your third party services and return with BitMit, bitcoin-otc, bitcointalk.

You can look at the address in my signature and see exactly where I have received and spent bitcoins. Can you do that with your dollars?

[silzero]

In some ways, Bitcoin is less anonymous than the dollar.

All of your transactions are right there for the world to see.

And you mention Amazon, PayPal, etc. for the non-anonymity of the dollar.

I see your third party services and return with BitMit, bitcoin-otc, bitcointalk.

You can look at the address in my signature and see exactly where I have received and spent bitcoins. Can you do that with your dollars?

Valid points... My poll question is do you care if someone sees the transaction invloved Elwar? In this poll, I'm just trying to get a sense of what people care about in Bitcoin transactions.

[NikolaTesla]

The inherent privacy (and allowance for anonymity) is what makes Bitcoin what it is, IMO.

No way would I still use it if I thought spooks were monitoring everything I do.

[Beepbop]

Hate to break it to you, NikolaTesla, but every Bitcoin transaction is a public matter. All full scale clients are sent all transactions. The randomness of the addresses provide some obfuscation, but it doesn't take much forensic accounting to trace where money is flowing. If you want more privacy, you'd be better served by cash, or even an old fashioned bank or wire transfer.

[Elwar]

In some ways, Bitcoin is less anonymous than the dollar.

All of your transactions are right there for the world to see.

And you mention Amazon, PayPal, etc. for the non-anonymity of the dollar.

I see your third party services and return with BitMit, bitcoin-otc, bitcointalk.

You can look at the address in my signature and see exactly where I have received and spent bitcoins. Can you do that with your dollars?

Valid points... My poll question is do you care if someone sees the transaction invloved Elwar? In this poll, I'm just trying to get a sense of what people care about in Bitcoin transactions.

If I cared if someone saw my transactions I would just take steps to make them anonymous.

At the moment I do not care, just as must as I am willing to put my real name out on the Internet via facebook and other sites.

But if I wanted to have a private transaction (bitcoin cams or silk road etc.) I would want the ability to have some anonymity in those transactions and thus maybe buy bitcoins locally or run my coins through an anonymizing service or whichever.

Just as I would start creating fake names on the Internet or block access to my identity on various websites as that information starts to get used for darker purposes (ie. government/corporate/criminal tracking).

[mobile4ever]

One of the issues that widespread use of Bitcoin is the irrevocability of the transaction. This itself is a good feature. But in absence of trust, this is feature is an additional hurdle. I'm trying to see if anonymity were to lessened (more like how Amazon/Paypal validates users) would this be a deal breaker for Bitcoin?

Now that mainstream population is aware of Bitcoin, this might be a chance for Bitcoin to become more mainstream.

Thanks,
-SZ

I think it should match other forms of money, but also be able to be tracked if a person wants their transaction history public. In other words, users can make their own choices.

[NikolaTesla]

Hate to break it to you, NikolaTesla, but every Bitcoin transaction is a public matter. All full scale clients are sent all transactions. The randomness of the addresses provide some obfuscation, but it doesn't take much forensic accounting to trace where money is flowing. If you want more privacy, you'd be better served by cash, or even an old fashioned bank or wire transfer.

But each intermediate address in the flow provides plausible deniability. If I transfer $ from my bank account to Coinbase, then transfer those BTC from my Coinbase account to my local wallet, then buy something on silk road, there's no way they could know that the intermediate wallet step was mine or if I was just sending it to someone else who bought on silk road.