Is Bitcoin currently anonymous?

[engwai]

Hello all, im pretty new to btc, currently is Bitcoin anonymous? since it enables privacy in transfer of payment/money

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[jzale]

Correct my if I'm mistaken. As far as I know, bitcoin transactions are traceable my friend. Your links to your mails and bitcoin address are traceable. Though there are sites that are offering to make it anonymous and you can use VPN too.

[mocacinno]

bitcoin is pseudo-anonymous.

All transactions are included in the blockchain (decentral database), so it's possible for somebody to follow these transactions (inputs, outputs, change addresses,...), and using some data mining and some clever algorithms, it's possible to find most addresses belonging to your wallets.

Couple this information with the fact that most exchanges follow KYC regulations and require your identity verification AND the fact that if you buy a physical good, you'll have to provide a delivery address. The end result is that if you ever bought bitcoin with a verified account, or spent bitcoin using your real address, somebody with enough resources and time will probably be able to find you...

That being said, no ip's are recorded in the blockchain. A node can only (potentially) record the ip of which it receives a transaction (but it can never know it is the ip of the person creating the transaction). So, if you use a VPN (or tor) and never couple a physical address or a forum nickname to your addresses, it'll be pretty hard to track you down.

There are also other sollutions to enhance your privacy, but i'm not going to go into details this time

[pokapeski]

jzale, you are very right, mate. Bitcoin is not anonymous.
I have read somewhere that best definition would be pseudoanonymous in the same sense that you may use a fake name in facebook or twiter but someone can still find the true you.

[mindrust]

Hello all, im pretty new to btc, currently is Bitcoin anonymous? since it enables privacy in transfer of payment/money

If you don't touch any FIAT, yes it is anonymous enough. Not completely as everyone can track down every address but you can confuse them with mixing services.

If you exchange your bitcoins with FIAT however, your options are;

1-Banks: Not anonymous indeed.
2-Local Traders: They'll see your face. You'll be exposed.

[jorneyflair]

Hello all, im pretty new to btc, currently is Bitcoin anonymous? since it enables privacy in transfer of payment/money

Not at all, if you send a transaction, you should be able to find the transaction ID on https://www.blockchain.com/ and therefore any transaction you make will be recorded and makes it not that anonymous. After some hard work, someone would be able to track your transactions and find all your addresses, so no it is not fully anonymous. Something that would make it even more anonymous would be to use a mixing address to confuse them.

[Amph]

Hello all, im pretty new to btc, currently is Bitcoin anonymous? since it enables privacy in transfer of payment/money

If you don't touch any FIAT, yes it is anonymous enough. Not completely as everyone can track down every address but you can confuse them with mixing services.

If you exchange your bitcoins with FIAT however, your options are;

1-Banks: Not anonymous indeed.
2-Local Traders: They'll see your face. You'll be exposed.

not only touching fiat but also doing any shopping with bitcoin, if you buy something on the web using bitcoin your address and your name are linked and your privacy is compromised

you either use a new address that is not linked to any other in your wallet, or create a new wallet each tiem you want to use bitcoin, so even withotu dumping for fiat you can compromise your anonimity

[mk4]

It is anonymous in a way that you can send bitcoins to someone without pretty much anyone else knowing. The only issue is, all the transactions are visible on sites like blockchain.info. But I think it is anonymous enough since only the bitcoin addresses are visible. Even when other people found out about your personal bitcoin wallet, you can always use bitcoin mixers like ChipMixer to prevent people from tracking your previous wallet.

[BTCLovingDude]

how anonymous bitcoin is actually depends on you!
the best example i can give you is Satoshi. Satoshi owns bitcoin but is completely anonymous. and that is the ultimate level, and it is hard to achieve that. but for normal users who want to keep their "privacy" following certain steps will insure enough anonymity.
steps such as not linking your bank account or generally your identity with your bitcoin address. using a new address for each transaction (no address reuse). using mixers if needs be.

but depending on your needs for anonymity you can do other things and ultimately move to a truly anonymous coin like Monero.

[Vixmore]

Correct my if I'm mistaken. As far as I know, bitcoin transactions are traceable my friend. Your links to your mails and bitcoin address are traceable. Though there are sites that are offering to make it anonymous and you can use VPN too.

I think that is how it works ^. Yes, the transactions themselves are traceable, but who owns the address or the wallet it was sent to is less obvious and open. Therefore, bitcoin retains its anonymity. But it all comes down to how much you want to get involved with it. If you choose to link multiple addresses or wallets together closely, then finding out who owns them becomes a much easier task. Almost everything can be traced down to the owner these days, but it greatly depends on how much you are willing to invest of your time to clearing up your tracks. While the transaction ID is open for everyone to see, the address owner is not and usually takes a lot more time and skill to find out who it belongs to.

[hilariousetc]

how anonymous bitcoin is actually depends on you!
the best example i can give you is Satoshi. Satoshi owns bitcoin but is completely anonymous. and that is the ultimate level, and it is hard to achieve that. but for normal users who want to keep their "privacy" following certain steps will insure enough anonymity.
steps such as not linking your bank account or generally your identity with your bitcoin address. using a new address for each transaction (no address reuse). using mixers if needs be.

but depending on your needs for anonymity you can do other things and ultimately move to a truly anonymous coin like Monero.

Exactly. It's only as anonymous as you want it to be. Same with cash really. Cash is pretty anonymous if you're careful but if you're using marked bills with the serial numbers logged and your fingerprints are all over them then you could be in trouble. If you wanted to create a bitcoin wallet and meet a stranger to buy bitcoin for cash then only you and him know who that address belongs to, but you could use a mixing service to move the coins to a new address. However,  if you then used bitcoin to buy something and have it shipped directly to your home address with your name on it then someone could link the two, so again,  bitcoin is only anon if you want it to be and are very careful but it can be done.

[KillaGT]

Bitcoin is not anonymous,  and what can be done to de-anonymize Bitcoin users  most importantly, all transactions over the Bitcoin network are completely transparent and traceable by anyone. It's typically this complete transparency that allows multiple Bitcoin addresses to be clustered together, and what Bitcoin users can do to reclaim their privacy.Bitcoin privacy is still a sliding scale  not a binary problem. Rather than being either completely anonymous or not at all, Bitcoin users enjoy a certain level of privacy, depending on how much of their identity they reveal, which of the anonymizing techniques they apply,

[Harlot]

It is anonymous by nature but if someone is really following you, you may will soon be identified by that person. For example all your transaction can be linked from the address you are using. If that person has the power to trace your address with an IP address your identification may be revealed even if you are using those VPN providers. That is not the only way to identify an owner of an address just by simply looking at this forum you will see thousands of users posting their addresses (that is including me) which can be easily traced with your user as well as you as a person. 

[HasHe]

Hello all, im pretty new to btc, currently is Bitcoin anonymous? since it enables privacy in transfer of payment

Bitcoin is only pseudo anonymous.All the transactions are registrered in a public ledger.So the transactions could be easily traced by government authorities for taxing purposes.If you need a coin which is fully anonymous,then you could choose monero or zcash.

[pereira4]

Not really, but it's enough. You are going to need a wallet with "coin control" advanced feature where you can control the inputs and outputs individually to send things the right way. Bitcoin Core offers this, not sure what other wallets offer this feature. Without this feature it's pretty much useless if you want any financial privacy.

[mindrust]

not only touching fiat but also doing any shopping with bitcoin, if you buy something on the web using bitcoin your address and your name are linked and your privacy is compromised

you either use a new address that is not linked to any other in your wallet, or create a new wallet each tiem you want to use bitcoin, so even withotu dumping for fiat you can compromise your anonimity

Making a little bit of shopping with  bitcoin will never hurt you unless you are in the Interpol's list.

Just mix the coins you are willing to use and spend them. The danger I'm talking is about trading huge amounts of coins like >100k$. If you try to get back into FIAT, no matter which way you choose, It will draw attention.

Buying an Ice Cream won't.

[megynacuna]

It is anonymous in a way that you can send bitcoins to someone without pretty much anyone else knowing. The only issue is, all the transactions are visible on sites like blockchain.info. But I think it is anonymous enough since only the bitcoin addresses are visible. Even when other people found out about your personal bitcoin wallet, you can always use bitcoin mixers like ChipMixer to prevent people from tracking your previous wallet.

Precisely, your personal details are anonymous especially if your wallet was registered with fake details. The only traceable thing on the blockchain will be your Bitcoin address which they can trace back to your and your IP address so if you can register a wallet with fake details and get a vpn then you're almost secured with your identity.

[Przemax]

As long as your wallet have no direct contact with any cryptocurrency exchange, you are as good as anonymous. If your wallet have the contact with any cryptocurrency exchange you can use the bitcoin mixer. The one within my signature is a prime example of one. Your contact with the exchange would be so hard to trace that you can easily say you are a virtualy anonymous.

Ofcourse its good to use TOR, and not have a spyware to be sure about your anonimity.

[swogerino]

Bitcoin is not anonymous. Normal people like me can't track back you to your identity by only seeing your addresses and transactions on the blockchain ledger. A spy agency can though. That is why for people who want privacy there are certain tools to help you achieve that in bitcoin. I am not going anymore into detail but letting you know which these tools are, Tails OS and TOR browser. Google them.

[stompix]

how anonymous bitcoin is actually depends on you!
the best example i can give you is Satoshi. Satoshi owns bitcoin but is completely anonymous. and that is the ultimate level, and it is hard to achieve that. but for normal users who want to keep their "privacy" following certain steps will insure enough anonymity.
steps such as not linking your bank account or generally your identity with your bitcoin address. using a new address for each transaction (no address reuse). using mixers if needs be.

but depending on your needs for anonymity you can do other things and ultimately move to a truly anonymous coin like Monero.

Satoshi is anonymous because he has never spent his bitcoins nor has he moved them since they were mined.
Let's see those coins start rolling and you will see how anonymous he is.
If he send them to bitstamp that would be hilarious.

Bitcoin is not anonymous. Normal people like me can't track back you to your identity by only seeing your addresses and transactions on the blockchain ledger. A spy agency can though. That is why for people who want privacy there are certain tools to help you achieve that in bitcoin. I am not going anymore into detail but letting you know which these tools are, Tails OS and TOR browser. Google them.

You're not getting in details because you have no clue what you're talking about.
Spy agency my ass.
2 full rounds in bitmixer and after each the coins dropped in different wallets (not addresses but wallets, or even better online wallets which generate each time a new deposit address and sweep coins every x time) and no "spy agency" will track them.