Cryptocurrencies aren't anonymous anymore

[Doozle]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

[wantjokull]

The bitcoin was never the anonymous currency at all. It is called as Pseudo-anonymous currency and also it can be tracked down with little extra efforts. So I don't think that this is much issue that governments are going to regulate them and then we will get exposed about it. Thought they regulate it then its just good thing for us only and we can easily have access to our fiat and virtual currency at the same place. Juts because government is getting into the crypto currency with their legalities doesn't mean anything bad is happening with the crypto, its just that we will have to pay our taxes on time! 

[stompix]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

There is nothing leaving Bitcoin.
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

The traditional banking model achieves a level of privacy by limiting access to information to the
parties involved and the trusted third party. The necessity to announce all transactions publicly
precludes this method, but privacy can still be maintained by breaking the flow of information in
another place: by keeping public keys anonymous. The public can see that someone is sending
an amount to someone else, but without information linking the transaction to anyone.

Satoshi knew from the start that the coin will not be fully anonymous.

And that new rule from the SK central bank is not a game changer.
They are just linking your trading account to your bank account, mostly because from what I read one of the reasons was that there were a lot of traders sending money to different bank accounts with different names on them.

The new AML laws will not affect your privacy more than they did now.
You used your bank account just the same as before, they already knew that about you.
And when you buy the BTC, you can mix them using a service like Chipmixer and nobody will know which of the 16 million coins out there are yours.

A real change would be to make a requirement that all BTC users must tell the financial observers what are their addresses, to force them to use only those and to declare at the end of the year all the tx you have made and their purpose. But that would mean the end of crypto in the country that adopts this.

[just_Alice]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

When was the time that bitcoin was completely anonymous? You have an exact address and yes, nobody knows who does it belong to, but it's no secret that transactions aren't anonymous, so every address can be tracked and if you link it to something else - you're not anonymous anymore. As it was planned - for each transaction you should use new address, this would enhance your anonymity, but even such transactions can be tracked.

[ahmad21]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

I don't think your point is valid. No one really uses accounts from exchanges to perform illegal activities. Most of or All of the illegal activities and activities in dark world are carried out using btc in private keys which are still anonymous. You can anonymously receive and send it. Only a fool would use his KYC completed account to perform such things.

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

When was the time that bitcoin was completely anonymous? You have an exact address and yes, nobody knows who does it belong to, but it's no secret that transactions aren't anonymous, so every address can be tracked and if you link it to something else - you're not anonymous anymore. As it was planned - for each transaction you should use new address, this would enhance your anonymity, but even such transactions can be tracked.

Then I suggest you using any service like the Chipmixer or the bitblender. They are quite effective in breaking the trail of the bitcoin transactions and increase your anonymity.

[Butane]

What a clickbait title ! Anonymity is not leaving Bitcoin ! You can still buy your bitcoins with cash and get covered without any problem ! Only sale is monitored on South Korean exchanges, which represent, let me remind you, a very minor part of the world volume.

[Thanasis]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

Bitcoin transactions cannot be monitored they only can monitor when you convert bitcoin into fiat or vice versa.But still transactions are fully anonymous.As you said crypto currencies can be used for illegal activitoes because it is fully anonymous.So nothing is leaving from bitcoin maybe the government will know how much bitcoin you have.

[The Iconoclast]

It's true, but with a little attention, you can keep your anonymity.
Of course, if you make just one single mistake you are done.
So, be careful...

[Tharel]

Bitcoin is pseudo-anonymous. One can hide his identity using nickname. However, almost all the exchanges now they ask you to verify your identity and so it’s a bit harder to be also pseudo-anonymous. And whenever you cash out your BTC, you need to provide your identity like your bank account and so your identity will be revealed.

[An0nyMoose]

Bitcoin was not never fully anonymous. There are other coins like Monero which are fully anonymous.

[Carlsen]

Transactions between normal wallets stay as anonymouse as they always have been.
What Sout Korea did was a regulative measure to prevent money laundering and to encourage the citizens willingness to pay taxes on the profit they make with crypto currencies.
Honestly I support such moves.
They help to create a positive image of crypto currencies in the public opinion.

[aardvark15]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

For US customers like me that are trying to comply with tax laws, cryptocurrencies are no longer anonymous. They are about as anonymous as a bank account. We have to disclose every buy, trade, and sell, so the government knows exactly what we own and how much. There is almost no way around it if we want to avoid trouble with the tax man.

[MCVXYZ]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

There is nothing leaving Bitcoin.
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

The traditional banking model achieves a level of privacy by limiting access to information to the
parties involved and the trusted third party. The necessity to announce all transactions publicly
precludes this method, but privacy can still be maintained by breaking the flow of information in
another place: by keeping public keys anonymous. The public can see that someone is sending
an amount to someone else, but without information linking the transaction to anyone.

Satoshi knew from the start that the coin will not be fully anonymous.

And that new rule from the SK central bank is not a game changer.
They are just linking your trading account to your bank account, mostly because from what I read one of the reasons was that there were a lot of traders sending money to different bank accounts with different names on them.

The new AML laws will not affect your privacy more than they did now.
You used your bank account just the same as before, they already knew that about you.
And when you buy the BTC, you can mix them using a service like Chipmixer and nobody will know which of the 16 million coins out there are yours.

A real change would be to make a requirement that all BTC users must tell the financial observers what are their addresses, to force them to use only those and to declare at the end of the year all the tx you have made and their purpose. But that would mean the end of crypto in the country that adopts this.

Anymore? If it was tatally anonymous,there'd be no bitcoin and everyone knows about this.In another situation there would be disbalance,because it would be the greatest threat to public safety/International genaral norms/society.How do you think,when satoshi was creating this he didn't know about legal norms?bitcoin is a genius invention and indicator of blockchain technology development,which does not violate any law and thats why developed countries don't want to ban it because its so attractive for people and for developed countries private interests is the most important.

[MCVXYZ]

Bitcoin was not never fully anonymous. There are other coins like Monero which are fully anonymous.

In my opinion thats not true...Despite the fact that exchanges can't see who has deposited monero on deposit balance and we have stealth addresses,+ring signatures its really hard to detect recipient but its not fully anonymous,its possible to get transaction information or get some pattern(for example by transaction time+etc.but its more difficult) if you have appropriate computer power but  you can't understand who is signatory.(6signature)I think its more difficult to identify zcash or Zenchash transactions than monero.

[777asianinvasian]

That is why you get into coins like Monero, DeepOnion, Dash, ZCash, and other anonymous coins, they will keep you hidden. And who knows maybe Bitcoin Core adds some privacy feature to their coin someday nobody knows. There are ways to protect yourself today, though you just gotta hop into some privacy coins.

[dogandogru]

Its true Bitcoin is not enough anonymous as it used to be. Central authorities are applying regulations like KYC verification before buying BTC from an exchange. Bitcoin popularity and growth is attracting govt. to form more rigid and strict rules on its trading which is making it more centralised in some way or other.

[mrcash02]

The government is well known as the most worthless and parasitic partnership someone can have,
and do you want to know the worse part of it? This partnership is a must!

With these regulations everyone will become their Crypto workers, having to share profit with them while they do nothing.
Only without the need to exchange money into fiat we will have the option to live near anonymity, otherwise they will keep ordering us anything they want, we will have to accept it and some others will blame us if we try questionating them about these regulations...

[Lanatsa]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

Common reason for government to say into public which they do all these things for the sake of avoided money laundering and other illegal activities. Ive seen some business involved again on here since they do only accept users which do have real name bank accounts? It too obvious man and also having this regulation would entirely removed the anonymity.

[Mr.Shady]

Anonimity of crypto coins depend on the user. Like bitcoins, it is only pseudo anonymous but still the bitcoin holder is anonymous. You wont know who is exactly the person holding it.

[onpages]

It is no surprise that anonymity has been leaving bitcoin. Bitcoin is not as anonymous as it used to be.

Monero the more anonymous bitcoin has been getting a lot of news as it is being used for many illegal purposes such as drugs and money laundering.

South Korea today, however, is increasing regulation on all cryptocurrency exchanges as reported by https://revoltmedia.org/south-korean-new-rules-on-cryptocurrency/.

South Korean laws passed this morning are now only letting South Korean exchanges accept users if the user has real-name bank accounts connected.

Regulations like this are the first of many soon to come that will try to take anonymity from cryptocurrency.

The South Korean government reasoning was to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

I think this is a concrete step to overcome some of these problems. and other countries need to imitate it.
and in my opinion, the most important thing is that we as bitcoin users should be able to control everything and do not do anything that can damage the image of bitcoin world, because I really hope that this technology will really be useful in the future.