Bitcoin and privacy!!!

[contact12345]

Bitcoin has paved the way for a number of decentralized blockchain systems. Among them, cryptocurrencies are especially prevalent. But, there are still a lot of functionalities that are yet to be implemented. The most basic use case is that of a secure transaction without the need for a centralized authority. Bitcoin implemented it, with one major catch and that is privacy. Don't we all crave privacy?

Originally, Bitcoin network was thought to be anonymous. Everybody felt secure believing that no one could ever recognize them. Later, it was found that it was not the case. The difficulty was public ledger that was accessible by everyone to go through. It contains all the private records. This unbolted the way for a lot of cyber hackers to extract information making it less secure. Also, anonymity was compromised due to the data leaks. Once identity is known of a Bitcoin user, anyone can go through his past and possible future transactions.

In the light of above explanation, should Bitcoin be upgraded by a confidential blockchain system which is scalable too?

[bittraffic]

Its meant that way. It serves a purpose otherwise any scammer can get away without being tracked. There were even scams happening almost everyday even after they knew Bitcoin isn't anonymous, there more they'd be scamming right under your nose if it is. If you really want privacy, there are more anon coins you can go to like XMR, Zcash and cloak coin to name few.

[awawo]

One of the prominent feature of bitcoin is it ability to hide the identity of it users and that is why it is term decentralized which never need the involvement of any third party. And I think it will remain like that even in the future.

[DooMAD]

Privacy is something that takes a little effort, but there are definitely ways to enhance it.  You can utilise mixing services, the Dandelion protocol, TOR and even the simple things like change addresses and also ensuring that you don't re-use addresses when receiving transactions from different people.

There are other things in the pipeline that would also help, such as Bulletproofs/Confidential Transactions.

[anitaraymonds]

Bitcoin has paved the way for a number of decentralized blockchain systems. Among them, cryptocurrencies are especially prevalent. But, there are still a lot of functionalities that are yet to be implemented. The most basic use case is that of a secure transaction without the need for a centralized authority. Bitcoin implemented it, with one major catch and that is privacy. Don't we all crave privacy?

Originally, Bitcoin network was thought to be anonymous. Everybody felt secure believing that no one could ever recognize them. Later, it was found that it was not the case. The difficulty was public ledger that was accessible by everyone to go through. It contains all the private records. This unbolted the way for a lot of cyber hackers to extract information making it less secure. Also, anonymity was compromised due to the data leaks. Once identity is known of a Bitcoin user, anyone can go through his past and possible future transactions.

In the light of above explanation, should Bitcoin be upgraded by a confidential blockchain system which is scalable too?

I am surprise by what you a explain concerning the anonymity of bitcoin. I was thinking that bitcoin blockchain is decentralized  and  can only be transacted on P2P basis. But exposing that bitcoin is not anonymous is knocking me off my balance. This lack of secret which will make bitcoin data accessible to all and sundry  through the public ledger is killing. I will support an fork that will upgrade bitcoin to a confidential blockchain that will be secure and scalable.

[Sethrey]

I also thought that blockchain is a way to total security, but many people say it isn't.
I don't know much about it, but they say that it still can be hacked and so on.
They prefer to believe in end-to-end encryption and not in blockchain.

[Red-Apple]

bitcoin has never been fully anonymous and it has always been fine. some people seem to have a problem with that but that is oke because there are options that they can use like the real anon coins.
bitcoin or at least the on chain transactions will never change in that fact. there may be additions on side chains and second layers to improve the anonymity though.

[Marcel555]

I have never understood the emphasis on anonymity. Clandestine activate usually associated with illegal activities. And it's not like our data was street out before for everyone to see.
Decentralization was the main problem bitcoin and the blockchain was created to solve. And to ensure transparency, especially among miners, the transaction had to be open for all to see

The difficulty was public ledger that was accessible by everyone to go through. It contains all the private records. This unbolted the way for a lot of cyber hackers to extract information making it less secure. Also, anonymity was compromised due to the data leaks. Once identity is known of a Bitcoin user, anyone can go through his past and possible future transactions.

Leaks and hacks usually result from exchanges which are not well shielded from attacks.

[1NV3ST0NM3]

If you demand this sort of privacy that you're talking about, it will be difficult to obtain in the near future also. Blockchain technology and the public ledger system are so designed that they give all the crypto users an easy access to view all the transactions and also to trace back the origin of these transactions.

bitcoin has never been fully anonymous and it has always been fine. some people seem to have a problem with that but that is oke because there are options that they can use like the real anon coins.
bitcoin or at least the on chain transactions will never change in that fact. there may be additions on side chains and second layers to improve the anonymity though.

Yes! you're right, certain improvements may be introduced in fact, but you cannot get full anonymity factor secureed with yourselves.

[team87]

I just want to say that bitcoin with a decentralized system is the most efficient system. If talking about an increase in the secret blockchain system, I think it will go hand in hand with the development of time and technology in the future.

[clonely]

I just want to say that bitcoin with a decentralized system is the most efficient system. If talking about an increase in the secret blockchain system, I think it will go hand in hand with the development of time and technology in the future.

Bitcoin's mission is not as mentioned. The future it promises is known by everyone. If you are looking for something other than that, I think you can find one of the hundreds of projects in progress or ICO process.

[bjmpoker001]

Bitcoin has paved the way for a number of decentralized blockchain systems. Among them, cryptocurrencies are especially prevalent. But, there are still a lot of functionalities that are yet to be implemented. The most basic use case is that of a secure transaction without the need for a centralized authority. Bitcoin implemented it, with one major catch and that is privacy. Don't we all crave privacy?

Originally, Bitcoin network was thought to be anonymous. Everybody felt secure believing that no one could ever recognize them. Later, it was found that it was not the case. The difficulty was public ledger that was accessible by everyone to go through. It contains all the private records. This unbolted the way for a lot of cyber hackers to extract information making it less secure. Also, anonymity was compromised due to the data leaks. Once identity is known of a Bitcoin user, anyone can go through his past and possible future transactions.

In the light of above explanation, should Bitcoin be upgraded by a confidential blockchain system which is scalable too?

I think bitcoin is not really a privacy currency in the first place, everyone can see the balance and the transactions of btc address.
But the solution was found, altcoins were created. There are some private coins such as XMR, XVG, or other cryptonight algo coins.

[ngm22585]

It would appear that Monero is certainly the true privacy coin, and I doubt that Monero would have the interest that it does if bitcoin truly solved for complete privacy.

[libert19]

Bitcoin has paved the way for a number of decentralized blockchain systems. Among them, cryptocurrencies are especially prevalent. But, there are still a lot of functionalities that are yet to be implemented. The most basic use case is that of a secure transaction without the need for a centralized authority. Bitcoin implemented it, with one major catch and that is privacy. Don't we all crave privacy?

Originally, Bitcoin network was thought to be anonymous. Everybody felt secure believing that no one could ever recognize them. Later, it was found that it was not the case. The difficulty was public ledger that was accessible by everyone to go through. It contains all the private records. This unbolted the way for a lot of cyber hackers to extract information making it less secure. Also, anonymity was compromised due to the data leaks. Once identity is known of a Bitcoin user, anyone can go through his past and possible future transactions.

In the light of above explanation, should Bitcoin be upgraded by a confidential blockchain system which is scalable too?

I am surprise by what you a explain concerning the anonymity of bitcoin. I was thinking that bitcoin blockchain is decentralized  and  can only be transacted on P2P basis. But exposing that bitcoin is not anonymous is knocking me off my balance. This lack of secret which will make bitcoin data accessible to all and sundry  through the public ledger is killing. I will support an fork that will upgrade bitcoin to a confidential blockchain that will be secure and scalable.

It's pseudo-anonymous. Unless you don't link your Bitcoin address with your identity and take other basic privacy measures you should be anonymous.

[Zrs]

bitcoin has been creates as a decentralized coin which hide the users' identity. But we can see the transaction history of a bitcoin address.I think in future ,if it can be hidden ,bitcoin will provide more privacy.

[pooya87]

Don't we all crave privacy?

everyone wants privacy and bitcoin is offering a very good level of privacy when you use it correctly. what it doesn't offer is full anonymity and it was never supposed to do that either.

Originally, Bitcoin network was thought to be anonymous. Everybody felt secure believing that no one could ever recognize them.

wrong. in fact "originally" bitcoin was known NOT to be anonymous, then as the market grew and more newbies came in SOME started thinking it is funny anonymous while the rest knew it is not.

It contains all the private records.

...public records... not private.

This unbolted the way for a lot of cyber hackers to extract information making it less secure.

it is publicly available, you don't need to be a "hacker" to extract anything! you just have to have time to waste analyzing the blockchain and it has nothing to do with "making it less secure"!

Also, anonymity was compromised due to the data leaks. Once identity is known of a Bitcoin user, anyone can go through his past and possible future transactions.

all you can do is speculate.

In the light of above explanation, should Bitcoin be upgraded by a confidential blockchain system which is scalable too?

no. because not only your "explanation" is filled with flaws but also the design of bitcoin is perfectly fine.

[Kakmakr]

Satoshi created Bitcoin to be pseudo anonymous to grant people enough anonymity to keep their financial matters private. So, by not re-using Bitcoin addresses, people will be able to protect their financial privacy. <You do not want someone to know how much money you have, when you pay for some service with your Bitcoin address, right?>

Bitcoin does not offer you more anonymity than what you are granted with cash and that is exactly what Satoshi wanted, when he created this technology.

If you want more anonymity, use mixer services. 

[coinwizard_]

I don't think data leaks can expose anonymity unless they hack the exchanges for personal details, but i think those guys are only after the coins. Anyone who wants privacy will simply use monero or other similar coins instead

[Pursuer]

I don't think data leaks can expose anonymity unless they hack the exchanges for personal details, but i think those guys are only after the coins. Anyone who wants privacy will simply use monero or other similar coins instead

but the problem is when you are using exchanges then you are not using bitcoin. you are using a centralized service that is leaking your identity and removing the privacy from your bitcoin usage not from bitcoin itself. and that is one of the biggest mistakes that OP and usually others make when it comes to bitcoin and privacy. they think in terms of these services but they make the  conclusion for bitcoin.

[MarioV]

Surely bitcoin will have to be made more anonymous and many people are working with many solutions. What I don't know is which solution will have the upper hand, if a hard-fork or a layer2 solution.