Why it’s important to avoid telling everyone about your crypto holdings

[Digitradez]

If you wanna be private than stay private, I'm talking about how people are so scared that everyone in the world is going to hurt them. This type of fear with terrorism is how the patriot act got passed which allowed government to do even more sketchy shit.

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[samputin]

True, you can easily become a target for preying eye or bad people around your surroundings or street, it's not wrong tell people about how good crypto currencies are but don't ever tell them about how much you make or holding, it's 100% dangerous and unsafe

That's the primary reason why you should keep some things in private especially when it involves money (either bitcoin or cash). It's something that doesn't need to be announced to everyone else. It's part of your privacy and being safe. Also, it's one act of being humble; not bragging about how much you have or gain whether big or small. Just talk about it when someone asks you about it but of course, don't go much into details.

[20kevin20]

In Europe, some retards (a minority) are even talking about forcing internet users to use solely their real name on the internet (Forums etc.)  

What?! Is this official or just a thing you hear around? I'd be interested to read more.

In fact, the patriot act encourages crime against individuals by exposing their privacy.

All that under the name of "fighting terrorism". Every time. It honestly just feels like they have been lately only using the names of "racism", "terrorism", "drugs" etc to push a privacy-shrinking agenda. Without these names, we wouldn't be the only worried ones.

Same goes for the Russian school face recognition system named "Orwell". I mean, the purpose of it is literally in its name. Most people go for the "it's fine as long as it's used for our good" opinion but they never question if they are ever really used for us and not against us..

And then comes the "yeah but that's russia, man" argument. Yea, sure..

Look at all the famous crypto whales: Roger ver, Vitalik, Winklevoss twins, Charlie Lee, etc. Do you see anything happening to any of these guys? Nope. stop being so paranoid.

I doubt Charlie Lee, Rorger and any other big name in the crypto industry live their life completely normally. If I was a big name in this domain, I'd be paranoid as hell but it probably wouldn't be too evident.

Even larger company owners are usually paranoid - it's their (and their families') life at stake. That's why you used to see bigger names carrying around Blackberries and guns years ago. Some big names out there probably even wear bulletproof vests under their clothing when going in public.

If Lee was to be taken hostage for his crypto holdings, it would've hit the news and a massive investigation would've taken place. The same thing happening to a not so well known guy would probably only have a small article over the web talking about it.

As a criminal, it's quite stupid to go for big targets. We're more vulnerable than they are.

[xxjumperxx]

In Europe, some retards (a minority) are even talking about forcing internet users to use solely their real name on the internet (Forums etc.)  

What?! Is this official or just a thing you hear around? I'd be interested to read more.

Its been talked about alot!
The german Party CDU, Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) is all for a Full Name requirement on the internet...
Yeah why dont we all just put a target on our back...

German Source: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/schaeuble-klarnamenpflicht-soziale-netzwerke-101.html


Yes the article is a bit older, but I dont think its off the table yet... We will hear more about this I fear.

[Coyster]

Look at all the famous crypto whales: Roger ver, Vitalik, Winklevoss twins, Charlie Lee, etc. Do you see anything happening to any of these guys? Nope. stop being so paranoid.

You see nothing happening to people like them because they are actually more paranoid than a regular Joe (cause they have more to lose) and not because they just live normally without any privacy. It's the same scenario for very wealthy people, you must protect yourself all the time or else face the consequences. I'm very sure the money guys like Vitalik, Charles Lee etc spend on protecting themselves from scammers will be worth more than a lot of people's crypto holdings, isn't that paranoia.

If you wanna be private than stay private, I'm talking about how people are so scared that everyone in the world is going to hurt them.

Everyone in the world may not be able to hurt you, but there are quite a lot of people that'll do that if they get the opportunity, that's why there are scammers, thieves, kidnappers, looters, bandits etc, you cannot feel less concerned about what you own in our society at this time and that's what the op is about.

[Pmalek]

It's not paranoia being protective of your belongings. And it is not paranoia being secretive about your crypto possessions. Do you tell people at the bar how many gold necklaces and earrings you have at your home or how much money you have saved up in your bank? You just don't do that. It's nobodies business what I have.

Very few close friendly and my family know that I am into crypto. Those are the people I share my life with. The others don't need to know. Why would they? I am not the sort that will turn around to see if someone is following me but I also don't discuss my possessions in the public to brag and act tough.

[1miau]

In Europe, some retards (a minority) are even talking about forcing internet users to use solely their real name on the internet (Forums etc.)  

What?! Is this official or just a thing you hear around? I'd be interested to read more.

Yes, sounds like a joke but unfortunately it's true, xxjumperxx gave you already a link. Here's another article: https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/hass-im-internet-schaeuble-fordert-klarnamenpflicht-im-netz/25424450.html

Schäuble calls for a real name requirement on the Internet

Berlin. President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) demands that users are only allowed to use the social platforms by using their real name. "I'm in favor of a real name requirement in the social networks and support all suggestions brought up by the Federal Minister of Justice to enforce rules and transparency in the digital world too," said Schäuble to the newspaper "Bild am Sonntag".

But the other party involved in the governemt (SPD) is against it, even large parts of his own party (CDU) are against it and that means much because his party is always trying to undermine privacy. ^^
The opposition is against it as well.

[Vod]

Linking your identity on the Internet to your real identity can be very dangerous

Agreed - it's a temporal mistake.  You make it innocently in the past, then years/decades later it can come back to haunt you.  For law enforcement, that's what makes the blockchain so attractive.  A mistake you made years ago (such as not using a mixer) can never be taken back - never be undone.  Another example will be quantum computing.  We will use quantum encryption to counter, but that document with those private records, the one you encrypted with old fashioned (current) encryption, is already untouchable on hundreds of hackers computers...

In crypto, you should adopt a philosophy of "only trust proof".  Ignore any claims that cannot be verified.

IMO, the best solution is:
- create a new identity for crypto activity
- build reputation based on that activity
- trust no one
- "stake" existing reputation if you want


(If you agree with this, and are an experienced HTML/CSS designer, please contact me ASAP)

[1miau]

IMO, the best solution is:
- create a new identity for crypto activity
- build reputation based on that activity
- trust no one
- "stake" existing reputation if you want

That's a very important argument when people start saying "an anonymous internet does not work because of scammers". This forum is a very good example that it can work very well. People are completely anonymous here (or pseudonymous since a fix username is set). Trust feedbacks, posting history and earned Merit are good metrics to evaluate how trustworthy an account is. (And also a reason to discourage account sales if Quickseller is reading here ^^)

It just requires a little bit common sense to avoid falling for scammers and when in doubt using escrow for big deals.

(If you agree with this, and are an experienced HTML/CSS designer, please contact me ASAP)

I agree but unfortunately, I'm not an experienced HTML/CSS designer, not even an inexperienced one...

[virasog]

True, you can easily become a target for preying eye or bad people around your surroundings or street, it's not wrong tell people about how good crypto currencies are but don't ever tell them about how much you make or holding, it's 100% dangerous and unsafe

That's the primary reason why you should keep some things in private especially when it involves money (either bitcoin or cash). It's something that doesn't need to be announced to everyone else. It's part of your privacy and being safe. Also, it's one act of being humble; not bragging about how much you have or gain whether big or small. Just talk about it when someone asks you about it but of course, don't go much into details.

I never tell anyone how much money i own or how much bitcoin i posses even if someone ask them. These are my personal belongings and i have the right not to tell anyone about it. However, there should be someone or very few people whom you can tell everything like your parents, your siblings or maybe your very close friends who have no intention to harm you or think bad of you.

[zasad@]

Thank you for the article. Very good recommendations are gathered in one place and everything is written briefly and clearly.
Translation into Russian:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5260797

[JayJuanGee]

At first glance it doesn’t sound bad to tell other people that you own Bitcoin, but there are some details to keep in mind:


Telling all of your friends might not be a good idea

I'm even nervous about telling my wife. Since there is dilemma. Eventually the prefix "ex" can be added to wife  ...  but then again, anything can happen, so many people are passing away unexpectedly...  I don't want to have that happen and my Bitcoins to disappear with me. Looking for the middle ground, but didn't find yet, sighing.

(NOTE: Yes, I realize that I am reviving an "old" topic, but the topic does still seem relevant to BTC HODLers - and likely is not easily resolved through a lot of different opinions on the matter and even changing circumstances that individual BTC HODLers might experience - including changed perceptions of the value and/or importance of their BTC stash due to changes in the BTC price since the last post in this thread - we are around 4x or more increased BTC prices since the middle of 2020, no?)

I have some agreement with you in that, you do not really want to create incentives with anyone whether it be a wife or otherwise that you are worth more dead than alive, and it is a bit sad to be in a close (intimate) relationship with another person in which you cannot feel sufficiently comfortable that she might want to kill you in order to be able to live in a way that she perceives to be better.

Personalities are going to differ - that's for sure, and there are some people who are completely trustworthy because they have in-built limitations, and other people might either NOT have such limitations or they might feel that some circumstances justify their behaviors to go beyond certain boundaries that others would not so easily cross.

So, yes there could be some financial vehicles that are available that do not reveal all of the details of what the wife would get if you were dead.. but still allow a way to pass the coins upon such death, were it to occur (hopefully by means that are not attributable to the conduct of the wife or any of her potential agents).

This thread is full of great comments.  My spouse knows I have some coins but has no idea of how many.  I have it setup where my BIP password is located in three parts.  She will need to get all 3 and connect the password characters together in order to discover the 30-50 digits needed to open the wallet.  I do this for security knowing that a stolen/hacked Trezor presents no threat and the 3 locations are miles apart.  She has no interest, only she wants to know that they won't be lost if I die.  I don't have to trust the holders of my password partials because they don't know each other, or what those digits are for.  I am a lucky "old timer" in this game.  KYC was never an issue back in the day.  The SEED sits in my vault.

Some of this obscure description of your security is interesting, and sure I suppose there could be ways to accomplish what you are describing... including that some persons might be holding something that they realize to be important (so they will safeguard it), but they are not sure about such significance until such time that you were to pass and purportedly there would come available instructions in order that at least one person is going to know what the fuck is going on in order that the value is not lost forever because of security that might be too great... Hopefully, that is the case with you.

If you wanna be private than stay private, I'm talking about how people are so scared that everyone in the world is going to hurt them. This type of fear with terrorism is how the patriot act got passed which allowed government to do even more sketchy shit.

You are full of shit, Digitradez because you take your stupid-ass logic to extremes to make a point about something that was not even happening through the posts here in this thread.  

Merely because members are talking about various ways to attempt to take precautions does not signify that they are either "overdoing it" or in a kind of "irrational panic state."

In other words, you are overly generalizing and thereby making disingenuine and nonsense points about folks supposedly being too scared or precautious because they are sharing ideas on a topic, you disingenuous dweeb.

[AWMM24]

At first glance it doesn’t sound bad to tell other people that you own Bitcoin, but there are some details to keep in mind:


Telling all of your friends might not be a good idea

Even if they are your friends you should be very careful if you tell them about your crypto holdings.

As always, there are also those who quickly become jealous, especially if they think that you are rich (but you aren’t) and start begging that you could give them some of it. This can lead to distrust and a previously good relationship can be permanently damaged.

Or in opposite, we all know some of them can’t keep a secret and tell it others and they are telling it others again. Then, it’s possible that people get to know about it, who are jealous / have a bad relationship to you / or are just criminals and plan a robbery to get your crypto.

After all, the more people in total know about your holdings, the more likely it gets bad people find out about it.

Yes telling them that i hold crypto or specific amount is not good for you as you mentioned how.
But i think we should aware them to invest there. We should tell them about profit they can get.

[AWMM24]

Do people walk around and tell people how much money they have in the Banks? NO ..... Do people walk around telling them how many Gold coins are in her or his home vault? NO..... So...why would you walk around telling people how many bitcoins you have?

I think he is talking about your friends. Or any relatives asks you about what do you do for living. Then you have to tell them something to satisfy them. Then if you are doing job you tell them about your salary. And about money in the bank, i think no one tells about how much they have it. Same for gold.
But then why do tells about crypto. Because it's new for them. They are excited or getting profit.thats why they tell them about crypto,basically source of income.

[Renampun]

Do people walk around and tell people how much money they have in the Banks? NO ..... Do people walk around telling them how many Gold coins are in her or his home vault? NO..... So...why would you walk around telling people how many bitcoins you have?

I think he is talking about your friends. Or any relatives asks you about what do you do for living. Then you have to tell them something to satisfy them. Then if you are doing job you tell them about your salary. And about money in the bank, i think no one tells about how much they have it. Same for gold.
But then why do tells about crypto. Because it's new for them. They are excited or getting profit.thats why they tell them about crypto,basically source of income.

sometimes it is not wrong to tell our crypto holdings to friends or family...
my family, especially my parents, really care about their children even though we all are married. Often my mother asks about our current source of income so she can find out if her children have any problems. I often say 'Mama don't worry, I can still make money from the internet', but I didn't tell her it came from crypto because she certainly wouldn't understand.

[1miau]

I'm bumping my topic today, because I believe it will continue to be essential to follow these simple rules. Even when crypto becomes much more widespread, it's of great importance to follow the advice stated in my OP.
Incidents, like Ledger's hack and the aftermath draw a very clear picture how dangerous leaked personal data can get for you.
By keeping you private data for yourself, you'll be able to avoid many problems: 

Finally, it's up to everyone to care for their own data and who will gain knowledge about your crypto holdings. As a basic rule, it is always advisable to be careful when in doubt. This also applies to all actions on the Internet that pose a possible threat to privacy.
Once information is revealed, we can’t make it unhappen including all (bad) consequences.

[Bholutefe]

One of the things that helps with securement of our wallet is keeping secret to oneself, it is a very good thing to be secretive in life especially when it comes to dealing with money or any valuable asset. Trust nobody when it comes to keeping or holding your crypto in your wallet as it is very risky to divulge confidential informations like that. You do not know other people’s intentions towards you financial values. A secret should be kept secret and not the other way round, when you lost your funds in your wallet to the hands of the scammers, you are accountable to your losses and you will hold no one responsible for that. That’s why it is very important to know how and when to handle your wallet in front of third parties or on other people’s phone as this could lead to hacking of your wallet. You also need to be cautious of keeping your phones or laptop lock securely so that no one can gain access to it easily without your Consent.

[Belinda1732]

This is a very good question, telling people about your crypto is very risky, imagine showing somebody your crypto that worth thousands of dollars, after seeing it, all he would be thinking about is how to snatch it away from you.

So when my friends ask me about my crypto I only told them that crypto is very good to venture into.

[Coyster]

You also need to be cautious of keeping your phones or laptop lock securely so that no one can gain access to it easily without your Consent.

A better advice will prolly be that users shouldn't keep their crypto funds in their online wallet/phone that they use for their day to day activities, such as browsing, surfing the internet, downloading, and other general stuffs, that is a no-no, even if you don't tell people about your crypto holdings, if you are hodling crypto in that way you can easily be hacked by scammers who spread malware or any unsuspecting phishing method, your funds should safely be stored offline, and away from any sort of internet connection.

This is a very good question, telling people about your crypto is very risky, imagine showing somebody your crypto that worth thousands of dollars, after seeing it, all he would be thinking about is how to snatch it away from you.

Would anyone show people that they have thousands or millions of dollars in their bank accounts, since they won't with traditional currencies, then they shouldn't with cryptocurrencies too.

[Franctoshi]

This is very important that we start avoiding telling people about our crypto holdings (our net worth in crypto), Because this pose a kind  risk to you getting robbed or kidnapped by your enemies when you're living in an unsecured areas. One recent senario in my area ,Is that a guy was robbed in the night and after the robbery the robbers kidnapped him and they took him to an unknown location and there they took his phone and transferred all money in the guys wallet before he was released, who knows if this guys might be people that knows about his Bitcoin and crypto holdings.