Can you hide your identity with bitcoin? (100%)

[BlackHatCoiner]

I was having an argument with a friend. He says that you can't be anonymous to the bitcoin's network. Both nodes and wallets use, leads to an ip address where information can be found.

I had read in this forum that you can hide it with hardware? How exactly?

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[ranochigo]

Short answer: You cannot.

The main characteristic of Bitcoin is it's transparency and it wouldn't allow anonymity to go hand in hand with it. At best, you can be pseudonymous. Anyone is able to trace the movement of Bitcoin on the network as it is easily accessible. Even in the case of mixer, they do help you to improve anonymity but it is still not guaranteed. A huge part of it lies with the user's practices.

Both nodes and wallets use, leads to an ip address where information can be found.

Nodes knows the IP addresses of each other and it is possible for a node to predict the IP address for which a transaction has originated from but it is nowhere near accurate. For someone to be able to track this accurately, one has to connect to all the nodes within the network and that is impossible.

[BlackHatCoiner]

For someone to be able to track this accurately, one has to connect to all the nodes within the network and that is impossible

Why? Does anyone forbids you?

[ranochigo]

Why? Does anyone forbids you?

Nope. It's a technical limitation.

Connecting to all the nodes requires a huge amount of resources in the first place. Node discovery will not allow you to connect to all the nodes at once. Some nodes would not accept new connections due to the connection limits or just outright don't allow certain IPs to connect.

Sybil attack is a term whereby an attacker would utilise all his nodes to connect to a huge amount of network nodes. You can connect to most of the nodes like bitnodes but there are still thousands of nodes which doesn't accept incoming connections. The fact that you can't connect to all of the nodes means that you'll never be able to tell which IP relayed the transaction first.

[jademaxsuy]

I was having an argument with a friend. He says that you can't be anonymous to the bitcoin's network. Both nodes and wallets use, leads to an ip address where information can be found.

I had read in this forum that you can hide it with hardware? How exactly?

No, it is the I.P address that will going to obtain and not your identity. Identity could be obtain when you do KYC and entrusted it to an exchange keeping it as what they promise. However there are.exchanges that has been hijack and some of the users holdings crypto was stolen and being transfer.

Don't get bother with your friend's argument. Just let him think that way for you had known already that being anonymous is one feature that bitcoin platform has from the start and up to this present time.

[Maus0728]

Not to argue but at some point, the argument given by your friend is somehow true since bitcoin transactions are publicly available to be viewed by masses hence it is called blockchain as a public ledger though -- to maintain transparency. Here is a quote from satoshi regarding transactions.

When you send to a bitcoin address, you don't connect to the recipient.  You send the transaction to the network the same way you relay transactions.  There's no distinction between a transaction you originated and one you received from another node that you're relaying in a broadcast.  With a very small network though, someone might still figure it out by process of elimination.  It'll be better when the network is larger.

If you send by IP, the recipient sees you because you connect to their IP.  You could use TOR to mask that.

You could use TOR if you don't want anyone to know you're even using Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is still very new and has not been independently analysed.  If you're serious about privacy, TOR is an advisable precaution.

It is obvious that the transaction volume are much bigger right now but it is not enough to be considered as a factor for anonymity if we are still dependent on using exchange and custodial wallet which requires KYC in which we cannot taken back and will probably be tied permanently to our own identity.

bitcoin transaction are not anonymous but rather pseudonymous by default and I think no one can achieve a hundred percentage of anonymity, your choice are only to increase you privacy efficiency by using tools that can obscure internet activities.

[Review Master]

Both nodes and wallets use, leads to an ip address where information can be found.

Nodes knows the IP addresses of each other and it is possible for a node to predict the IP address for which a transaction has originated from but it is nowhere near accurate. For someone to be able to track this accurately, one has to connect to all the nodes within the network and that is impossible.

If that's possible for anyone, we could findout who is Satoshi Nakamoto and thus all the doubts about the creator/creators of Bitcoin might be revealed. As you say that one has to connect to all the nodes which is really impossible. But china produces the most of the hashrates of bitcoin networks, so it might be little possible to them to check/watch our transections, IMO. Also , it's just an hypothesis from myside. 

[fiulpro]

I was having an argument with a friend. He says that you can't be anonymous to the bitcoin's network. Both nodes and wallets use, leads to an ip address where information can be found.

I had read in this forum that you can hide it with hardware? How exactly?

Well I do think we should be aware of the fact that all the transactions are hosted on a Transparent network where people can very easily go and check where the money is going .

BUT

If you do use services like ones provided by sites like blender.io and stuff , you can very easily shuffle that address , which would mean that it would be very hard for you to track the receiver , then again you have to pay the fee there but it's not much if you are trying to protect your privacy.

At the same time you can use hardware wallets , paper wallets , or the wallets which do not require KYC. Even the government have now made the KYC a requirement for the people for major wallet companies , one can only imagine , how much they are tracking about us.

A quote from Bitcoin.org

Bitcoin works with an unprecedented level of transparency that most people are not used to dealing with. All Bitcoin transactions are public, traceable, and permanently stored in the Bitcoin network.

[Tipstar]

Both nodes and wallets use, leads to an ip address where information can be found.

Nodes knows the IP addresses of each other and it is possible for a node to predict the IP address for which a transaction has originated from but it is nowhere near accurate. For someone to be able to track this accurately, one has to connect to all the nodes within the network and that is impossible.

If that's possible for anyone, we could findout who is Satoshi Nakamoto and thus all the doubts about the creator/creators of Bitcoin might be revealed. As you say that one has to connect to all the nodes which is really impossible. But china produces the most of the hashrates of bitcoin networks, so it might be little possible to them to check/watch our transections, IMO. Also , it's just an hypothesis from myside. 

IP addresses at a give time are your location so if you are using your own IP address than you are exposing your identity. But you can easily change your IP address to a random one using tor or a VPN. There would be not much they could track with a transaction but to stay safe, you should not leave any trail and links to the transaction and hence use a different wallet for sending and receiving coins each time.

[pooya87]

Short answer: You cannot.

technically you can. why? 2 words: Satoshi Nakamoto.

so technically it is possible to stay 100% anonymous if you wanted to but it will be a very hard task (as you already explained) due to bitcoin's transparent design. but keep in mind that being able to trace transaction doesn't necessarily translate into de-anonymization not to mention that chain analysis has never been fully reliable either.

[ranochigo]

technically you can. why? 2 words: Satoshi Nakamoto.

It's arguable that the things that Satoshi has never actually implicated his real life identity. His likely use of a VPN/Tor has probably made it much more difficult for people to trace him. His involvement in Bitcoin was primarily on the development and his use of obfuscation techniques probably helped his anonymity tremendously.

I doubt that would be the use case of an average joe when they use Bitcoin.

[pooya87]

technically you can. why? 2 words: Satoshi Nakamoto.

It's arguable that the things that Satoshi has never actually implicated his real life identity. His likely use of a VPN/Tor has probably made it much more difficult for people to trace him. His involvement in Bitcoin was primarily on the development and his use of obfuscation techniques probably helped his anonymity tremendously.

I doubt that would be the use case of an average joe when they use Bitcoin.

that's true, that is why i said it is a very hard task. but at the same time Satoshi did everything. he wasn't just the developer who wrote the code, he was also a miner who found many bitcoin blocks and also he made on-chain transactions. communicated with people over the internet and through email all the while staying anonymous.
so the possibility of being anonymous is there.

[bitbunnny]

Short answer: You cannot.

technically you can. why? 2 words: Satoshi Nakamoto.

so technically it is possible to stay 100% anonymous if you wanted to but it will be a very hard task (as you already explained) due to bitcoin's transparent design. but keep in mind that being able to trace transaction doesn't necessarily translate into de-anonymization not to mention that chain analysis has never been fully reliable either.

I'm not sure that in case of Satoshi it's just a technixal component or also something else.
Anyway, Bitcoin can't give you full anonimity but many users still think that they can hide theit identity behind it. Although at the begininig Bitcoin was much more anonimous now a great deal is traceable ftom transactions to IP addresses so there is no need for illusion that you can stay fully anonimous.

[Haunebu]

You can stay anonymous to an extent if you follow the right protocols on your end. Avoid KYC, use mixers etc in order to help improve your anonymity. However, there are better options available in comparison.

Privacy specific coins like Dash, Monero, Priv etc can help you in a better way if privacy is your main concern op. These coins use better tech when compared to BTC in order to help you stay anonymous.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/cryptobriefing.com/best-privacy-coins-crypto-briefings-top-10/%3famp

[coiningz]

With monero maybe... But actually there are no 100% anonimity in the internet. In IRL too, i guess

[GazetaBitcoin]

Bitcoin gives you all the anonymity you want / need until you are revealing your personal information to third parties. At this moment your identity is revealed, but it is not Bitcoin's fault: it's your fault, as you exposed yourself by offering your personal information to others. If you use Bitcoin as it was meant by design you are protected. Unfortunately, very few users use Bitcoin according to its design thus more and more are exposed. But remember: they are exposing theirselves! How is that? By using services offered by centralized exchanges, where KYC is a must. You can read / learn more here.

Regarding your IP, again, is not a flaw of Bitcoin: this is how Internet is designed: to use the Internet Protocol (IP). But you can hide your IP with Tor, or even better, with Tor over VPN.

As a conclusion, you can stay anonymous if you use Bitcoin, as long as you want to stay anonymous.

[cabron]

If you won't be using coinbase, banks or any remittance services to cash out your BTC, you might be able to hide your identity.  But this is if you also have bought your BTC without revealing anything.  Today its hard to go into the exchanges without sending them your KYC. Its hard to be anonymous but scammers are willing to try because after all no one will sure them for an amount of just $100.

[Leviathan.007]

Depends on how you use bitcoin it's possible to increase your identify security. For example, you can always use tor and a vpn, try to install and use Tails OS it's basically designed to protect your identity, mix your bitcoins, never do kyc/aml. In the other hand, you will need to use darkweb more than clearnet in order to protect your real identity(read instructions carefully before using it). Also, you can increase your security using monero. But, always remember there is noway to guarantee that your 100% anonymous, there is always a chance to track your transactions even a little bit.

[o_e_l_e_o]

But you can easily change your IP address to a random one using tor or a VPN.

VPNs do not provide anonymity. Your VPN provider can see all your traffic and link it to your real IP address. This is even worse if you pay for your VPN with fiat, in which case they can link all your traffic to your real name and address. If you are looking for anonymity, then you need to use Tor.

There's also a lot more to staying anonymous than simply using Tor and thinking "that's that". Tor isn't foolproof for starters. Many people use Tor in de-anonymizing ways, such as logging in to accounts which have been set up or accessed via non-Tor methods, linking them back to their real identity. Even having the same browsing habits and constantly visiting the same sites as you do outside of Tor can be enough to de-anonymize you. You definitely can't use a mainstream operating system which will be phoning home constantly and filled with other software which will access the internet outside of Tor. You'll need to use something like Qubes or Whonix. You'll definitely need to run your own full node. You'll need to buy bitcoin with non-traceable methods, and you'll need to use mixers or CoinJoin if you don't want your transactions to be tracked. The list goes on and on. You can certainly make it very difficult to be de-anonymized or to have your transactions tracked, but if you ever think you are completely anonymous, you aren't.

[sheenshane]

Yes, you can if you want to. You can completely hide your identity that didn't directly link to anyone's personal identity. But if when it comes transaction there is a possibility that can be traceable or can be tracked. I heard there are services offered who can track Bitcoin transaction in illegal use or any cybercrimes related cases. Chainalysis can investigate and provide blockchain data that possible transactions can be tracked.

So, if you want to protect your personal identity and privacy in Bitcoin transactions you need to do the hard task, and these what you need.

• Use Bitcoin mixing service
• Use TOR to stay anonymous
• Buy/Sell Bitcoin in cash, not on the exchange that required KYC
• Use VPN to protect your IP address
• Use New Bitcoin address for every transaction

These might improve your anonymity.