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

[davis196]

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.

Nope,I don't think that you can completely hide your identity online.Here are my tips:
1.Bitcoin mixers are a must for anonymity,but be careful,because some mixer might steal your coins and scam you.
2.Tor is overrated.Most of the Tor nodes are watched by FBI.Combine Tor with a paid VPN.
3.Use TAILS operating system.Combine with Tor/VPN/Socks5 proxy
4.It's OK to use exchanges with KYC,but the outgoing BTC transactions have to go to a BTC mixer first.
5.VPNs are OK,but use a paid one.Free trials and free VPNs usually suck.
6.New BTC address for every transaction is a must.
7.Use Duckduckgo as a search engine and Protonmail as an email address provider.Completely abandon Google,because the big G is tracking all your online activities.

[MCobian]

I have an opinion that we cannot hide 100% identity with Bitcoin, because Monero coin alone is clearly a privacy coin can be tracked
even though it's difficult. And also many hackers who argue that no system is safe, which means we can't in the internet world
anonymous 100%. Although there are still some people who think it is possible that Bitcoin can hide 100% identity, therefore this issue
is still pros and cons.

[mocacinno]

You can always combine tor with a good vpn while on a public wifi network in a place without CCTV camera's, then while connected trough tor + vpn put your funds trough several "hops"...

A mixer =>

a no-KYC on the fly exchange to monero =>

some transactions between monero wallets =>

using a different no-KYC on the fly exchange back to btc =>

To the hotwallet of a no-KYC casino (gamble a bit) / withdraw afterwards =>

Coinjoin


If you want to be completely anonymous, use the funds from the previous steps, rent a VPS, setup p2pool, rent some hashrate on miningrigrentals (or an equivalent service) and mine several blocks using a brand-new, never-used, offline created address as a coinbase address.... All these steps have to be done over tor+vpn.

You can even go more paranoid than this (for example, by routing all your traffic over one or more bulletproof vps's that were purchased with mixed coins over tor/vpn)... But each step you add will cost you some extra funds... And a single screwup and it'll all have been in vain...

I'd like to see the 3 letter agency that can tie the coinbase reward back to the initial funds  

[Aveatrex]

IMO.. satoshi is an anonymous group, not a real person.  if he is a real person we can track him because even if he uses VPN or Tor network when he exchanges his Bitcoin for fiat money on the exchange, his identity will be found out because on average the exchange tracks the identity of the owner of Bitcoin who has a large amount..

Don't forget that P2P exchanges exist... Also, even if satoshi is an anonymous group how does that change the fact that measures have to be taken anyways to not leak the informations of that presumed "group" ?

5.VPNs are OK,but use a paid one.

I may add that even if it's a paid one, VPNs have to be choosen carefully because some of them (paid) are known to have logged AND given user's information when asked by authorities.

[hermawan9416]

No. Today, unfortunately, there are many ways to find traces and get to your identity.

[stiffbud]

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.

IMO.. satoshi is an anonymous group, not a real person.  if he is a real person we can track him because even if he uses VPN or Tor network when he exchanges his Bitcoin for fiat money on the exchange, his identity will be found out because on average the exchange tracks the identity of the owner of Bitcoin who has a large amount..

Actually in the very first days of bitcoin there weren't any strict AML/KYC laws applicable to the bitcoin exchanges, most of the exchanges used to happen by p2p method, so only a few people would have known about his identity. And he never sold much of his coins, most of the coins from the starting days of bitcoin blockchain remain dormant to this date as well.
 Also as @Ranochigo said use of Tor and proxy servers would have made Satoshi untraceable as he would definitely be using them surely because he was paranoid for privacy.

[yazher]

Everyone in the community except for the few members is doing that right now, hiding their own identity including our boss Theymos. The only thing they can find is the place where that IP address will lead them but if someone is using some proxy or any other browsers to hide identities, it will only lead you to some fake addresses. It's really easy to hide your identity at some point but if the one tracing you is master in this field, you might get tracked but I tell you it's not that easy though.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Thinking that satoshi cannot be found, makes me think that you can hide yourself 100%.

[vtanwar001]

I know that there are a lot of Bitcoin mixers to hide your identity. But mixers do not quaranty that the bitcoin transactions will be clean and will have a good history.

[Chrystora123]

snip..

Actually in the very first days of bitcoin there weren't any strict AML/KYC laws applicable to the bitcoin exchanges, most of the exchanges used to happen by p2p method, so only a few people would have known about his identity. And he never sold much of his coins, most of the coins from the starting days of bitcoin blockchain remain dormant to this date as well.
 Also as @Ranochigo said use of Tor and proxy servers would have made Satoshi untraceable as he would definitely be using them surely because he was paranoid for privacy.

I have heard that it will be difficult to trace if you are many..  you just note that it will be easier to reveal the identity of an "independent hacker" rather than a "hacker group" in this case Satoshi is a lot, it can be said "Satoshi is us"

a little information on why VPN and Tor don't really hide the identity 100%

Shortage of VPN, Consists of:
- Internet connection (public network) that we cannot predict. This can be tolerated because basically we only "stick" connections to other parties' networks so that we automatically do not have control over the network.
- More attention to security. Again, because of the use of public networks, we need to pay more attention to prevent the occurrence of unwanted things such as wiretapping, hacking, and actions of cybercrime on VPN networks.
- Tapping-prone
- There is no User Main Control
- Device Mismatch
- There Are No Standards That Meet

Tor is not intended to fully resolve the anonymity problem on the web. Tor is not designed to completely delete tracks but rather to reduce the possibility of sites tracking actions and data back to users.

When used incorrectly, Tor is not safe. For example, Tor warns its users that not all traffic is protected; only traffic directed through the protected Tor browser. Users are also warned to use the https website version, not to torrent with Tor, not to activate the browser plugin, not to open documents downloaded through Tor while online, and to use a secure bridge. Users are also warned that they cannot provide names or other disclosure information on the web forum above Tor and remain anonymous at the same time.

[hulla]

No. Today, unfortunately, there are many ways to find traces and get to your identity.

There's some ways to trace people identity with bitcoin but theres absolutely some ways to hide one's identity with bitcoin through the use bitcoin tumbler site (which i can recommend only chipmix), the use of coinjoin wallet (samurai or wasabi wallet) and using Tor browser/VPN  which will make impossible for anyone to trace your identity if managed properly.

[seoincorporation]

If you install a node in your personal computer, then make a transaction and after that search for the ip on that transaction, you will see that's not the same ip as your local ip, and this is because bitcoin use proxies to broadcast the transactions.

But you can be traced if someone find where do you get the coins from and where do you spend them to.

[Ucy]

I guess it depends on how you use Bitcoin. There is the possibility to be fully anonymous if it's purely peer-to-peer transaction. You'd have to find a peer in real world to be able to this.


You could also safely print out couple of private keys in different denominations (maybe with special machine to immediately seal the keys with silver panels) and  use them like regular cash.   For this to work well like regular cash, the owners will have to know only part of the keys before transferring to the next person. No confirmation will be needed if done right. Not going to say much on this.

[MCDev]

I think we are not completely anonymous to bitcoin, maybe somehow people will find us (via IP address or trading wallet).
In case people sell bitcoin and cash it out, I think the government will immediately recognize you.

[coinfinger]

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?

I don’t know about this for sure. But from what I have seen and according to see articles, you can’t be hundred percent anonymous when you’re making use of Bitcoin. There are people who are able to do that, but it’s going to cause you some stress. Every transaction has their IP address that’s linked to them, and I have heard that people can be traced with that IP address, but I think it’s only the government that has the ability or power to do that, and not an ordinary individual (if there are, then I am not aware of it).

Some people make use of some software to mask their IP address so that they won’t be traced and they also make use of Coin mixers to create more anonymity for themselves. I don’t think you will like to stress yourself this much when you’re only using it for legit purposes.

[DoublerHunter]

I think we are not completely anonymous to bitcoin, maybe somehow people will find us (via IP address or trading wallet).
In case people sell bitcoin and cash it out, I think the government will immediately recognize you.

^ Definitely right, because bitcoin was created not for hiding your personality as a payment. The intention of the creator is to become a worldwide digital currency that probably uses in any form of payment method online. It can be tracked your identity but I had a few questions bother in my mind.
Why those crypto exchanges hacked last year did not recover the bitcoin had been stolen, is their lack of information or just an inside job.
Nevertheless, I can say that probably 25% you can hide as a anonymously but the rest, it can be trackable.

[Utoy101]

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?

There's a saying that does you can't be 100% anonymous when you are connected to the internet and it is certainly correct because when you perform transactions with bitcoin, the blockchain itself keeps the record of everything which means even your ip address and servers are included and even of you try using vpn and other anonymity softwares, the software developer can access your original ip and location

[Shasha80]

Your friend is absolutely right, we can't hide our identity with Bitcoin. Because decentralization owned by Bitcoin has transparency,
which means that all Bitcoin transactions that we do can be seen publicly. Even though we use software or VPN, there are always gaps.
The conclusion is that in the internet world nothing is 100% anonymous.

[CardHerald]

your IP address because it is not risky to your privacy, you can download any full node wallet and run Tor network to access the data anonymously.
Bitcoin is not anonymously system
hardware wallet add more to your security, but will not do anything to protect privacy, privacy is your data, hardware wallet will not protect it.

use a new address every time, do not use any old address, and do not link your personal files.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Why those crypto exchanges hacked last year did not recover the bitcoin had been stolen, is their lack of information or just an inside job.

Most criminals aren't stupid enough to take stolen funds and transfer them directly to an exchange or some other online account registered under their own name. Once the attacker passes coins through a good mixer or coinjoin transaction then it can become very difficult to trace.

the blockchain itself keeps the record of everything which means even your ip address and servers are included

Although this data is visible to other nodes at the time that you make a transaction, neither your IP address nor the server you connect to is permanently stored on the blockchain.