Should Crypto users use VPN's ? You decide.....

[Vishnu.Reang]

Tor is a much better alternative. And it's also free.

TOR is as risky as any of the private VPNs out there. How can you be sure that the entry node is not compromised in TOR? A number of dark market users were arrested during the previous years, after using compromised entry/exit nodes in TOR. On top of that TOR is really slow. If you want to do only the basic cryptocurrency transactions, then it should be OK. But for getting email confirmations and all, it can get frustrating.

[erikoy]

I am using VPN not because I wanted to keep my privacy while browsing or surfing nor also that our country does not support the cryptocurrency or cryptocurrency is being ban. I used VPN because I wanted to bypass the prepaid load promo to which its data that is intended for facebook and messenger only could be converted to a regular data for browsing in the different sites.

But yes VPN is very effective when you do not wanted to get notice from any platform that ban users specifically to certain countries. They might not able to trace you where you came from but you must be careful not to be caught for if you do then they can suspend your account.

[Thavash]

I would say
1) Avoid the free VPNs , I dont trust them
2) The paid VPNs - we don't know if they are even 100% safe but many people use them anyway
3) Always use 2FA on your accounts

[ranochigo]

TOR is as risky as any of the private VPNs out there.

That's not correct. Why would Tor be as risky if you're exposing whatever site you're visiting to the VPN explicitly? There's no difficulty in the VPN to obtain your IP address and your browsing history.

How can you be sure that the entry node is not compromised in TOR? A number of dark market users were arrested during the previous years, after using compromised entry/exit nodes in TOR. On top of that TOR is really slow. If you want to do only the basic cryptocurrency transactions, then it should be OK. But for getting email confirmations and all, it can get frustrating.

The traffic of onion websites (I presume you're talking about hidden services) doesn't go through the exit node. Entry node doesn't see your traffic, it's encrypted; it'll only know that your IP is using Tor but it can't see anything inside of the packet. I think a sybil attack would be the greatest cause of concern but given that your entry guard only changes once per 120 days, I think the chances of someone executing a sybil attack is greatly diminished, especially with the  resources required and the chances of success. Even if you're using a website in the internet, the exit node can only see what sites you're visiting, SSL Strip is not that big of a concern as the browser will always attempt to access the site using HTTPS. It can't trace back to the original IP.

Usually, when people reveal their own IP address, it's due to other de-obfuscating methods that are specifically targeted, which would've been way easier if it's a VPN under some jurisdiction. A court order would've probably allowed them easier access, even protonmail has to submit to court orders at times (though I believe the reason is very justified and they've done a very good job in ensuring the privacy).

If you're worrying about having a slow internet speed, then I think privacy is probably not your greatest concern. Having a good obfuscation comes at an expense of degraded browsing experience.

[Cryptoreflector_666]

I am using VPN not because I wanted to keep my privacy while browsing or surfing nor also that our country does not support the cryptocurrency or cryptocurrency is being ban. I used VPN because I wanted to bypass the prepaid load promo to which its data that is intended for facebook and messenger only could be converted to a regular data for browsing in the different sites.

But yes VPN is very effective when you do not wanted to get notice from any platform that ban users specifically to certain countries. They might not able to trace you where you came from but you must be careful not to be caught for if you do then they can suspend your account.

You need to understand that if you use a VPN for a specific platform and do it regularly, it is necessary that your IP address is constant, not dynamic, and it is also necessary that some other user does not sit at the same address. These are quite likely developments, since those who use free VPN services quite often fall for such things. Be careful and everything will be fine.

[davis196]

There is no way, I repeat, no way to ensure that your VPN will not store your logs. Ultimately, when you're connecting using OpenVPN to their server, they can (and likely will) store logs of some form, anonymized or not. For that reason, I don't really recommend people to use VPNs with their wallet. It could potentially be detrimental to your privacy as it'll keep more detailed logs and your traffic has to flow through the VPN. Your trust now lies with the VPN provider instead of your ISP.

Tor is a much better alternative. And it's also free.

Tor Nodes are controlled by the FBI and most of the IP address in Tor are blacklisted for a reason.
I tried to login in a cryptocurrency platform using the Tor browser and it was a nightmare-constant captchas one after another and I eventually failed to login.
Most cryptocurrency platforms are directly blocking access via the Tor browser.
You decide how helpful is Tor and what alternative can Tor be to the VPNs.
I'm not a big fan of VPNs as well.It doesn't matter how "trustworthy" is the VPN you are using,some day your browsing data will get into the hands of FBI.

[ranochigo]

Tor Nodes are controlled by the FBI

Source? That's one of the wildest assertion that I've heard in a while.

most of the IP address in Tor are blacklisted for a reason.

Correct and for a good reason.

I tried to login in a cryptocurrency platform using the Tor browser and it was a nightmare-constant captchas one after another and I eventually failed to login.
Most cryptocurrency platforms are directly blocking access via the Tor browser.
You decide how helpful is Tor and what alternative can Tor be to the VPNs.

It's done deliberately. That's why I don't support using most of the mainstream exchanges if you're trying to hide your identity. What's the use of hiding behind an obfuscation service if you're using an exchange which requires KYC validation?

Does a VPN/Proxy face the same problem? Perhaps, both Tor and VPNs could be used for similar purpose and some exchanges also treat them similarly.

[btc78]

I do not know if this is FUD or not, but it got me thinking.... should Bitcoiners and Crypto enthusiasts use VPN's and how do we know they are keeping their word when they say that they are not storing your data?

Source : https://www.pcmag.com/news/7-vpn-services-found-recording-user-logs-despite-no-log-pledge



How do we really know if they store data or not? (Any OpenSource VPN's out there?) ....Well, I personally feel it is risky and you should seriously think about this move, if you are using a VPN with sensitive information.

Let's discuss.......

The question is "Does the VPN really safe?and not saving our data's?Internet is a wide screen in which simple people can't understand or know.
We are only relying on what is being fed for us but the deeper factor remains unknown to us.

Lets just Hope that there will be no attack towards all crypto users via internet because that would be the end of each career and maybe the whole crypto also.

[NotATether]

Ok, most replies on this thread agree that the users does not trust VPN's and that "Opensource" gives people a false sense of security. The goal of this thread is once again there to ask questions about the things we do on the internet and how "private" our data really are.  

Even if the VPN client is fully open source and on Github for the world to see, you are connecting to remote IP addresses whose security, and level of server hardness only the operators know. So you are still counting on the administrators to not give up your IP address and sites visited.

So a VPN being open source doesn't prove much about trustworthiness as logs are collected server-side, but to say open-source VPNs provide a false sense of security is an exaggeration. They are certainly better than using closed-source VPNs, even if only marginally better.


A few days ago I set up my own proxy using Squid, and the amount of logging it was collecting by default was nightmarish. I could see my IP and websites I was connecting to. I'm going to see if there's a configuration option to disable that as I don't ever read my logs.

[idrisalomagold]

Based on the question above, should crypto users use VPN. I think most of us have made our point and perhaps the answer is - it depends.

It depends on:
1. The country which users interacted with...
2. The way how we took care on our Personal Data Protection, but I found inconsistency here. Knowing that most of us couldn't fully and 100% protect our data far from the internet world (as we are part of it) the only thing we can make is at least we are aware of what we do in the internet especially on protecting our personal and confidential information.
3. Internet that we usually visited and user concern about its privacy may opt to use VPN.

Perhaps, these are few of many reasons why we need to use VPN. In fact, this is all about protecting our own personal data.

[stompix]

Tor is a much better alternative. And it's also free.

99% of VPN users would simply not use TOR because it can't provide the speed they need, and I would say that again 99% out of those don't really care about their logs, most of them are trying to obfuscate their country or a banned IP or create multiple accounts on some platform.
The rest 1% that would really care about it are either using ready TOR or their own customs VPNs or tunneling methods.

Bitcoin is money and we should treat it like the money that we have in our wallets or the money in our Bank accounts. (We do not trust Banks, so why should we trust VPN's?)

1 million points question:
Do you trust your ISP and your mobile carrier? 

[Sparrow96]

All VPN's mentioned here are free VPN. Even paid VPN's collect information let alone Free VPN. I don't think crypto users need to use VPN's. Because, no will be able to trace you with your Bitcoin address if you don't leave any clue. If you want to hide your Bitcoin uses you can use TOR. Read this quote from Satoshi.

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.

So, you shouldn't use a free VPN by compromising your valuable data. You should use TOR instead.

[peter0425]

Actually there is no safe place in internet ,so Maybe VPN is partly yes but not in totality as our data has been on air each time we use the process and no assurance that VPN is really far from using the Net.

I would say
1) Avoid the free VPNs , I dont trust them
2) The paid VPNs - we don't know if they are even 100% safe but many people use them anyway
3) Always use 2FA on your accounts

0
Good advise as we really don't know where is safe and not.

[Lucius]

1 million points question:
Do you trust your ISP and your mobile carrier? 

I personally don’t trust them like most of those who know how the whole thing works, but we are all forced to use some ISP and mobile network if we want to communicate and have access to information. Most also agree that VPN is not something that guarantees our privacy, and even TOR cannot be a 100% secure solution - and to be honest, the more we try to hide our online traces, the more intelligence agencies become interested in what we are actually hiding.

In fact, it's hard or almost impossible to be online and remain anonymous no matter what tools you use - so while there's a lot of fiction in the movies, some things aren't far from the truth. The resources and tools possessed by top security agencies are so powerful that sooner or later they will identify and locate anyone and anywhere in the world if that person is not completely off the grid.

[raidarksword]

Using VPN is having being anonymous in the internet or country is forbidden  in a particular site but it doesn't mean it is safe to use hence it is a third party program which means is more exposed and vulnerable from hackers in my humble opinion. I rather trust my ISP that I commonly used in daily basis wherein I am more familiar with trusted ever since I am into crypto currencies. In order to keep safe of our assets much practice more precautions and security measures before anything else with that we can assure our information's are safe.

[milani]

Every gadget is not secured at all, and using VPN or anonymous page and so on will not save you from loosing your data. So everyone should remember this like his or her name always. It is very simple instruction how not to lose assets and data actually. Several easy rules. Lots of people just forget about them.

[AakZaki]

Some time ago some of my friends had difficulty logging into one of the crypto exchanges (Binance) and couldn't even enter. If he tries to access it, it will redirect to a positive government website address. Some alternative suggestions for logging in are to use a VPN app or set up DNS.
Many VPNs are free but I don't recommend them because they are dangerous unless they are paid (but this is not guaranteed). My second alternative would suggest set up DNS 1.1.1.1  from Cloudflare. Some articles write that this is a DNS service that does not log IPs, does not keep any activity logs and will delete browsing history automatically. Do you think this is safe or do you have any other suggestions?

[Ratash]

No we can not know if they are spying on us but i think they are that is the hidden objective of vpn they want to keep everyone in check and they are , because the moment you connect your devise to vpn all of your data are uploaded to their servers and they can view everything about us, that is why we have to be carefull when we use vpn.

[XCANA]

Basically there are not such as VPN not storing your logs either through the means of analyzing form or not. What i know about this log storage is, your ISP will definitely store your logs, but, in respect of cryptocurrency is; don't use the wallet with it own VPN becasue there are possibility of them storing your logs definitely. 

[stompix]

I personally don’t trust them like most of those who know how the whole thing works, but we are all forced to use some ISP and mobile network if we want to communicate and have access to information.

This is why I'm always thinking that we should channel more of our energy to solve the main problem while trying to avoid detection.

Rather than searching in vain for a bulletproof solution, we should take steps to prevent anyone from using those logs in a bad way by changing the laws, and if the parliament doesn't want then change the parliament. This is a never-ending game of cat and mouse, some of the mice will get away but the cat will still have its breakfast, no point in designing 100 escape routes, just get rid of the cat.

The resources and tools possessed by top security agencies are so powerful that sooner or later they will identify and locate anyone and anywhere in the world if that person is not completely off the grid.

That's the problem with VPNs and ISPs
Your ISP knows and if doesn't it can find out in seconds you're using a VPN, from that point it's just two clicks on finding which and then sending some bs law enforcement signed papers and they have all your logs or if the VPN is indeed clean they will use their power to either make them comply or shut it down.