Bitcoin privacy?

[Anonohmon]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet Edit: *Electrum* that uses/connects to the Tor network?

Like I don't get it. If I send anonymous btc (mined, mixed, or xmr transfer) to a generic address I own. How would that mean anyone could know I own it? It's not like those btc addresses save IP addresses do they?

What am I missing?

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[mocacinno]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet that uses/connects to the Tor network?

Like I don't get it. If I send anonymous btc (mined, mixed, or xmr transfer) to a generic address I own. How would that mean anyone could know I own it? It's not like those btc addresses save IP addresses do they?

What am I missing?

No, your ip isn't saved on the blockchain.
If you use an SPV wallet (like electrum) without tor tough, you do connect to the electrum node to broadcast your transaction (and look up your balance). So the node operator could potentially log your actions.
When using an online wallet (not recommanded), it's even worse: they could potentially log every action.

And block explorers could also log which ip requested to look at which address/transaction.

But the biggest "problem" with your anonymity is that both buying and selling btc (or using btc to buy something) usually requires KYC. Now, if you mine BTC, or use a decent mixer, or switch chains to XMR (and back), and you don't post your address on a forum, and you don't look up your balance on an explorer, and you don't re-use your address, and you use a wallet over tor (or use a full node as a wallet), odds are small somebody will be able to identify you as long as you don't use your btc to buy something physical, or buy something in a store that requires KYC, or sell your btc on an exchange that requires KYC.

[zasad@]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet that uses/connects to the Tor network?

Like I don't get it. If I send anonymous btc (mined, mixed, or xmr transfer) to a generic address I own. How would that mean anyone could know I own it? It's not like those btc addresses save IP addresses do they?

What am I missing?

It depends on your level of paranoia and what kind of activity you are involved in.
In practice, if you look at how well-known hackers and criminals were caught, then they were let down by boasting, a rich lifestyle, or their accomplices handed over information about them to the police.
It is easier to track financial transactions in banks than to look for the owner of the address in the blockchain.

[pooya87]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet

Who has been recommending these things to you? Your other topic was strange like this one where you are talking about a very unpopular tool which I couldn't even find the source code of (only a github repository exists that doesn't have the source).

[witcher_sense]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet that uses/connects to the Tor network?

Like I don't get it. If I send anonymous btc (mined, mixed, or xmr transfer) to a generic address I own. How would that mean anyone could know I own it? It's not like those btc addresses save IP addresses do they?

What am I missing?

Conversely, it is never recommended to use closed-source wallets like Atomic Wallet for managing your keys and transacting. In closed-source software, it is impossible to verify the claims wallet developers make regarding the security or anonymity of their wallets. For example, we can't be sure that seed phrases a wallet presents are really random and that they aren't stored somewhere in their database waiting to be maliciously spent by evil actors. When you use such a wallet for storing your keys you have to trust devs are honest. And even if they are honest, it doesn't make their wallet more secure because, unlike in open-source, there are always fewer people auditing the code in closed-source software. You also can't be sure there are no backdoors in such wallets that are aimed at breaking your privacy or deanonymizing your transactions. They might be collecting your addresses, your transactions, your system information, and your IP address (you can't be sure that the Tor connection isn't vulnerable in their implementation). All this information may be collected, analyzed, and sent to authorities for whatever reason.

Who has been recommending these things to you? Your other topic was strange like this one where you are talking about a very unpopular tool which I couldn't even find the source code of (only a github repository exists that doesn't have the source).

It is closed-source https://support.atomicwallet.io/article/184-why-is-atomic-wallet-not-open-source

[Blank-Head]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet that uses/connects to the Tor network?

Like I don't get it. If I send anonymous btc (mined, mixed, or xmr transfer) to a generic address I own. How would that mean anyone could know I own it? It's not like those btc addresses save IP addresses do they?

What am I missing?

It all depends on you, you will be surprised to see all the victims of something like this before. If you look at how many previous hackers tried to keep their transactions secret but could not keep their secret information was finally hacked to others by the police.
I don't think there is any way to hide the transactions of online platfrom. Hackers are constantly discovering new things that I am surprised to see or know.

[Wiwo]

Privacy is of two ways if you talking about your online privacy one will be able to mix and use new addresses for each transaction and use decentralized services to hide your identity your privacy may be safe, but then again you can't use Bitcoin to make daily payments in some cases so you. still need the services of a bank and this will require your details. So in whichever wallet you use be it custodial or none custodian wallets, your transaction can only be traced if you give out your personal information.

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet that uses/connects to the Tor network?

Like I don't get it. If I send anonymous btc (mined, mixed, or xmr transfer) to a generic address I own. How would that mean anyone could know I own it? It's not like those btc addresses save IP addresses, do they?

What am I missing?

So ultimately your privacy is your key know when to give out personal information and use decentralized services if available.

[Despairo]

It all depends on you, you will be surprised to see all the victims of something like this before. If you look at how many previous hackers tried to keep their transactions secret but could not keep their secret information was finally hacked to others by the police. I don't think there is any way to hide the transactions of online platfrom. Hackers are constantly discovering new things that I am surprised to see or know.

Nah, pretty sure they're not fully understand and carefully how to hide their taint 100% from anyone. He must leave a trace on centralized exchanges or ever submitting his personal identity to someone, that's why the police can discover the hacker is. However when someone want to protect his privacy, it doesn't mean they're a hacker, criminal or a bad guy who have doing something wrong. They just want to live a comfortable life without bothering them.

[Charles-Tim]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet that uses/connects to the Tor network?

The last time I downloaded Atomic wallet, it gives only one address, mayne it will change it once a transaction is made (I thought that) but I did not used it to make any transaction. Any wallet that do not change address are not recommendable if not changing address. You can not use coin control on Atomic wallet, it is close source wallet. Atomic wallet is never a recommendable wallet.

For privacy, the best is to run your own node like using Bitcoin Core or run your own Electrum server with Tor.

But for light client wallet (like the atomic you mentioned, but not recommendable), you can use Electrum wallet, but using Tor with it (not IP address) for anonymity.

It is easier to track financial transactions in banks than to look for the owner of the address in the blockchain.

This is accepted, there is no bank transaction hidden online to as it can easily be tracked by the banks, but also most people that are using bitcoin nowadays are using it in a way privacy or anonymity is not possible, they make use of IP address, light client wallet, using a kind of light client wallet that only gives them just an address, they track transaction using blockchain explorer with their IP and sort of no privacy means of using bitcoin. Many of them are using centralized exchanges that nearly all of them are continuously demanding for KYC. The fact is that some people are using bitcoin in a way privacy and anonymity is never possible. But bitcoin can still just be used in way privacy is possible just as mocacinno already lost about it.

[fzkto]

Privacy is not about bitcoin. Of course you can use Samourai Wallet or Wasabi Wallet, which have CoinJoin technology using Tor nodes. But it seems to me that if you are a regular user you might get suspicious when using such wallets. After all, there are services like Chainalysis that can track suspect transactions. If you're worried about privacy, use a cryptocurrency dedicated to that.

[zaesvlas]

Here such options are considered rather for safety. It also makes it harder to find you and hack into your wallet.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Privacy is not about bitcoin.

?

Of course you can use Samourai Wallet or Wasabi Wallet, which have CoinJoin technology using Tor nodes.

Unfortunately, the Wasabi coordinator censors users now. You can read more about this in: The default Wasabi Wallet coordinator will start censoring "illegal" UTXOs.

But it seems to me that if you are a regular user you might get suspicious when using such wallets.

Well, if they choose to deposit the coins in a centralized exchange, they may be rejected, but until there. I've never witnessed a case where the CoinJoin participator enmeshes with illicit activities just because they mixed their outputs with a criminal.

[fzkto]

Privacy is not about bitcoin.

?

Of course you can use Samourai Wallet or Wasabi Wallet, which have CoinJoin technology using Tor nodes.

Unfortunately, the Wasabi coordinator censors users now. You can read more about this in: The default Wasabi Wallet coordinator will start censoring "illegal" UTXOs.

But it seems to me that if you are a regular user you might get suspicious when using such wallets.

You mean a suspect? Well, if they choose to deposit the coins in a centralized exchange, they may be rejected, but until there. I've never witnessed a case where the CoinJoin participator enmeshes with illicit activities just because they mixed their outputs with a criminal.

My point was that bitcoin is not anonymous, or rather for anonymity there are other coins where it is really hard to track transactions.
What I meant by suspicious is that if you were using a regular wallet like electrum and then started using mixers or Coin Join, you might raise suspicion with a third party. But that depends on how paranoid you are 

[Kakmakr]

I see it like this...... Not EVERYONE will know you are linked to a specific Bitcoin address .....just the people that make it their business to acquire and store that information. You can mess with their plans, if you do not re-use the same Bitcoin addresses and/or if you use several Bitcoin Mixers.

The thing is.... The average Joe on the street will not have that information... Only if that information are hacked or leaked on purpose. The same goes with all centralized FIAT businesses and even Banks.  

[dkbit98]

Why is it recommended to use a wallet like atomic wallet that uses/connects to the Tor network?

I don't think that atomic wallet has any option for using Tor network, unless something changed in recent updates.
Example of wallets that are using Tor are Wasabi or Trezor Suite, and it's good to use them if you want to hide your real IP address for transactions.

Like I don't get it. If I send anonymous btc (mined, mixed, or xmr transfer) to a generic address I own. How would that mean anyone could know I own it? It's not like those btc addresses save IP addresses do they?

Many wallets are saving bunch of information and they are probably sending them to their servers for various reasons.
I am sure IP addresses are recorded like this and connected with addresses and transactions used, even ledger publicly confirmed they are doing this with their ledger suite app.
Who know, maybe they are even selling this information to interested third parties or government agencies.

[Anonohmon]

My bad my bad I meant the Electrum wallet connects to Tor. 

but ok thanks for the replies.

I'm guessing the only time it's an issue is when you look at a transaction. the blockchain explorer website might log your IP. But I suppose if you use tor to look at a transaction you should be fine. Just switch all your default internet to tor.

[pooya87]

It is closed-source https://support.atomicwallet.io/article/184-why-is-atomic-wallet-not-open-source

Developers of closed source applications that make statements such as "We don't want to make scammers' jobs easier." and "We don't want fake apps to boom in numbers" to justify why their wallet is closed source are either incompetent enough to not-understand that both of these things are possible regardless of the source code being open or not or are malicious themselves and are hiding behind fake reasons.

[tbct_mt2]

I'm guessing the only time it's an issue is when you look at a transaction. the blockchain explorer website might log your IP.

They record your IP address and you don't know what they will do with their data base includes your IP addresses.

But I suppose if you use tor to look at a transaction you should be fine. Just switch all your default internet to tor.

It is true but if you have your non custodial wallet, why do you need Tor and explorer to check your transaction? Open your wallet and you can see whether your transaction is confirmed or not yet.

Tor is available for Android too
- Download Tor: https://www.torproject.org/download/
- Tor for Android: https://www.torproject.org/download/#android

[Anonohmon]

I'm guessing the only time it's an issue is when you look at a transaction. the blockchain explorer website might log your IP.

They record your IP address and you don't know what they will do with their data base includes your IP addresses.

But I suppose if you use tor to look at a transaction you should be fine. Just switch all your default internet to tor.

It is true but if you have your non custodial wallet, why do you need Tor and explorer to check your transaction? Open your wallet and you can see whether your transaction is confirmed or not yet.

Tor is available for Android too
- Download Tor: https://www.torproject.org/download/
- Tor for Android: https://www.torproject.org/download/#android

Hey, you dont know by any chance on how to program your PC to automatically open urls via tor? I can do this for my phone/android but yeah.

[mocacinno]

--snip--

Hey, you dont know by any chance on how to program your PC to automatically open urls via tor? I can do this for my phone/android but yeah.

this was the first hit i got on google: https://www.wikihow.com/Route-All-Network-Traffic-Through-the-Tor-Network

An other option would be to run tor, and setup your browser to use the running tor instance as a socks5 proxy. That way all traffic from this browser is routed trough tor, but the rest of your traffic is not.