Getting around KYC

[tjtonmoy]

And what do you think happens to your privacy when you sign up for a centralized exchange, hand over your real name, address, email address, phone number, complete KYC, upload scans of your passport and other documents, upload a photo of your face, let them track your every trade, every click, every page view, and then sell and share that data with a bunch of third parties?

Well that's a concern too. But where your life is in question, I guess CEX are better than this. If you can find a good buyer who will buy from you face to face, then that's a good thing. But the chances are very low. You have to sell to one person or some cases 3–4 people whom you can trust. In Centralized exchange you can sell to random people and I don't think they can track you like what can be done in physical trades.
I am not saying that Centralized exchanges are any good. But when it comes to this, from POV I will choose CEX. It's a necessary evil. You win some you lose some.

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[o_e_l_e_o]

In Centralized exchange you can sell to random people and I don't think they can track you like what can be done in physical trades.

If I trade with someone face to face for cash, the most they find out about me is the address I sent the bitcoin from. Since that bitcoin will have been mixed or otherwise anonymized, that tells them exactly nothing about me.

Centralized exchanges, on the other hand, track everything that you do. They know your name, address, phone number, email, occupation, income, SSN, tax details, and so on. They know your bank accounts and credit cards. Every deposit you make is analyzed via blockchain analysis companies. Every withdrawal you make is tracked to see where it goes. They use that information to link all your addresses and wallets together, and see how and when you spend your money. They link all of that to your real identity. They keep track of every trade you've made, every IP address you've used, every device you access their platform with. They use your IP addresses and device fingerprints to track your movements across the internet and other websites. They build an enormous profile on you, and then sell and share that information to a variety of third parties.

The two are not even comparable. To say a physical trade is worse for privacy than a centralized exchange is insanity.

[tjtonmoy]

~snip

Well I said it because Bitcoin is banned in our country. You could go to jail just by owning bitcoin/other cryptocurrency. So there's always a chance that the law enforcement could set up a trap if you go for a face to face transaction. It is hard to tell who is doing what when it comes to a random stranger. There was a local site here that was used to buy sell crypto without KYC but it was taken down after 3 months.
I don't have experience on face to face deals but that scares me a bit. So it's a personal opinion. That's why I prefer CEX here. If I can get a good buyer/seller, then I will definitely choose that over CEX. But as that's not available here, I am forced to use CEX in order for a safe transaction.

[o_e_l_e_o]

But as that's not available here, I am forced to use CEX in order for a safe transaction.

That's fine, and if that is the best option available to you given your risk model, then obviously use that. But saying that face to face trading is worse for privacy than a CEX is just factually incorrect.

[coupable]

I don't think it's actually safe to go about meeting people one-on-one to complete a peer-to-peer trade, especially when you don't know the person. If there is one thing I have learned and read from @o_e_l_e_o, it is that privacy matters a lot in this crypto community. Going into a trade with someone completely stranger and wanting to meet them physically is, to some point, dangerous because you don't know who the person actually is.

This is very sound logic from the theoretical level, but reality has other things.  In countries where the use of crypto is prohibited, which is almost most of the countries in the world, especially those that cannot use peer-to-peer platforms for one reason or another (the most important reason is that he does not find many offers that he can benefit from), they are forced to carry out dangerous buying and selling operations as well.  You described it in your quote.  Personally i live in one of those countries and the only factor in reliability is that the person you are dealing with has a proven reliability history.  I have been working in the same way for a long time, despite its dangers, and I thank God that I did not encounter any problems.

But talking about "realizability history," like you said, how do you justify that? Is it by recommendations from people who have traded with the person, or do you have some kind of platform where someone is highly rated by a few traders with whom he or she might have traded? If it's just from a mere platform rating, I can assure you that those kinds of ratings can also be manipulated.

This mainly depends on the evaluations of the people who dealt with that person. I personally worked in managing a group on Facebook to exchange cryptocurrencies between members, and there were trusted members to deal with them, whether by buying or selling, and in the most extreme cases, I was resorted to as a group supervisor to provide guarantee services, most of which are free, since most of the transfers were small and did not exceed 1000 dollars maximum. And honestly, there were no problems, especially since members are required to use their real profiles on Facebook, and I sometimes ask some of us to video chat to make sure of it.

[panganib999]

I don't think it's actually safe to go about meeting people one-on-one to complete a peer-to-peer trade, especially when you don't know the person. If there is one thing I have learned and read from @o_e_l_e_o, it is that privacy matters a lot in this crypto community. Going into a trade with someone completely stranger and wanting to meet them physically is, to some point, dangerous because you don't know who the person actually is.

Right now, there are better options than those that your friend might have used in the past, and these are the p2p platforms that regulate and peer you with your local buyer or seller without requesting any form of identity verification, which is what you are afraid of. All you need to do is agree with the seller on how you want to make your payment, and that's all.

You can check out . Hodlhodl and Agoradesk I always recommend these two sites because I have used them before. I believe there are also better ones out there, which other members will recommend for you soon enough.

It's a trade-off these people are willing to take. They know the risks very well and have been made aware of it a long time ago, considering they are specifically looking for sites like these which leaves me to presume they've done this type of transaction all to avoid paper trail and remain anonymous. P2P platforms wouldn't really cut it as most of them leave transaction IDs which can be backtracked to you. So no can't do sir.

In any case, these types of exchanges are long gone no thanks to Government crackdowns from left and right. But the closest (I think) to an anonymous transaction could be made with KuCoin or PDAX if you're living in the Philippines. These two aren't big on KYCs and as long as you verify an email and a mobile number, you're basically set to go with whatever transaction you want to do.

[Bushdark]

If you intend buying Bitcoin probably you want to sell them or keep them somewhere save, there are many exchange you can use that do not require you to drop your identity or use KYC but although it has a limit to that. I it clear that many of us don't like a KYC exchange because we think that our information may not be safe there which is very clear but we still have different alternative to choose from random exchanges we can make use of.

The problem is that the US are making life more difficult for there citizens with some many crackdown of exchanges and businesses because of strict laws that are never friendly making cryptocurrency firms to seek for a better alternative else where.

[Odusko]

Having a third party access to personal details in the form of KYC and this has given the wrong packages., unlike having a p2p transaction is risky when you meet face-face for the transaction but if it is done on a third-party exchange it's no longer decentralized.

But on the contrary, we have a few such exchanges that don't require any form of identity verification for doing trades.

[o_e_l_e_o]

But the closest (I think) to an anonymous transaction could be made with KuCoin or PDAX if you're living in the Philippines. These two aren't big on KYCs and as long as you verify an email and a mobile number, you're basically set to go with whatever transaction you want to do.

Two issues with that approach.

First of all, such non-KYC centralized exchanges can freeze your account and demand KYC from you at any time and without warning. If you don't comply, then they simply seize everything in your account. This has happened plenty of times in the past with a variety of exchanges. Hoping you simply don't get asked for KYC is not a safe move. Secondly, these exchanges absolutely still track everything you do. You might not have completed KYC, but you will almost certainly link your bank account, which is more than enough information for the exchange to identify exactly who you are, gather data on your activities, and share that data with third parties.

A better approach is to use a real DEX such as Bisq, where it is impossible for them to freeze accounts, cannot ask for KYC whatsoever, and keep no record of your bank details or other fiat payment method.

[Nrcewker]

You can find out if there are "Bitcoin" meetups in your area and then you build a trust relationship with some of those people and start trading with them. I have bought a lot of coins in that way and I never had any problems.

Yes, it is not the safest way to do that, but you use social skills to protect yourself. Example : Tell the buyer that you are buying small amounts to buy food every day, so they will think that you are not a hoarder. People will not go out of their way to follow you, if you buy a few hundred dollars worth of coins every week.  

This is a good idea to buy coins more seamlessly. But this cannot be followed in countries where Bitcoins are not legalised or banned. So yes if these types of events are held, don’t go there and expose yourself as a Bitcoin investor, as government might take unnecessary action against you. Moreover if you check carefully, then these are not safe practice as well, as it’s always advised that never share your investment plan with anyone, don’t tell how much Btc you own and don’t tell you are into cryptocurrency. I would suggest you to buy through paxul p2p or binance p2p to get the coins.