Need tips/help with transfering BTC from old Ledger to new HW wallet

[SleepyChemist]

Hi guys

I've finally managed to connect my new hardware wallet to my node via EPS.
I'd like to transfer my BTC funds from my old (Ledger) hardware wallet to my new one, but I don't quite know how to go about it.

First I'm gonna reset my new HW wallet. That way I get some brand new addresses that aren't linked to any of my personal information.
Then I am going to link Electrum to this new wallet (offline of course).

Then I'm going to use my ledger to send my funds to the new HW wallet.

My questions;
First of all, am I missing something in my summary above?
Should I connect the ledger wallet to my node for the transfer as well? Or is only connecting my new HW wallet safe enough?
Should I send my BTC to different addresses in the new HW wallet, or is it safe enough to send them all to one address?
All of my BTC is KYC. Does this mean that I lose my extra privacy that I got with my node, by doing transactions through my node?

I'm sorry if some information/questions aren't clear.
English is not my native language, and I'm not really a tech guy so my understanding of BTC is still rather low.

Thanks in advance!

[examplens]

I'd like to transfer my BTC funds from my old (Ledger) hardware wallet to my new one, but I don't quite know how to go about it.

I hope your new HW wallet is not Ledger again.

Should I connect the ledger wallet to my node for the transfer as well? Or is only connecting my new HW wallet safe enough?

I'm not sure what exactly you mean here.
You need new addresses, from the new HW. After that, you definitely need to access your old Ledger wallet to send BTC to the new addresses. There is NO difference compared to sending anywhere else, here only you know that it is your new HW wallet.

Should I send my BTC to different addresses in the new HW wallet, or is it safe enough to send them all to one address?

It also depends on the quantity you have and your later needs, but I guess it's better to send everything to one address. He could use the transaction as a consolidation of funds if they were collected from several smaller transactions. It has nothing to do with safety if they are in the same wallet

All of my BTC is KYC. Does this mean that I lose my extra privacy that I got with my node, by doing transactions through my node?

If your coins are already "KYC" as you say, you've already lost your privacy there. If such a status suits you, then it is enough just to move the coins and there will be no significant changes in that matter. Anyone who knows that your address is A and all the funds on it is yours will certainly know that you sent them to address B and it will be easy to determine the connection of those addresses with your KYC information.
In case you want to increase the privacy of your BTC, then when moving from old to new HW, use one of the mixer & tumbler services.

Be sure to ask here before taking any more serious steps if you are not sure, it's better that way than to feel bad for you later.

[SleepyChemist]

Thank you for your answers!

I hope your new HW wallet is not Ledger again.

It most certainly is not! I changed to a Trezor.

There is NO difference compared to sending anywhere else, here only you know that it is your new HW wallet.

Exactly what I needed to hear, thanks!

It also depends on the quantity you have and your later needs, but I guess it's better to send everything to one address. It has nothing to do with safety if they are in the same wallet

I'll transfer it to one address then.

In case you want to increase the privacy of your BTC, then when moving from old to new HW, use one of the mixer & tumbler services.

My BTC is KYC since I bought them from Binance and Coinbase, and these exchanges have my information.
Could you elaborate a bit more about these mixer & tumbler services? Is it something that you consider "necessary" for future privacy?

[vv181]

In case you want to increase the privacy of your BTC, then when moving from old to new HW, use one of the mixer & tumbler services.

My BTC is KYC since I bought them from Binance and Coinbase, and these exchanges have my information.
Could you elaborate a bit more about these mixer & tumbler services?

Bitcoin has a public blockchain, which mean everyone can surveil any address, especially if you already tied your excessive personal information from the centralized exchange into some addresses. Moreover, there many countless ways to track and link bitcoin transactions. First of all, to reduce personal information when you want to buy bitcoins, you can take a look at decentralized exchanges such as Bisq. Or any other non-kyc solutions that are addressed on https://kycnot.me/.

So, in order to regain privacy, you can utilize the mixing service. Mixing is a way to obscure your coin origin. It is like you sending your coin into a pool of coins, and then the pool would mix all the coins. In the end, since the coin is mixed from many user's coin, if done correctly, the coin you receive wouldn't be able to be associated with your KYC'ed coin.

If you want to learn further about Bitcoin privacy, I recommend this compilation of resources: https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information/privacy.html.

[bitmover]

It also depends on the quantity you have and your later needs, but I guess it's better to send everything to one address. It has nothing to do with safety if they are in the same wallet

I'll transfer it to one address then.

In case you want to increase the privacy of your BTC, then when moving from old to new HW, use one of the mixer & tumbler services.

My BTC is KYC since I bought them from Binance and Coinbase, and these exchanges have my information.
Could you elaborate a bit more about these mixer & tumbler services? Is it something that you consider "necessary" for future privacy?

Just to expand examplens answer  about privacy .

When transferring your coins it is interesting not to consolidate all your address into one. If you do so, you will reveal all your addresses as belonging to the same person. If that is not a problem for you, go on


Otherwise, split and console your old addresses accordingly to your privacy needs.

For example, I try not to mix my addresses that i use in bitcointalk to other ones that I exposed my real Id

[Upgrade00]

My BTC is KYC since I bought them from Binance and Coinbase, and these exchanges have my information.
Could you elaborate a bit more about these mixer & tumbler services? Is it something that you consider "necessary" for future privacy?

I consider it necessary especially if you're someone that is very particular about your privacy and it's not only used by someone that has something to hide, but by someone who does not want to have their information laying on the internet for anyone to exploit.
Many people do not mix their coins and have not been doxxed yet, but if your privacy is already compromised it's something that cannot be repaired; your details would always be potential public information.

There are also options to centralized exchanges that doesn't require KYC.

[SleepyChemist]

Thank you all for your answers.
I've read up on mixing and while it does seem great to have non traceable BTC, I think I'm not going to do it.
It seems like you have to put a lot of trust into the organisation that runs the mixer and I'm not ready to give that much trust.
In the future however, I'll only buy BTC from non-KYC exchanges and store them on a different wallet. That way I have a stash of non traceable BTC as well, just in case.

[BlackBoss_]

I'd like to transfer my BTC funds from my old (Ledger) hardware wallet to my new one, but I don't quite know how to go about it.

Make a transaction like what you did in the past, from address A to address B. Both addresses in this case belong to you, in two hardware wallets. It is an on-chain transaction so it will need some satoshi for transaction fee.

All of my BTC is KYC. Does this mean that I lose my extra privacy that I got with my node, by doing transactions through my node?

You can use CoinJoin transaction or use Mixer, tumbler services.

You can use non KYC exchanges https://kycnot.me/

[Don Pedro Dinero]

I've finally managed to connect my new hardware wallet to my node via EPS.
I'd like to transfer my BTC funds from my old (Ledger) hardware wallet to my new one,

Why? You can simply use your new HW to manage your funds as in the old one.

First I'm gonna reset my new HW wallet.

Why? Being new, you don't need to reset anything.

First of all, am I missing something in my summary above?

Yes, you don't need to do any transactions, let alone reset anything on a new HW, unless by 'new' you mean you bought it from Amazon or similar. Privacy you do not have, your bitcoin being KYC. The rest about privacy has already been explained to you.

Thank you all for your answers.
I've read up on mixing and while it does seem great to have non traceable BTC, I think I'm not going to do it.
It seems like you have to put a lot of trust into the organisation that runs the mixer and I'm not ready to give that much trust.
In the future however, I'll only buy BTC from non-KYC exchanges and store them on a different wallet. That way I have a stash of non traceable BTC as well, just in case.

If you are going to do that you will have to be very careful not to mix your bitcoin KYC with your non-KYC bitcoin. The best thing to do is, when the price goes up a bit, sell your bitcoins on the exchange you bought them from for fiat, create a new wallet inside your HW, buy non-KYC bitcoin and manage them with that new wallet (nothing would happen if you use the same wallet because new addresses are created but just in case).

[Yamane_Keto]

Thank you all for your answers.
I've read up on mixing and while it does seem great to have non traceable BTC, I think I'm not going to do it.
It seems like you have to put a lot of trust into the organisation that runs the mixer and I'm not ready to give that much trust.
In the future however, I'll only buy BTC from non-KYC exchanges and store them on a different wallet. That way I have a stash of non traceable BTC as well, just in case.

Since you want to manage your full node it is best to connect to Tor with an extra layer of VPN, all of these things will enhance your privacy.
The problem of privacy comes in that one mistake means the end of everything you are trying to build, so without knowing you will not be able to hide your identity completely, and if you are an expert in encryption, the ability of governments to track you is still possible, Monero here is a better option.
If you want privacy from your friends or family, using mixing services may be beneficial.

I prefer to slow down a bit before moving to a new hardware wallet and do your own research for the best alternative. You will find this list with many alternatives that you can search and compare among them: https://wallets.thebitcoinhole.com/

After choosing the wallet and comparing its features, you can prepare a mini-list of alternatives and ask here.

You can use non KYC exchanges https://kycnot.me/

Be careful, DYOR and do not use exchanges that are unknown or with low trading volumes.

[vv181]

It seems like you have to put a lot of trust into the organisation that runs the mixer and I'm not ready to give that much trust.

Certainly. You require them to trust your fund and privacy. Besides, there is no verifiability of what they actually do.

Another solution is to use CoinJoin, you did not have to fully trust the implementor(coordinator) since it works in a non-centralized manner. Though, the coordinator still has the potency to censor or filter coins. For example, Wasabi Wallet which partnered up with a blockchain analysis company.

So you should take a look at an alternative CoinJoin coordinator such as Samourai Whirlpool.

https://sparrowwallet.com/docs/mixing-whirlpool.html
https://www.samouraiwallet.com/whirlpool

[dkbit98]

All of my BTC is KYC. Does this mean that I lose my extra privacy that I got with my node, by doing transactions through my node?

You should keep separate address for KYC and NON-KYC Bitcoin in your wallet.

My BTC is KYC since I bought them from Binance and Coinbase, and these exchanges have my information.
Could you elaborate a bit more about these mixer & tumbler services? Is it something that you consider "necessary" for future privacy?

Privacy is necessary, only problem that people realize that to late.
It's best to use good address management with labels, and for mixing best option in Joinmarket or Coinjoin, that are both decentralized.

Since you want to manage your full node it is best to connect to Tor with an extra layer of VPN, all of these things will enhance your privacy.

Nah, using Tor over VPN is counterproductive in most cases, so either you use just VPN or just Tor.
If suing only VPN you can set to disable internet connection if server stops working, or you can use special Linux OS like Whoonix.

[Coyster]

I've read up on mixing and while it does seem great to have non traceable BTC, I think I'm not going to do it.
It seems like you have to put a lot of trust into the organisation that runs the mixer and I'm not ready to give that much trust.

If you use centralized exchanges, then i don't think you should be worried about mixers, many of them do not ask you for KYC, just that you have to send your Bitcoins to them, to get the mixed coins in the address of your choice, that is where you have to trust them; and some of them also keep the logs of your transaction, while some delete it after a certain time.

In the future however, I'll only buy BTC from non-KYC exchanges and store them on a different wallet. That way I have a stash of non traceable BTC as well, just in case.

That is a great decision you have taken, this will help you to keep your privacy, especially in connection with the coins you'll be storing on a new (different) wallet, but mind you that if you ever use it together with your previous funds (without using a mixer), your privacy would be gone again.