Bitcoin does not provide full anonymity

[Smart baby]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as "pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct. Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

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[KiaKia]

To this day, this is still confusing some people, Decentralized is not anonymity, Bitcoin transaction is transparent, and your funds can be tracked, Stupid criminals use Bitcoin transaction because they believe no one is watching, and some got away because the amount of their money around is happening on daily basis but they can always be caught when their time is up, and every old transaction they did, even year's ago will still be on the blockchain.

I think Monero and Sero are still the better anonymity crypto projects, there was once a time when Monero was targeted because the government believed it was a near-perfect gateway for criminals to move funds around, we all thought it was the end for Monero at the time but they somehow won the fight.

Bitcoin is fully decentralized and that doesn't make it an anonymous coin.

[Latviand]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as "pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct. Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

Those transactions are just addresses of the wallets on them and not the name of the owner of that wallet, the reason that bitcoin transactions can be traced to a person is because they did a transaction on a website that has some sort of KYC policy so some people who transacts in bitcoin gets identified by cyber forensics, still better than using a credit card though, one swipe and they'll know what's your location. If you're really concerned about your privacy then using a bitcoin mixer might help you a lot, it mixes (as the service suggests) your coins with other coins so that the link to your target address is broken.

[mvdheuvel1983]

What exactly is the point of the topic? Are you trying to state the obvious which is already an established knowledge or fact on this forum or are you asking a question? I would assume you are asking a question and try to provide answers from what I understand.

Bitcoin is not anonymous. It has never been and this is why it is easier to launder money using the US dollar and it will forever be untraceable than it is to use Bitcoin even when you use mixers it will still be tracked. So many mixers have been seized because this.

[mindrust]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as "pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct. Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

It is not necessarily a bad thing. There are fully anonymous chains (the most famous one is monero) too but they are not as widely adopted as bitcoin. It is because we still have to pay taxes and the government wants to know who their business partners are ( the taxpayers) KYC is becoming huge lately and anonymous chains like monero are dying off slowly. (pretty sad imo) In the end bitcoin's semi-anonymity will help it to survive through this mess. Would it be better if the government banned crypto completely? At least we still can trade and do business with bitcoin.

[Plaguedeath]

Correct, now what?

There have been many thread pointed out if Bitcoin is pseudonymous and not an anonymous coin, even though there are still few users wrote Bitcoin is a privacy coin or something like that, there's always an old user corrected that mistake.

I mean, I don't see a good point or something that make me learn a new thing.

[348Judah]

Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct.

If you really understand this your statement made then i don't think you will have to create this topic for any reason, blockchain is publicly open and secured, if you think you want more privacy with transactions, run your full node, make use of layer 2 transaction or better make use of a bitcoin mixer.

Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups.

Should in case you don't want that, then refer to my first reply quote above.

It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

It is by running a full node, thinking about privacy then go get bitcoincore software and download it to run a full privacy node

[Nrcewker]

Yes, absolutely right. But if one wants then he can completely remain anonymous as if he uses mixer to mix the coins and hence the Bitcoins cannot be tracked. Moreover now where ever you go, which service you use, you are asked for KYC, so yes without KYC you can’t withdraw Bitcoins into cash also. So practically if we see, then Bitcoins don’t exactly provide full anonymity. But it’s atleast better than these centralised banks.

[yhiaali3]

Yes, absolute anonymity is not an inherent aspect of the Bitcoin protocol, Bitcoin is transparent because all transactions can be traced and its many branches can be traced from the first day of the birth of the wallet, but all that can be known is the addresses only without knowing the true identity of the owner of the address.

The main problem lies in centralized third-party services that force users to submit to KYC, AML standards and force their users to apply them by providing official documents, if you use these centralized services once, this will lead to linking between your bitcoin addresses and your identity, and here privacy is eliminated in a way complete.

[irhact]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as "pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct. Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

Most individual that have invested in Bitcoin already know that bitcoin doesn't offer full anonymity but that doesn't prevent us from investing in Bitcoin. We're not investing in Bitcoin because we want full anonymity but because we want full control of our money and Bitcoin offers that control fully therefore that's enough reason to invest in Bitcoin. We have to be careful individually so we don't exposed our Bitcoin address on social for it to be linked to us.

When an individual wants to improve their anonymity, they can make use of mixers or tumblers and make tracing of their transaction more difficult or impossible. The use of wallets that offers a new Bitcoin address for each transaction also helps in keeping us anonymous.

[Mr.right85]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as “pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct.

Saying it’s commonly referred to as Pseudonymous is something strange to me as, I can rightly say am hearing this for the first time in this thread which makes the term not so common or very suitable for this description.

Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

Talking about additional information for the possibility of linking an address to a user, that’ll be doing KYC on centralized exchanges and the fiat account used in receiving payment from p2p transactions that has to do with fiat/btc/crypto transfer. Yeah, that’s possible, other scenarios is like we have on the forum but, that just ties an address to a user rather than actual physical identity.

Where it really lies is, on an exchange and that’s why, not having a third party in a transaction is what should be but, the issue of trust in the space and who gets to exchange first often creates a log of problem.

Something users deal with case by case.

[fuguebtc]

What exactly is the point of the topic? Are you trying to state the obvious which is already an established knowledge or fact on this forum or are you asking a question? I would assume you are asking a question and try to provide answers from what I understand.

Bitcoin is not anonymous. It has never been and this is why it is easier to launder money using the US dollar and it will forever be untraceable than it is to use Bitcoin even when you use mixers it will still be tracked. So many mixers have been seized because this.

I also don't understand what OP is trying to tell us here. But when it comes to anonymity, cash offers much better anonymity than bitcoin or any other method, but we have never been informed by the government that cash has anything to do with criminals like what they are propagating about bitcoin. But I wonder, if we use bitcoin mixer, how can they be tracking us? Isn't a mixer the best solution so no one knows we are holding bitcoins? Many mixers have been shut down by the government because they fear and think criminals are using them to get around them, but I don't think only criminals use mixers but normal users also use them.

[o48o]

What exactly is the point of the topic? Are you trying to state the obvious which is already an established knowledge or fact on this forum or are you asking a question? I would assume you are asking a question and try to provide answers from what I understand.

Bitcoin is not anonymous. It has never been and this is why it is easier to launder money using the US dollar and it will forever be untraceable than it is to use Bitcoin even when you use mixers it will still be tracked. So many mixers have been seized because this.

My first thought was that OP is new and doesn't yet really understand how this forum works. This should be moved to "Beginners & Help" if it's supposed to be an informative post.

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as “pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct.

Saying it’s commonly referred to as Pseudonymous is something strange to me as, I can rightly say am hearing this for the first time in this thread which makes the term not so common or very suitable for this description.
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Pseudonymous is the only word i have been using for it. And i can't count the number of times when i have corrected new people calling bitcoin anonymous.

[Uruhara]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as "pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct. Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

It's not really about anonymity. But about a system that is decentralized or not centralized. Bitcoin can be said to respect privacy more but is still transparent in the transaction process. And of course that is one of the many advantages that can be obtained simultaneously from using bitcoin. We can maintain the privacy of our identities, but we can still transact transparently and another advantage is that we are in full control of the assets we have in bitcoin. If we transact with random IP connectivity or through a VPN and also use Mixer then maybe users who want to remain anonymous can take advantage of it.

[Blitzboy]

"Pseudonymity" is what makes Bitcoin so revolutionary! You have most of the facts right, but let's boil it down even more. When we look at the big picture of human history and development, systems are built on trust. Bitcoin, in all its glory, is a big change that combines private and trust.

Yes, the blockchain is transparent. Then what? The goal isn't to hide behind curtains, but to show that our banking system is broken. But even though Bitcoin is public, it gives you more protection than any bank account ever could. "Absolute anonymity" is just a childish wish. Every method leaves traces behind. If you don't like it, you might not like this crypto world. Change or you'll fall behind.

[Solosanz]

"Pseudonymity" is what makes Bitcoin so revolutionary! You have most of the facts right, but let's boil it down even more. When we look at the big picture of human history and development, systems are built on trust. Bitcoin, in all its glory, is a big change that combines private and trust.

Yes, the blockchain is transparent. Then what? The goal isn't to hide behind curtains, but to show that our banking system is broken. But even though Bitcoin is public, it gives you more protection than any bank account ever could. "Absolute anonymity" is just a childish wish. Every method leaves traces behind. If you don't like it, you might not like this crypto world. Change or you'll fall behind.

Actually not, it's because of Bitcoin is a decentralized currency, there's no decentralized currency before. Cash is something that could be pseudonymous because we don't know exactly the person we transact if we handle a lot trades, we only remember a little bit about the face, cloth etc, but we're don't remember exactly the face, the name, and any other identity.

Well absolute anonymity isn't a childish wish, you need to check Monero and Bisq.

[icalical]

It's not fully provide anonymity, but it provide anonymity on a certain ways, compared to the way that bank transfer move money from one account to another, those accounts has the full identity of its owner, Bitcoin doesn't and that is anonymity. It's true that the transaction is traceable but if the person chose not never to reveal or sign their address then no one could connect the address to anyone.

[Zaguru12]

It's not fully provide anonymity, but it provide anonymity on a certain ways, compared to the way that bank transfer move money from one account to another, those accounts has the full identity of its owner, Bitcoin doesn't and that is anonymity. It's true that the transaction is traceable but if the person chose not never to reveal or sign their address then no one could connect the address to anyone.

I think the whole idea of placing bitcoin as a pseudonymity and not fully anonymous is basically because of its usage, if you look at even the explanation people make that it is stored publicly on the blockchain you will still ask yourself ok if all the addresses becomes linked to each other can it be traced back to its owner, the Answer to that now is certainly based on the way the owner of the address uses it. If the owner transact or uses centralized exchanges with KYC protocol then it can simply be traced to such person but imagine someone using a decentralized exchange and doesn’t have any KYC linked with any platform then it will be hard to certainly get such person which in turn is full anonymity to me. So it is certainly a matter of choice.

To this day, this is still confusing some people, Decentralized is not anonymity, Bitcoin transaction is transparent, and your funds can be tracked, Stupid criminals use Bitcoin transaction because they believe no one is watching, and some got away because the amount of their money around is happening on daily basis but they can always be caught when their time is up, and every old transaction they did, even year's ago will still be on the blockchain.

Such people can only be caught if they mixed the coins and then send it to a centralized exchange or any wallet that has link with any exchange that the person provides their KYC to. Only centralized platforms can lock the funds but if it was send to a decentralized platform or even Wallet then I doubt that such funds can ever be recovered. You can only see the transactions on blockchain because it is public but tracing it to the owner is something else

[Crypto Library]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as "pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct. Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

Bitcoin is a decentralized coin and uses blockchain technology due to which all its transactions are stored on a distributed ledger.  If you use a non-custodial wallet where you have only one private key, you don't need to do any KYC verification.  And your wallet doesn't bear your name. so how someone can track your real identity? you can done bitcoin transaction totally in a anonymous manner. But if you want to make transactions that no one can anger, you can use private coins like Monero. no one will be able to track its transactions. But Bitcoin is fully decentralized so its transactions can always be publicly tracked and there is no way to stop it.

[Ale88]

Bitcoin is commonly referred to as "pseudonymous" rather than fully anonymous. Although transactions are registered on the public blockchain, the connection between wallet addresses and individuals' identities isn't direct. Nevertheless, transactions are traceable and subject to analysis. Additional information can potentially link specific transactions to certain individuals or groups. It's worth mentioning that privacy-improving methods can heighten anonymity while utilizing Bitcoin, yet absolute anonymity isn't an inherent aspect of the protocol.

Years ago people used to think that bitcoin was anonymous, nowadays everybody should know that it's not like that. You could try your best to remain anonymous by never using exchanges that required KYC and without buying online products that would be sent directly to your home address. If you are extremely careful maybe you could still remain anonymous at the end.