Challenging Privacy in Bitcoin!

[CryptoDeivid]

Greetings to all those passionate about the crypto world!

We all know that blockchain technology provides unmatched transparency by recording all transactions, but how can we maintain an appropriate level of privacy in this decentralized network?
Is it possible to guarantee anonymity in Bitcoin? There are several techniques, protocols and tools that seek to address this challenge, and I would love to explore them with you.

A tool that I have seen a lot and as a popular option is the use of Mixers (also known as tumblers) that allow transactions to be mixed and masked, making it difficult to track the origin and destination of funds. Another method that has recently gained attention is CoinJoin, where multiple transactions are grouped together and make it more difficult to track the final address of each one.

But here comes the most intriguing question: is the level of privacy provided by these tools enough to protect our identities and activities in the digital world? Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

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[cryptoaddictchie]

But here comes the most intriguing question: is the level of privacy provided by these tools enough to protect our identities and activities in the digital world? Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

Maybe the latter. Though we have some tools such as mixers. There still no way to conveniently use bitcoin in a easiet way to convert of it into pure money or fiat without giving up a little of our identity. Yes we can hide our tracks but those bitcoin if you want for fiat you need a trusted companion or peer which tells us that guy "knows you at least by nickname or personally( seen your face)" so its totally impossible.

[Fundamentals Of]

I'm not an expert on this topic and I cannot analyze the specific technicalities whether certain mixers, coinjoin, swaps through DExes, conversions to privacy coins like Monero, etc are enough to keep your privacy absolutely intact, but it can probably provide you sufficient privacy.

If you're just an everyday user who simply wants to be private, you can make use of these available tools and they're effective enough. But if you are involved in something illicit and global for example that the three-lettered agencies of the US government will have to use their resources to identify you, I bet you'd still be known.

But Bitcoin wasn't created to keep all of its users private such that everybody is confident enough to get into all kinds of transactions because they can't be known. Privacy coins probably have that goal.

[SaepulMT]

Greeting

Bitcoin uses technology called blockchain, which is a digital ledger that functions to record and ensure all bitcoin transactions are safe and cannot be changed.
Speaking of Coinjon, although this method is widely said to be unreliable, it combines multiple Bitcoin payments from multiple shoppers into one transaction to make it difficult for outside parties to determine which shopper paid or which recipient.

I think it depends on the user, which one they will choose from Bitcoin transactions.

[albert0bsd]

Is it possible to guarantee anonymity in Bitcoin?

Yes it is possible, I have three approach with this:

I use a seed exclusively to KYC transactions and other different seed exclusively for Non-KYC Transactions

All KYC are used only for regular payements were privacy is not a concern and when I get enough Balance on it (The KYC address) i used a Good Mixer for it Once that the balance is mixed almost five times i send it to my Non-KYC Seed.

All the Non-KYC outputs are send using only coin-join or stonewall

[Yamane_Keto]

The level of privacy depends on the extent of your experience and your ability to correctly use the available options. If you think that by using Monero you will be completely hidden, then you are wrong, let alone solutions that try to enhance the privacy of Bitcoin, which is not the goal of Bitcoin. basic privacy is supposed to break the link between his inputs and outputs, that is what mixing services do, which provide you with a simple and easy interface to manage CoinJoin transactions or any other mixing method, to enhance privacy such as time delays, dividing Bitcoin into several addresses, and setting a restriction that you do not receive anything from your previous transactions.

[franky1]

moving transactions manually/normally does not trigger any great scrutiny/analysis software to flag you as suspicious just by making a transaction

BUT
regulations of services have policies to specifically identify mixer methodology. and then flag anyone using a mixer, as suspicious..
and then follow their out-flow of transactions out of the mixer
and follow backwards the in-flow of taint of transactions that went into a mixer

in short using a mixer gets you noticed MORE and the funds movements into and out of a mixer get watched more closely compared to any other normal movement transaction

..
analogy
imagine you want to walk down a sidewalk without being noticed by anyone.. do you manually/normally walk like everyone else.. or do you put a laundry powder box on your head..
.. many people will notice someone with a box on their head and be more intrigued to see what he is upto
you think you are hiding by using a box.. but its the box that becomes the reason people watch your movements more often

MIXERS ARE LISTED IN REGULATIONS as a suspicious activity flagged for greater scrutiny of analysis.. using a mixer will get you noticed more
this means if they see a mixer they should follow all funds inflows and outflows more closely and share information to find out where funds came from and end up

offering a service promoted/advertised as a mixer is asking for trouble before trouble starts just by calling it a service listed as suspicious
its like saying sugary drinks are bad.. and then soda companies purposefully brand themselves "sugary drink".. not a good business decision

those operating mixers or obfuscation systems need to take a hard read of regulations and find the loopholes and create systems/services based on the loopholes and whats NOT listed in regulations about tracking susppicious funds

[krishnaverma]

Greetings to all those passionate about the crypto world!

We all know that blockchain technology provides unmatched transparency by recording all transactions, but how can we maintain an appropriate level of privacy in this decentralized network?
Is it possible to guarantee anonymity in Bitcoin? There are several techniques, protocols and tools that seek to address this challenge, and I would love to explore them with you.

A tool that I have seen a lot and as a popular option is the use of Mixers (also known as tumblers) that allow transactions to be mixed and masked, making it difficult to track the origin and destination of funds. Another method that has recently gained attention is CoinJoin, where multiple transactions are grouped together and make it more difficult to track the final address of each one.

But here comes the most intriguing question: is the level of privacy provided by these tools enough to protect our identities and activities in the digital world? Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

There are many tools to maintain privacy like mixers. Also, there are special privacy coins as well.

[joniboini]

Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

Here's the thing, Bitcoin is not a centralized orgs, if some people think coinjoin or mixer is not enough they'd definitely build their own solution for privacy issues. I'm pretty sure some are already doing that, so you don't have to worry about the lack of innovation related to privacy tools. At the same time, there's no way to force all communities to focus on this topic since not everyone feels the urgency to improve the layer of privacy. I'd argue the average joe probably doesn't care about it, and some developers probably think other issues are more important (scalability issues etc).

[franky1]

Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

Here's the thing, Bitcoin is not a centralized orgs, if some people think coinjoin or mixer is not enough they'd definitely build their own solution for privacy issues. I'm pretty sure some are already doing that, so you don't have to worry about the lack of innovation related to privacy tools.

there are a few methods of obfuscating the movements of funds that do not sound like "mixers".. but if you read any of the "privacy"/"mixer" topics on this forum, you do not see much discussion about innovating new tools to bypass regulated lists. instead you see mixer operators screaming that everyone should use their service more..

most mixer operators and their commissioned affiliates do not care about making a tool of true privacy. they prefer making an easy service that is PROMOTED as privacy enhancing, but all they are really offering is something that requires a fee, for a service that will get service users flagged as suspicious. they dont care who gets harmed, they took their fee, and their care of their customer ends

[moneystery]

...

There are many tools to maintain privacy like mixers. Also, there are special privacy coins as well.

as @franky1 said using mixers to cover up your transactions will only make you look more suspicious and i agree with that considering that the government has labeled mixers as suspicious services and using these services makes you look suspicious.

and using a privacy coin will actually make your transactions more open, remembering that there is no such thing as a privacy coin because when the government forces developers to open access to their backdoors then they have to comply with this, like the sec did with monero.

[Despairo]

there are a few methods of obfuscating the movements of funds that do not sound like "mixers".. but if you read any of the "privacy"/"mixer" topics on this forum, you do not see much discussion about innovating new tools to bypass regulated lists. instead you see mixer operators screaming that everyone should use their service more..

Why we need to find a new tools if mixer is the best way? there are many ways to protect privacy using Bitcoin, each way has it's pros and cons Your options to having privacy in Bitcoin - and their tradeoffs

Using a mixer and DEX are enough to make you stay private, except you're want to laundering your tainted coins where you need a sort of agreement.

and using a privacy coin will actually make your transactions more open, remembering that there is no such thing as a privacy coin because when the government forces developers to open access to their backdoors then they have to comply with this, like the sec did with monero.

Where did you read this? I have never read Monero developers give access or changing the code in order to comply with the regulations.

SEC did crackdown Monero, but it's only delisted from centralized exchanges.

[Ben Barubal]

   In general, digital privacy tools can be effective in protecting our identity and other activities in the digital world.  In addition to that,
the use of digital privacy tools depends on how they are used.

  There are other tools that are used to provide a high level of privacy. Just like using a VPN, it hides the real IP address. And the other is to provide a lower level of privacy, like ad blockers, to prevent cookies from tracking browser activity.

[pooya87]

But here comes the most intriguing question: is the level of privacy provided by these tools enough to protect our identities and activities in the digital world? Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

You should first know that there is a difference between privacy and anonymity.
Anonymity is when you keep your identity private but not your actions. In that sense Bitcoin is anonymous, since by looking at a transaction on chain nobody can find your identity. The only way you'd lose that is if you join in a centralized service like CEX and willingly give them your identity through something like KYC which will associate your "actions" with your identity. Using a mixing technique improves that.
Privacy is when your actions remain hidden which is not possible in a transparent blockchain where every "action" is recorded publicly.

[yhiaali3]

The biggest challenge, in my opinion, lies in converting Bitcoin to cash while maintaining privacy. Transactions can be hidden in many ways, such as the ones you mentioned at the beginning. But we have to convert Bitcoin into cash in the end, and here lies the problem.

The available means of converting Bitcoin to Cash while maintaining privacy are very limited. There are P2P or via DEX that do not require KYC, but the rest of the central services are all unsafe.

We therefore seek to develop more secure, decentralized solutions to hide the trace of Bitcoin during the transfer process as well as when converting it to cash.

[franky1]

there are a few methods of obfuscating the movements of funds that do not sound like "mixers".. but if you read any of the "privacy"/"mixer" topics on this forum, you do not see much discussion about innovating new tools to bypass regulated lists. instead you see mixer operators screaming that everyone should use their service more..

Why we need to find a new tools if mixer is the best way?

Using a mixer and DEX are enough to make you stay private, except you're want to laundering your tainted coins where you need a sort of agreement.

just your statements alone show you dont know enough

just the term "mixer" is not a default status of privacy..

the term "mixer" has no min standards. many "cheap" "fast" mixers do not actually obfuscate pattern recognition. they just shuffle inflows in one reserve and outflows in other reserve. where pattern recognition software can link the inflows and outflows
(being cheap means not many middle man tx spending to mix)
(being fast means no delay between inflow outflow)
(making it EASY for pattern recognition to link)

a service simply naming itself "mixer" already causes trigger warnings to analytics/pattern recognition tools to look closer at their operation

operators of mixers that dont want to rebrand.. dont care/lazy/not providing a good system. they just want to get rich doing little effort
operators of obfuscation/mixer services need to actually do things beyond a min effort

imagine this
imagine pedestrian security regulated that hopping along the sidewalk looked suspicious and can trigger a stop and search

imagine someone didnt want to leave a footprint on a sidewalk.. so purposefully employed a "hop" service to ride on someones back as they hop along the sidewalk. !! you will get noticed more !! - compared to all other pedestrians

people knowing that hopping is suspicious and then advertising that they offer hop services .. are morons asking for trouble.
they should think harder to offer a service that does not even sound like "hopping", where it does not leave a footprint(the customers desire). EG offer a tuktuk/bicycle service for customers to not set foot, leave THEIR footprint on the sidewalk

[Z-tight]

is the level of privacy provided by these tools enough to protect our identities and activities in the digital world? Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

You can achieve a high level of privacy if you use privacy tools, but that alone isn't enough, because it is easy to de-anonymize yourself when you make a mistake. For example, using privacy tools and sending your coins straight into a centralized exchange does not make sense, because centralized exchanges are data farms, so you can't achieve privacy when you use their service.

For a better privacy, you have to use CoinJoin implementations, as well as decentralized exchanges, but if you do these without running your own node but connecting to third party servers, your ip addresses and BTC addresses would be exposed to whichever server you are connected to, so running your own node is also very important if you want to protect your privacy.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

We all know that blockchain technology provides unmatched transparency by recording all transactions, but how can we maintain an appropriate level of privacy in this decentralized network?

Make use of a mixer if you needed a privacy, secondly you can make use of bitcoincore to run your own node, download it's software over Tor, privacy is very important in dealing with bitcoin transaction and as long as you're not using a centralized exchange.

Is it possible to guarantee anonymity in Bitcoin?

Yes, that's bitcoin privacy as well, the bitcoin network is know as a p2p network, there's more of anonymity in this regarding privacy and the kind of wallet you're using, you have the decision with yourself to anonymize your bitcoin or not


 

[franky1]

is the level of privacy provided by these tools enough to protect our identities and activities in the digital world? Or should we be focusing on developing new solutions and improvements to further safeguard our privacy in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

You can achieve a high level of privacy if you use privacy tools,

incorrect

something advertising buzzword "privacy" does not mean it achieves a high standard of anything
i can say i can offer you privacy and just shuv a box over your head

using a service just because it mentions the word "privacy" does not prove it achieves privacy

[Z-tight]

incorrect

Nothing i said in my post is incorrect, and so much for taking a single line out of context without reading the entire post, just so you could use the word 'incorrect'. Privacy tools help to achieve a high level of privacy, but in addition with the other points i made in my post above, please read them. The privacy tools people decide to use is discussion for another topic and i can't spoon-feed people enough to always mention 'do your own research' before using a particular privacy tool.