What is best way to maintain your privacy sending payment with Electrum wallet?

[bitcoin talk]

What is best way to maintain your privacy sending btc payment with Electrum wallet?
Is there another wallet that will offer more privacy sending btc?

[1714581979]

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[1714581979]

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[1714581979]

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[Zaguru12]

The best way to maintain privacy is by running your own full node and also using different address for different transactions. If you run your own node and then point electrum server towards it then your privacy might be protected and you won’t depend on other nodes for information and also you can use Tor or VPN to hide your IP too if you’re connected to other nodes

[blckhawk]

The best way to maintain privacy is by running your own full node and also using different address for different transactions

Is there like a tutorial here for that and what's the many benefits of running your own full node because that seems to be an interesting thing to do for me, I really don't have much to do when it comes to passing the time and I don't even have a lot of hobbies so this could be a good one for me, I just wish that this doesn't cost a lot of money to do though.

[Zaguru12]

Is there like a tutorial here for that and what's the many benefits of running your own full node because that seems to be an interesting thing to do for me, I really don't have much to do when it comes to passing the time and I don't even have a lot of hobbies so this could be a good one for me, I just wish that this doesn't cost a lot of money to do though.

There are many benefits of running a full bitcoin node which the major reason is privacy, with full node you will not need to connect to any other public nodes since you’re running your own this basically the main reason for bitcoin core wallet. But let’s assume you want to use an SPV wallet like electrum or sparrow you can be able to switch servers this way it is possible to set up your own electrum server like electraX and then connects it to your own full node. This way you can even use cold wallets like hardware wallets with your own electrum server which is basically your own node.

Here is a thread by n0nce how to do that https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5366854.0

Mind you running a bitcoin node plus this personal electrum server requires you to have enough storage space. Some people opt for pruned node but with prune node you can’t sync a new wallet or even a new address that wasn’t there before the pruned node because it might have to redownload the entire blockchain again ( since prune node doesn’t store all blocks)

[Julien_Olynpic]

What is best way to maintain your privacy sending btc payment with Electrum wallet?
Is there another wallet that will offer more privacy sending btc?

There are many ways to increase transaction confidentiality:
1. Use more anonymous wallets than Electrum to send payments. For example, Wasabi or Samourai. You can also use Bitcoin mixers as an alternative. However, it has become unsafe to talk in detail on this forum, so I will limit myself to just mentioning them.
2. Do not use the same address more than 1 time. To hide metadata, you can use TOR technology.
3. Often this is not enough, because the person himself helps his addressees establish a connection between the address and his personal information. For example, a person may provide their social media handles along with their Bitcoin address information. Social media searches allow you to identify additional personal information and associate it with your Bitcoin address.

[blckhawk]

~

There are many benefits of running a full bitcoin node which the major reason is privacy, with full node you will not need to connect to any other public nodes since you’re running your own this basically the main reason for bitcoin core wallet. But let’s assume you want to use an SPV wallet like electrum or sparrow you can be able to switch servers this way it is possible to set up your own electrum server like electraX and then connects it to your own full node. This way you can even use cold wallets like hardware wallets with your own electrum server which is basically your own node.

Here is a thread by n0nce how to do that https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5366854.0

Mind you running a bitcoin node plus this personal electrum server requires you to have enough storage space. Some people opt for pruned node but with prune node you can’t sync a new wallet or even a new address that wasn’t there before the pruned node because it might have to redownload the entire blockchain again ( since prune node doesn’t store all blocks)

Thanks for the guide and I'm not really a technical specialist or an expert in crypto stuff so it's going to take me awhile to fully understand the guide because there's a lot of things that I don't understand on just the surface, I might just go for it and start experimenting right away and then ask the questions along the way when the problems arises. I'll also take a gander at that pruned node, seems like a good cost cutting method to run one.

[Ever-young]

The best way to maintain privacy is by running your own full node and also using different address for different transactions. If you run your own node and then point electrum server towards it then your privacy might be protected and you won’t depend on other nodes for information and also you can use Tor or VPN to hide your IP too if you’re connected to other nodes

If I’m not using my own node and am conducting transaction on electrum wallet either using the mobile or the desktop wallet is my location exposed to which ever node that’s it’s connected to since am not running my own node?, I’m asking because I can’t recall ever using any VPN to access my wallet and I don’t know how say that is, well I don’t have much to even be afraid of as I don’t hold much and their is not point of me being afraid of privacy  breach.

[Zaguru12]

If I’m not using my own node and am conducting transaction on electrum wallet either using the mobile or the desktop wallet is my location exposed to which ever node that’s it’s connected to since am not running my own node?, I’m asking because I can’t recall ever using any VPN to access my wallet and I don’t know how say that is, well I don’t have much to even be afraid of as I don’t hold much and their is not point of me being afraid of privacy  breach.

Yes your location is exposed, if you’re only concerned about IP then use Tor and not VPN because with VPN you’re still trusting a third party and they can still get your IP. As for running your own node it is for best for anonymity sake this way you don’t need to depend on other other nodes for blockchain information as the public node you’re connected to might be feeding you with wrong information. Another reason why you should run a bitcoin node is because you’re helping the network to be more decentralized: more node runners more decentralization we have.

It is also worth mentioning that running your own bitcoin node doesn’t mean your wallet is automatically save it is far from that, your wallet safety depends on how safe or secure your seed phrase or private key is. That’s why the best form of storage is cold storage where the seed phrase never comes online.

[Nrcewker]

What is best way to maintain your privacy sending btc payment with Electrum wallet?
Is there another wallet that will offer more privacy sending btc?

If you are beginner and want to maintain full privacy, then it’s better to use newly generated addresses for each transaction that you do in the blockchain. Electrum wallet has the facility of generating new and unlimited addresses. Hence each time you send or receive the coins, use new addresses. People can easily track the activity done of a particular Bitcoin address, hence in order to become completely anonymous use different address.

[dzungmobile]

What is best way to maintain your privacy sending btc payment with Electrum wallet?
Is there another wallet that will offer more privacy sending btc?

Electrum is a SPV wallet and you have to connect to Electrum server to broadcast your transaction. You can increase your privacy a little bit by using Tor with Electrum wallet but it is not a best solution.

The best is using wallet like Bitcoin Core, run your full node, use Tor and broadcast your transaction from your full node.

Using Electrum through Tor.
List of Active .onion servers.

[SmartGold01]

I am using Electrum wallet and is safe for me even though i didn't enable change address while receiving and sending out payments i still finds it cool because especially here this forum my previous address has been signed over here and for any attack or lost I could only used the first address to restore my account back.
But for privacy purpose you can use change of address where your transaction would be very hard to trace.

[Charles-Tim]

The best way to maintain privacy is by running your own full node and also using different address for different transactions. If you run your own node and then point electrum server towards it then your privacy might be protected and you won’t depend on other nodes for information and also you can use Tor or VPN to hide your IP too if you’re connected to other nodes

It is worth mentioning also that running your own node or personal electrum server should be connected with Tor for privacy reason. Connecting it with IP is not private enough as your Internet network provider can still see some information about you and that you are using Bitcoin Core.

what's the many benefits of running your own full node because that seems to be an interesting thing to do for me, I really don't have much to do when it comes to passing the time and I don't even have a lot of hobbies so this could be a good one for me, I just wish that this doesn't cost a lot of money to do though.

Privacy is the benefit. You will not have to depend on other nodes/servers. If your wallet is synchronizing with the blockchain using the nodes/servers, the nodes/servers will know your wallet addresses and also your IP address. If your IP address can be known, your real identity can be known through your Internet service provider.

Mind you running a bitcoin node plus this personal electrum server requires you to have enough storage space.

It is worth knowing that downloading the full blockchain requires over 500 gigabyte of blockchain download. Also that you will need like 20 gigabyte of data to keep downloading the lastest blocks monthly.

If you are beginner and want to maintain full privacy, then it’s better to use newly generated addresses for each transaction that you do in the blockchain. Electrum wallet has the facility of generating new and unlimited addresses. Hence each time you send or receive the coins, use new addresses. People can easily track the activity done of a particular Bitcoin address, hence in order to become completely anonymous use different address.

This is part of it. But there are times you will also need coin control for this while sending coins and not only while receiving. Also to have full privacy, you will needs mixers or converting to monero at times. You can run Electrum with Tor for anonymity. But for privacy, you need to run your own node with Tor.

[Solosanz]

Use samourai wallet, use linux, use tor, run full node, use whirlpool, but you can skip the hassle by using their product https://samouraiwallet.com/dojo

Remember privacy isn't only about when you want to make a transaction, it start from the privacy in your life, the hardware and the operating system you use.

[nakamura12]

I am using Electrum wallet and is safe for me even though i didn't enable change address while receiving and sending out payments i still finds it cool because especially here this forum my previous address has been signed over here and for any attack or lost I could only used the first address to restore my account back.
But for privacy purpose you can use change of address where your transaction would be very hard to trace.

signing wallet address is only used for recovering lost or hacked account and does nothing to keep your privacy. It will only serve as a proof that you are the owner of the said wallet address. The best choice for OP increasing his privacy is to use different wallet address in every transaction either as a receiver or sender. It also doesn't need downloading huge amount of data if OP is planning to  run a full node which again requires huge space for the data to be downloaded.

[Ruttoshi]

I am using Electrum wallet and is safe for me even though i didn't enable change address while receiving and sending out payments i still finds it cool because especially here this forum my previous address has been signed over here and for any attack or lost I could only used the first address to restore my account back.
But for privacy purpose you can use change of address where your transaction would be very hard to trace.

signing wallet address is only used for recovering lost or hacked account and does nothing to keep your privacy. It will only serve as a proof that you are the owner of the said wallet address. The best choice for OP increasing his privacy is to use different wallet address in every transaction either as a receiver or sender. It also doesn't need downloading huge amount of data if OP is planning to  run a full node which again requires huge space for the data to be downloaded.

OP can simply connect his electrum wallet to Tor for privacy, if he cannot run a full node as stated by posters above. It is important to know that when you are using an electrum wallet using one same address to send and receive funds over and over again is not idea when it comes to your privacy because you can easily get hacked.

[SamReomo]

What is best way to maintain your privacy sending btc payment with Electrum wallet?

Use Tor for the privacy as that's going to be easy and helpful at the same time. It would be difficult for you to run your own personal node but that's also a good option. I would suggest you to follow the instructions of the Zaguru12 as he has mentioned the best ways to avail full privacy while using Electrum wallet. I wouldn't suggest you another wallet but if you really want to use one then you should opt for the open-source wallets only.

[hosseinimr93]

OP can simply connect his electrum wallet to Tor for privacy, if he cannot run a full node as stated by posters above.

With using TOR connection, you can hide your IP address, but you would still rely on a third party for getting transactions data and broadcasting transactions. The server you are connected to can link all your generated addresses with each other.

It is important to know that when you are using an electrum wallet using one same address to send and receive funds over and over again is not idea when it comes to your privacy because you can easily get hacked.

Your security depends on the security of the your device, how you generated your wallet and how you keep you keys. When it comes to security, it doesn't matter whether you reuse addresses or not.

[MFahad]

What is best way to maintain your privacy sending btc payment with Electrum wallet?
Is there another wallet that will offer more privacy sending btc?

I didn't use myself. but I heard that Wassabi and Samurai Wallets are best for privacy purposes.
Another Option is using Bitcoin Mixers, they work pretty well. but you must choose a reputable mixer for that. I can't name any mixer here because this forum does not allow posting any links of mixers but you can find good mixers list at AltcoinsTalks Forum: https://altcoinstalks.com/
All the Best.

[Z-tight]

Use Tor for the privacy as that's going to be easy and helpful at the same time. It would be difficult for you to run your own personal node but that's also a good option.

You must run your own node for better privacy, just using Tor alone is not enough if you are going to connect to a third party server that can see your BTC addresses.

Electrum is a SPV wallet and you have to connect to Electrum server to broadcast your transaction. You can increase your privacy a little bit by using Tor with Electrum wallet but it is not a best solution.

You must not connect to a third party server when using electrum, and you must not use a full node wallet for better privacy, you can use your Electrum wallet and connect to your own Electrum server, without exposing your ip addresses and BTC addresses to any third party server.

[SamReomo]

You must run your own node for better privacy, just using Tor alone is not enough if you are going to connect to a third

I agree with you that having your own node can provide much better privacy then just using Tor but the ones who really don't care much if others can see their addresses then those users can benefit by using tor. The ones who really want high levels of privacy should run their own node if they have a separate system and also use tor.