Learn from what is happening in the forum with address re-use

[Accardo]

Privacy is the goal of this evolving technology, and every form of privacy need to be implemented. Today I want to share the disadvantages of address re-use and remind everyone how crucial it is to generate fresh addresses for new transactions. A famous minor example happens in the forum every day, where accounts are linked to one another because of address re-use. While this won't affect our daily life, let's look into a real-life example.

Identity collapse is a process that links multiple Bitcoin addresses to one another through the Bitcoin transaction graph. The address makes the work easier for the operators. According to this wiki

There are publically-known databases that exist, right now, that have not only collapsed millions of Bitcoin addresses, but used publically-available information to link those collapsed identities to individuals, and these databases are being actively maintained.

Another disadvantage of address re-use has a lot to do with face-to-face transactions. When you re-use an address a merchant will be able to know all your transactions input and output and may involve the bad gangs to attack you and retrieve your bitcoin.

In a nutshell, address reuse helps your privacy and keeps everything clean. Stay private everyone. The wiki above contains more examples of disadvantages of address re-use.

Add your knowledge.

[Btcdeybodi]

I don't see anything wrong in reusing an address that you've used before in the forum or an address you use frequently for transactions though you made some sense anyway because there are some of us in the forum that actually know each other in real life which someone who knows you very well can be tracking your wallet address to know the input and the output which is a very big threat to privacy but the truth is that there is absolutely no way you can run away from your address being tracked because let's assume a scenario whereby you have got huge amount in one wallet and you open another wallet address don't you know it will require you to move your coins to the new address for you to initiate new transactions of which it can still be trackable again.

The only idea should be that people who have huge assets in one wallet should not always make such address visible to others but in summary of everything is just that inasmuch as blockchain is concerned, we can not completely escape from our transactions being tracked. However, having different wallet address is very important as all your assets need not to be stucked in one wallet.

As for linking accounts in the forum, it is also a thing of concern because someone can mistakenly copy another users address especially those that copy other users application format and forgets to edit all the information contained there, you know some people can be so lazy to write an application by themselves which is a very bad practice so before any account should be link with wallet connection let it be that the both users have shared same wallet address multiple times then it can not be seen as a case of mere coincidence anymore.

[Helena Yu]

Even you use unique/new address for every time you receive Bitcoin, it doesn't make you stay "private" because they can use wallet.explorer or arkhamintelligence to track all of your coins.

You need to use mixer or Coinjoin to protect your privacy.

The alternative is convert your Bitcoin to other coins/chains or don't link it at all.

A famous minor example happens in the forum every day, where accounts are linked to one another because of address re-use.

I don't know, but it sounds like you want to help cheaters/abusers to not get caught since many campaigns and events didn't accept multiple accounts usage.

[Accardo]

Even you use unique/new address for every time you receive Bitcoin, it doesn't make you stay "private" because they can use wallet.explorer or arkhamintelligence to track all of your coins.

Addresses are among the required inputs on those explorers which is the reason why address re-use isn't safe. Ordinarily, we have to take minor precautions before considering the other loopholes in privacy. People easily search for explorers with addresses and rely on the information they see there.

I don't know, but it sounds like you want to help cheaters/abusers to not get caught since many campaigns and events didn't accept multiple accounts usage.

Sorry if you misunderstood my example, I only gave a relatable one which is helpful in learning. Moreover, it's only one of the ways accounts can be linked. The bigger picture is the safety of the bitcoin users not just about accounts in a forum. linking their alts won't hurt their life compared to when they're attacked like the example above. Nothing serious.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

It is funny that on this forum we are so against the reuse of addresses when in fact by receiving payments from signature campaigns we are doing the opposite.

I don't see anything wrong in reusing an address that you've used before in the forum or an address you use frequently for transactions...

Neither do I, as long as you take common sense precautions, like not meeting a stranger for a face-to-face exchange and sending them your bitcoin from the address you receive payments for signature campaigns or something stupid like that. There are coinjoins and other ways to protect your privacy even if you make some use of address reuse.

[KiaKia]

Privacy isn't the goal for every crypto users, decentralisation is my own ultimate goal, privacy isn't my thing so I don't mind exposing my wallet address, you don't know my true face and my home address and that's all that matters, but hiding Bitcoin transactions for what? Why not go Monero and other privacy coins if this is what you really need?

As for Bitcoin you can still be traced, you can cover your traces using a mixer which is why they are been banned everywhere, Bitcoin isn't made to be a privacy coin from scratch, using mixer works but why even bother when we already have monero which is a privacy coin right out of from the scratch?

Point of correction, using a bitcoin address over and over is not bad, there is a reason why we have address signatures, if you like use hundreds of Bitcoin address it is easier to know that they all belong to one person.

[EluguHcman]

Add your knowledge.

This is a beginners and help board by which whatever information being passed out here should be made understandable in basic terms.

To be clear on this fact, reusing of wallet address is not on the terms of accepting and executing multiple transactions on several note or in a long term.
It is literally a scenario or reusing a particular wallet address after certain malicious actions by which its security and Privacies is not worth hence trusted.

It could also be a term by which the he wallet address has been dumped aside not being active in used for quite long time because it could be difficult to say its security is still remained solid.

So to keep a better and solid securities with your funds, it is advisable to recreate new wallet address with new private keys generated.

However, adhering to these processes alone does not give maximum satisfaction that you are all secured with your wallet securities. Perhaps it is still your obligation to keep your wallet seed phrases private and secured and same time, stick to maintain an anonymous with your Bitcoin.

[Catenaccio]

Good Bitcoin wallet softwares will give users changed addresses that need to be used to avoid address reuse.

Privacy o meter and some recommendation for privacy including avoid address reuse.

Avoid reusing wallets

Don't send your Bitcoin change to the same address you use for sending bitcoins.

Avoiding address reuse is an obvious remedy.

[Solosanz]

It is funny that on this forum we are so against the reuse of addresses when in fact by receiving payments from signature campaigns we are doing the opposite.

I guess because we're pseudonymous in this forum, so reusing the same address won't be a problem. Yeah I know you use x address and you know I use y address, but that's all, we can't do anything anymore except we left a trace.

I hope all campaign managers always list every address in the spreadsheet, there were few signature campaigns where the manager censor the address. I know the users are very trustworthy, but as much as we can trust them, there could be something that we don't know...

But, your point for spotting the difference between what people say and what people do can't be argued, I'd say 95% users in this forum are like that.

[Findingnemo]

Another disadvantage of address re-use has a lot to do with face-to-face transactions. When you re-use an address a merchant will be able to know all your transactions input and output and may involve the bad gangs to attack you and retrieve your bitcoin.

In a nutshell, address reuse helps your privacy and keeps everything clean. Stay private everyone. The wiki above contains more examples of disadvantages of address re-use.
 

A unique address for every TX is helpful only when you receive funds from somewhere that is not linked to your identity so if you withdraw funds from an exchange where you KYCed to unique addresses everytime doesn't mean they can't able to trace you, it makes harder for a general user to know but if government authority needs they can pull out the data from the exchange and track every withdrawal you made all the time.

[Porfirii]

In a nutshell, address reuse helps your privacy and keeps everything clean.

Although you made your opinion very clear in your post, I think that you chose the wrong words in the last sentence.

I agree that not reusing addresses is the right thing to do for your privacy. Not in the case of investments, maybe, because if you hodl for speculation it may be of your interest to keep everything tidy in order to prove your ownership. But for little purchases etc. and taking into account the technical advances you mentioned above, using different addresses and implementing measures of coin control is an advice I also subscribe to.

[Cookdata]

Another disadvantage of address re-use has a lot to do with face-to-face transactions. When you re-use an address a merchant will be able to know all your transactions input and output and may involve the bad gangs to attack you and retrieve your bitcoin.

In a nutshell, address reuse helps your privacy and keeps everything clean. Stay private everyone. The wiki above contains more examples of disadvantages of address re-use.

Add your knowledge.

At the bolded. Am I the one not understanding you well because it seems it contradict everything you have said.

Privacy is a must that everyone need, even if you don't value it, learn to normalize privacy to your life in everything you do and all your transactions whether you deal with crypto transactions or fiat transactions, you never know who might harm you for knowing that you do Bitcoin transaction for and all can be trace to a wallet address they know you use.

As for the forum, this forum is faceless one and doing transactions means you have to trust the person with some things from his trust history and other metrics but one of the easiest way is through Bitcoin wallet address which must be sign which proves that you own the private keys and your account is not compromised in any form, this is why wallet are reused in the Forum but most often, Bitcoin wallet are mostly used for pseudonym identification and people don't transact often unless when it involves a trade and when it comes to that, you have no choice.

As for signature payment, you don't expect the manager to send you Bitcoin in different wallets every week but you can send your payment after to new different wallets of you so desire to protect your privacy or use some mixers if you wish.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Its not a and thing to make use of new addresses each time we are about to make a transaction, but we can still maintain using a single one if we have perfect and secure use of the crypto transactions made as well as how we handle the use of our wallet, most of these loopholes begins when there is a vulnerability space created by us either we know about it or it occur without us been aware, and the aim is to attack us at any point.

[Agbamoni]

Its not a and thing to make use of new addresses each time we are about to make a transaction, but we can still maintain using a single one if we have perfect and secure use of the crypto transactions made as well as how we handle the use of our wallet, most of these loopholes begins when there is a vulnerability space created by us either we know about it or it occur without us been aware, and the aim is to attack us at any point.

When someone is trying to make a mistake in the process of sending their BTC address to someone who wants to transact with them they can easily realize along the line because they are familiar with their current address. If it is a new one, they might now figure out the difference when sending it. That is why I am not comfortable with the idea of having a new address whenever we want to make a transaction. We could have like 3 or maximum of 4 address that we are conversant to carry out regular transactions.

[Potato Chips]

While avoiding address reuse as much as possible does help improve your privacy, it's not up to an extent of "keeping everything clean" because depending on your usage, there could be other ways to know more information about you.

One easy way would be, if a single address of yours is known and you spent it along with your other addresses. It'll be known that all inputs in the mentioned transaction is yours aka address grouping. Pretty much why people make use of coin control or other privacy enhancing services in addition to avoiding address reuse.

I don't believe there is a total privacy out there, TBH. Not to mention, blockchain analysis is a fast paced tech and data sets are coming from multiple sources. Best we can do is determine up to what extent of privacy is doable for us based on our lifestyle.

[khaled0111]

It is funny that on this forum we are so against the reuse of addresses when in fact by receiving payments from signature campaigns we are doing the opposite.

In fact, in this particular case, I don't see any problem in using the same address to receive sig. campaign payments, as far as privacy is concerned.
You are going to post your address publicly  on your application post and it's going to be saved on a public spreadsheet.
Actually, reusing the same address might increase your privacy more than wh using different ones as it will reduce the risk of linking the addresses used for sig payments with your other wallet addresses when making transactions.

[Zaguru12]

When someone is trying to make a mistake in the process of sending their BTC address to someone who wants to transact with them they can easily realize along the line because they are familiar with their current address. If it is a new one, they might now figure out the difference when sending it. That is why I am not comfortable with the idea of having a new address whenever we want to make a transaction. We could have like 3 or maximum of 4 address that we are conversant to carry out regular transactions.

Address reuse or not it is even very wrong for anyone to actually trust the address that they use, first you copy the address and then cross check the address from where it was copy just to avoid error like when maybe clipboard malwares. This doesn’t translate to anything you do it same way even to address that you use regularly this doesn’t take more than seconds. The danger with reusing a particular address actually surpasses this error you’re talking about. If you use the 3 to 4 address it will easy be traced back to you and defeats everything. We can argue that a well sophisticated research can still link all addresses together but it wouldn’t be that easy when there is a new address for new transactions and none links to a KYC exchange

[lovesmayfamilis]

But, your point for spotting the difference between what people say and what people do can't be argued, I'd say 95% users in this forum are like that.

Yes, that was exactly what I went to check without finishing the post. The OP does not act as he teaches. His privacy with the wallet is falling apart. It is quite difficult here on the forum; it will persuade managers to send payments to different wallets every week. That is, the manager, in addition to checking all the posts, will have to change the wallet addresses of each (if ideally) participant in the company signature. You don't even need to think about how problematic this is; in addition, errors will occur. The same can be said that the user, without using mixers, will change wallets every time to hide the first address to which he receives payment. Therefore, of course, the OP is right in his idea, but to implement it, you need to know all the little things, starting with the device and ending with the place where the bitcoins are stored.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

Privacy is the goal of this evolving technology, and every form of privacy need to be implemented. Today I want to share the disadvantages of address re-use and remind everyone how crucial it is to generate fresh addresses for new transactions. A famous minor example happens in the forum every day, where accounts are linked to one another because of address re-use. While this won't affect our daily life, let's look into a real-life example.

Creating a fresh Bitcoin address for every transaction or campaign you wish to apply for, only makes you look like an unserious individual, because our Bitcoin address is also meant to be our identity here on this forum, and in no way 2 persons can never own the same wallets addresses, if only they are not alt accounts, so it's only people with lots of alts accounts that should be worried about this, and not genuine individuals like us who owns just a single account here on the forum.

[Darker45]

The forum is full of users who recycle addresses because of signature campaigns. That's understandable because it isn't practical to request from the manager to change address every week. But even if there's a change of addresses every after payday, the addresses are published on excel for public consumption. That remains wanting as far as privacy is concerned. Further, at some point, you will have to do some consolidation and it may be easy for anybody to analyze and link addresses.

I guess what's more important is to make sure your address, which is designed for public use, isn't linked to your personal identity.