Physical safety and BTC influencers

[Rockstarguy]

I just assumed, they do not have to share their location or even who they are. Some do, but they do not have to and if they do, then they protect themselves. You know plenty of rich people, not just Bitcoin holders, there are many rich people all around the world, why are you not attacking them? Why do people not attack them? Have you seen Elon Musk (or one of his kids) getting kidnapped for ransom? Of course not, so why would you assume for influencers..

In most kidnapping cases, it didn't just happen from afar; it is a result of leaked information or a kind of lifestyle that is just about showing off. The first step in preventing kidnapping is to study your environment and every other environment you find yourself in. One needs to be careful with the kind of people they associate with and be mindful of what they say in public. What people don't know, they can't come for. If wealthy individuals with various assets protect themselves from kidnapping, I don't see why it would be different for Bitcoin investors.

[Mahanton]

Anonymity on the Bitcoin network depends heavily on our actions, so I would not recommend relying solely on the tools that can be used in the Bitcoin protocol. Before doing anything, think about what it might lead to in the future. Do not disclose that you own Bitcoin and do not link your wallets to your identity, and then the likelihood that someone will hunt for your savings will be minimal. The same applies to fiat money, but unlike extortion with fiat money, it is much easier for an attacker to hide with the obtained Bitcoin than with fiat money, including cash.

I do not understand how someone can link their wallet to their identity in real life? If someone really says in public in real life (I don't mean forum where you can be anonymous)  that I own Bitcoins and this is my wallet, then this person is stupid. If you just say that you own Bitcoin, then no one will know your wallet unless that person works in an exchange that you use and has access to the all the data but majority of us here use Electrum, some of us exchange coins through decentralised exchanges.

In my country, lots of people no longer use cash and the security of online banking is really high if you want it to be. Banks also have good insurance for customers. Banks here are doing really well, two of local banks here have one of the best UI/UX designs in the world.

As much as possible on which you should be that discreet when it comes into the money that you are owning whether you've been that having tons of cash, or having tons of Bitcoin or crypto. Nothing beats out into those individuals who arent that tactful into their holdings or on how much money they do have. It doesnt matter whether on crypto or with fiat on which being silent would be that putting you out into those potential problems like being abducted or being that kidnapped or what and we've seen tons of situations for those crypto people who had been that into such experience and this had been done physically or in person. In speaking about into those people who are just that behind their screen on telling about that they have tons of coins, even if you do say that they wont be that easily be that being traced up but still we do know that there are those scammers or hackers that could potentially be that lured in into those people and ended up on getting scammed or hacked with having that little to very least possible information leaked on a certain user or individual. We do know that there are some people who are that being that too careless when it comes into this aspect on which it will be leading up into that exposure of such information. Some are that being that too confident that there's nothing that would happen into them even if they would be trying out to proclaim that they have tons of coins or much money. You wouldn't know on when disaster happens because at the moment that you do share up some information then expect that there would be those who would be trying out to make use of those informations and might that get interested on trying out to lure you in and get your coins. Its hard but its not impossible and we've seen tons of it already. Its better to be careful than say sorry in the end.

[JayJuanGee]

Anonymity on the Bitcoin network depends heavily on our actions, so I would not recommend relying solely on the tools that can be used in the Bitcoin protocol. Before doing anything, think about what it might lead to in the future. Do not disclose that you own Bitcoin and do not link your wallets to your identity, and then the likelihood that someone will hunt for your savings will be minimal. The same applies to fiat money, but unlike extortion with fiat money, it is much easier for an attacker to hide with the obtained Bitcoin than with fiat money, including cash.

I do not understand how someone can link their wallet to their identity in real life? If someone really says in public in real life (I don't mean forum where you can be anonymous)  that I own Bitcoins and this is my wallet, then this person is stupid. If you just say that you own Bitcoin, then no one will know your wallet unless that person works in an exchange that you use and has access to the all the data but majority of us here use Electrum, some of us exchange coins through decentralised exchanges.

In my country, lots of people no longer use cash and the security of online banking is really high if you want it to be. Banks also have good insurance for customers. Banks here are doing really well, two of local banks here have one of the best UI/UX designs in the world.

There are likely members who are transacting with their bitcoin, and they can transact directly onchain or maybe they use a lightning wallet.

I doubt that it is a good idea for guys to be getting scared away from transacting with bitcoin in the real world, when there are opportunities to do so.  A lot of the power of bitcoin comes from being able to transact directly with other people and with no one being able to stop such transaction.

So even if their main storage of bitcoin might be kept separately and private, there could be situations where guys are either transacting with large transactions or guys might be using a wallet that has a high BTC balance, and even if the amount transacted might not be large, the balance of the change can be seen.. ... so if a guy might be buying some good or service worth a few hundred dollars, yet he is using a wallet with several thousand dollars, then the person who is engaged on the other side of the transaction may well see the change address...so it seems that some of us are suggesting to use wallets (or addresses) that have lower amounts of BTC contained in them or perhaps using lightning network, it might be more difficult to see the quantity of bitcoin in the originating wallet address.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

There are likely members who are transacting with their bitcoin, and they can transact directly onchain or maybe they use a lightning wallet.

I doubt that it is a good idea for guys to be getting scared away from transacting with bitcoin in the real world, when there are opportunities to do so.  A lot of the power of bitcoin comes from being able to transact directly with other people and with no one being able to stop such transaction.

If I have chance to use my bitcoin, I would like to do it directly than converting my bitcoin to either fiat currency, cash or stable coin before using it for payment. It is inconvenient and also costs me more fees from on-chain to trading fee.

However, I NEVER bring my Bicoin fortune around only because I intend to transact my bitcoin directly for something. It's risky and I only do it with my hot wallet that contains very small part of my Bitcoin capital.

So even if their main storage of bitcoin might be kept separately and private, there could be situations where guys are either transacting with large transactions or guys might be using a wallet that has a high BTC balance

For big fund storage, it must be stored in cold wallet, airgap wallet while hot wallets are risky for big fund storage.

For big value transaction, how many Bitcoin confirmations is important too.
How many Bitcoin confirmations is enough?

1 confirmation: sufficient for small payments less than $1,000.

3 confirmations: for payments $1,000 - $10,000. Most exchanges require 3 confirmations for deposits.

6 confirmations: good for large payments between $10,000 - $1,000,000. Six is standard for most transactions to be considered secure.

10 confirmations: suggested for large payments greater than $1,000,000.

[JayJuanGee]

There are likely members who are transacting with their bitcoin, and they can transact directly onchain or maybe they use a lightning wallet.

I doubt that it is a good idea for guys to be getting scared away from transacting with bitcoin in the real world, when there are opportunities to do so.  A lot of the power of bitcoin comes from being able to transact directly with other people and with no one being able to stop such transaction.

If I have chance to use my bitcoin, I would like to do it directly than converting my bitcoin to either fiat currency, cash or stable coin before using it for payment. It is inconvenient and also costs me more fees from on-chain to trading fee.

However, I NEVER bring my Bicoin fortune around only because I intend to transact my bitcoin directly for something. It's risky and I only do it with my hot wallet that contains very small part of my Bitcoin capital.

Sure maybe in your hot wallet you might ONLY keep $50 to $500 worth of bitcoin, depending on your location, yet if you had some special purchase, maybe you would carry some higher amount, or maybe if you were buying a car, and the car costs $5k, you could pay it in person, or maybe you tell the person that you are sending them the $5k in advance to going to pick up the car, so that you don't have to carry the $5k worth of bitcoin.

So even if their main storage of bitcoin might be kept separately and private, there could be situations where guys are either transacting with large transactions or guys might be using a wallet that has a high BTC balance

For big fund storage, it must be stored in cold wallet, airgap wallet while hot wallets are risky for big fund storage.

For big value transaction, how many Bitcoin confirmations is important too.
How many Bitcoin confirmations is enough?

1 confirmation: sufficient for small payments less than $1,000.

3 confirmations: for payments $1,000 - $10,000. Most exchanges require 3 confirmations for deposits.

6 confirmations: good for large payments between $10,000 - $1,000,000. Six is standard for most transactions to be considered secure.

10 confirmations: suggested for large payments greater than $1,000,000.

It also depends on what you are buying.. if you are buying a house, then the house is not moving, so if the payment is defective, then the title of the house would not have had validly transferred, and maybe the person cannot move in until the transaction is confirmed.  I am not disagreeing with your points, and sure private parties can decide how many confirmations they need, and from my perspective, it is not too likely that the chain is getting rolled back so 1 confirmation is likely good enough even in large transactions... but yeah, so far in my bitcoin life, I have not tended to have transactions that are greater than $10k.. at least not so far.

[WatChe]

There are likely members who are transacting with their bitcoin, and they can transact directly onchain or maybe they use a lightning wallet.

I doubt that it is a good idea for guys to be getting scared away from transacting with bitcoin in the real world, when there are opportunities to do so.  A lot of the power of bitcoin comes from being able to transact directly with other people and with no one being able to stop such transaction.

So even if their main storage of bitcoin might be kept separately and private, there could be situations where guys are either transacting with large transactions or guys might be using a wallet that has a high BTC balance, and even if the amount transacted might not be large, the balance of the change can be seen.. ... so if a guy might be buying some good or service worth a few hundred dollars, yet he is using a wallet with several thousand dollars, then the person who is engaged on the other side of the transaction may well see the change address...so it seems that some of us are suggesting to use wallets (or addresses) that have lower amounts of BTC contained in them or perhaps using lightning network, it might be more difficult to see the quantity of bitcoin in the originating wallet address.

On-chain transfer is good for p2p transfer (between two persons) and if you want to pay to merchant then best possible way is to use LN because on-chain will take lots of time for transaction to settle and both client and merchant don't want to wait for longer duration.

It's possible to hide you original balance as you have explained. It looks like the issue of kidnapping we have seen so far is not because of linking Bitcoin wallet balance with person's identity but because of person own disclosure about number of bitcoin's or other digital asset he has. These days there are many Bitcoin influencer's on social media that show there wealth to attract more likes and views.

[m2017]

I doubt that it is a good idea for guys to be getting scared away from transacting with bitcoin in the real world, when there are opportunities to do so.  A lot of the power of bitcoin comes from being able to transact directly with other people and with no one being able to stop such transaction.

Yes, it is. The power of bitcoin is in the ability to participate in a trade transaction without any intermediaries. But the modern trend is becoming such, with the growth of the price of bitcoin and its popularity, that it becomes a little dangerous to disclose to others about the presence of your BTC (no matter how many or few btc). In society, an opinion is increasingly formed about bitcoin as a "magic wand" that can change financial life for the better. And accordingly, more people appear to take possession of this asset not always legally and honestly. If there are no problems for p2p transactions online and you personally don't intersect with the counterparty, then in an offline transaction everything begins to look different - here it becomes easier to identify and find you. It seems to me that this will hinder the widespread use of bitcoin as a method of offline payments (one of the reasons).

So even if their main storage of bitcoin might be kept separately and private, there could be situations where guys are either transacting with large transactions or guys might be using a wallet that has a high BTC balance, and even if the amount transacted might not be large, the balance of the change can be seen.. ... so if a guy might be buying some good or service worth a few hundred dollars, yet he is using a wallet with several thousand dollars, then the person who is engaged on the other side of the transaction may well see the change address...so it seems that some of us are suggesting to use wallets (or addresses) that have lower amounts of BTC contained in them or perhaps using lightning network, it might be more difficult to see the quantity of bitcoin in the originating wallet address.

This is where the problem of pseudo-privacy of BTC comes up. Blockchain, the force that makes bitcoin unique, in this case becomes a factor that increases the user's risks. The transaction chain can always be tracked and one can guess how much bitcoin the user has stored in a "distant" wallet.

I believe that the BTC-community is facing a problem of "hiding" wallet balances.

[arabspaceship123]

Their safety shouldn't be in their minds all ppl deserve to be safe. It doesn't matter which job they're doing they've got a right to be safe. If they're visible like social media influencers or company owners they shouldn't be scared they'll be kidnapped or their families are in danger.

The issue of physical safety for BTC or cryptocurrency hodlers  has been debated many times on the forum, and following several kidnappings of crypto influencers' relatives in France (but these kidnappings obviously also occur in other countries), how can btc influencers ensure their safety and that of their loved ones?

How can they both have visibility AND ensure their safety?

[xzone]

Big bitcoin investors may have a goal of remaining anonymous, but influencers or social media users who earn to leave this will not have a goal of remaining anonymous. Real users can be very famous on Twitter or other platforms and earn big money. What they need to do is to provide their security with offline budgets. There can be thieves, scammers or bad people everywhere, as long as you pay attention to your security, you will not have big problems.

Think about the famous people who run TV programs throughout, the producer has very big services and can walk in the market. Nobody steals something that does not have

[JayJuanGee]

I doubt that it is a good idea for guys to be getting scared away from transacting with bitcoin in the real world, when there are opportunities to do so.  A lot of the power of bitcoin comes from being able to transact directly with other people and with no one being able to stop such transaction.

Yes, it is. The power of bitcoin is in the ability to participate in a trade transaction without any intermediaries. But the modern trend is becoming such, with the growth of the price of bitcoin and its popularity, that it becomes a little dangerous to disclose to others about the presence of your BTC (no matter how many or few btc). In society, an opinion is increasingly formed about bitcoin as a "magic wand" that can change financial life for the better.

At the same time, you can choose to be afraid and lock yourself away, which I doubt is a very good solution for either the future power of bitcoin or the power that comes from people feeling comfortable to directly interact with their neighbors.  The powers that be would just love it if you squirreled your lil selfie away with your bitcoin and ONLY interacted through KYC verified (and approved) channels.

And accordingly, more people appear to take possession of this asset not always legally and honestly.

I am going to presume that people are honest rather than not.. .especially the neighbors and relatives that I may have had gotten to know over many years.  Sure, at the same time, there are ways that we can potentially screen folks, if we are going to interact, whether we interact with a merchant or if we might interact directly in regards to goods and/or services or any other ways that we might choose to interact with our neighbors and/or our relatives.

If there are no problems for p2p transactions online and you personally don't intersect with the counterparty,

Sure there may well be various kinds of transactions that we might make in which we do not know the other party and we do not need to know the other party.. .especially the party who is paying... but frequently, we might need to know the merchant if they are providing a good that needs to be shipped, or if they provide a service, we might dispute if the service had been carried out at the agreed upon level.   I doubt that we can just characterize all transactions as if we don't need to know the transacting party, even though, there are likely examples of such anonymous (or quasi-anonymous) transactions. that might also involve reputations related to past transactions that each of the parties might have had done.

then in an offline transaction everything begins to look different - here it becomes easier to identify and find you. It seems to me that this will hinder the widespread use of bitcoin as a method of offline payments (one of the reasons).

Yes, we know that the internet has potentials to cause low cost ways of stealing money without suffering ramifications of such stealing, so there are online incentives to get the gain if there is not going to necessarily be real world costs.  The costs in the real world may well vary in terms of potentially getting caught, so criminals might not be incentivized to perform a $5 wrench attack if there are high possibilities that they could either get caught or suffer consequences... so surely none of us should want to present ourselves as an easy target, yet I doubt that taking preventative measures is going to necessarily mean that I cannot be attempting to do in-person transactions from time to time..

We can agree to disagree and you can continue to advocate that it is not worth it and you can hide yourself and your bitcoins away like a hermit.  That's your choice, and sure maybe bitcoin will still be valuable, even if 80% of bitcoin users are squirreling themselves away and afraid to meet people in the real world (as a bitcoiner).

So even if their main storage of bitcoin might be kept separately and private, there could be situations where guys are either transacting with large transactions or guys might be using a wallet that has a high BTC balance, and even if the amount transacted might not be large, the balance of the change can be seen.. ... so if a guy might be buying some good or service worth a few hundred dollars, yet he is using a wallet with several thousand dollars, then the person who is engaged on the other side of the transaction may well see the change address...so it seems that some of us are suggesting to use wallets (or addresses) that have lower amounts of BTC contained in them or perhaps using lightning network, it might be more difficult to see the quantity of bitcoin in the originating wallet address.

This is where the problem of pseudo-privacy of BTC comes up. Blockchain, the force that makes bitcoin unique, in this case becomes a factor that increases the user's risks. The transaction chain can always be tracked and one can guess how much bitcoin the user has stored in a "distant" wallet.

I believe that the BTC-community is facing a problem of "hiding" wallet balances.

Any times there are various hops in the transactions, then there is plausible deniability regarding the balance of BTC that the person owns... and sometimes mistakes could be made in regards to who owns which UTXOs.

Let's say that I own a total of 0.791 BTC, yet I wanted to keep my main stash separate from the portions of my stash in which I am transacting, and so maybe I create five or six transaction wallet addresses with various amounts between 0.001 BTC to 0.01 BTC, and those will be for my transactions, and so maybe I divide my main wallet into 4 parts (4 addresses) with varying amounts of between 0.15 BTC and 0.25 BTC in each of the wallet addresses and those will mostly be my storage transactions, unless maybe I have some larger transactions that I might want to carry out...and so maybe I might consider that I am secure and than I have plausible deniability about the BTC addresses with larger balances since I am not really transacting with the UTXOs with the larger balance, and since I am ONLY transacting with my addresses that have between 0.001 BTC and 0.01 BTC.

Sure these kinds of techniques can work with larger and smaller level holders, even though I frequently suggest that guys should be attempting to avoid making smaller sized UTXOs such as UTXOs that are smaller than $500 - except maybe once in a while having some of those smaller UTXOs is fine, but they should probably be spent down to zero or consolidated during low fee times.

In essence, there are likely ways to attempt to provide ourselves with various safeguards of plausible deniability regarding our ownership of certain UTXOs, to the extent that such UTXOs are even plausibly associated with our real world identities, and sure our safeguards may well not be 100% foolproof, and so yeah some of us could end up in a position of being $5 wrench attacked whether we have any bitcoin or not.. .and so sure maybe your squirreling yourself away into hiding and denying any bitcoin ownership and not associating with anyone in the real world about your bitcoin might end up protecting you from such attacks, yet I still am not going to advocate that guys carry out their lives as social hermits and act as if they don't have any bitcoin.

[Mate2237]

One good way through safety of those who holds Bitcoin assets is living in camouflage by this a mean living a mod st life even though that the money is there there are those who live to impress people around them causing unnecessary attention to themselves so when an individual live a modest life that is one good way to making sure that you live free of worries.



Knowing the kind of person's that you tell your secrets especially about crypto currency investment because there are people who are just looking for opportunities to get at anyone who fails prey to them so before you discuss your secrets with anyone make sure that you have accessed them and know them very well before you discuss anything about Bitcoin not to talk of your gains with them

[_BlackStar]

Their safety shouldn't be in their minds all ppl deserve to be safe. It doesn't matter which job they're doing they've got a right to be safe. If they're visible like social media influencers or company owners they shouldn't be scared they'll be kidnapped or their families are in danger.

They must be worried about their safety and security regardless of whether they have a lot of bitcoins or not. Their faces and identities are exposed through videos posted on various social media - so many people must know them and bad guys will target them for easy money. You can't say they don't care - in fact, many influencers who have a lot of assets will hire bodyguards for their safety and their family.

[I_Anime]

One good way through safety of those who holds Bitcoin assets is living in camouflage by this a mean living a mod st life even though that the money is there there are those who live to impress people around them causing unnecessary attention to themselves so when an individual live a modest life that is one good way to making sure that you live free of worries.



Knowing the kind of person's that you tell your secrets especially about crypto currency investment because there are people who are just looking for opportunities to get at anyone who fails prey to them so before you discuss your secrets with anyone make sure that you have accessed them and know them very well before you discuss anything about Bitcoin not to talk of your gains with them

That’s the reason why most folks prefer to go with anonymity, keeping their investments as secret because some times you might not be safe with those around you some people can easily change . Is good to have some folks you can trust but still there’s some things you just have to keep to yourself.

You might think they are your friends till it got to a stage they will start planning all such of thing just to get your hard earn money be specially when you have a massive investment they know about . Before most will come out and talk about their investment in public , they make sure that their secure are tight , so that they will feel safe when doing so .

[kanftka]

One good way through safety of those who holds Bitcoin assets is living in camouflage by this a mean living a mod st life even though that the money is there there are those who live to impress people around them causing unnecessary attention to themselves so when an individual live a modest life that is one good way to making sure that you live free of worries.



Knowing the kind of person's that you tell your secrets especially about crypto currency investment because there are people who are just looking for opportunities to get at anyone who fails prey to them so before you discuss your secrets with anyone make sure that you have accessed them and know them very well before you discuss anything about Bitcoin not to talk of your gains with them

That is a solid point, when it comes to holding Bitcoin or investment, keeping a low profile is one of the most effective forms of security. You don’t need to show the world what you have staying modest keeps you safe and focused.
And you’re right about being careful with who you share things with, not everyone around you has good intentions. Before opening up about anything related to Bitcoin, it is wise to really know who you’re talking to.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

It also depends on what you are buying.. if you are buying a house, then the house is not moving, so if the payment is defective, then the title of the house would not have had validly transferred, and maybe the person cannot move in until the transaction is confirmed.  I am not disagreeing with your points, and sure private parties can decide how many confirmations they need, and from my perspective, it is not too likely that the chain is getting rolled back so 1 confirmation is likely good enough even in large transactions... but yeah, so far in my bitcoin life, I have not tended to have transactions that are greater than $10k.. at least not so far.

I agree with your supporting point that is valid and to be honest, I did not think about that if you did not enlighten me on this point.

Value of a deal is important but it is not the only one, and your point contribute other factors for consideration too. By having multiple factors for careful consideration, people would have more clearer ideas on what they should do, and it will certainly increase their carefulness at somewhat level. Fortunately, by having more knowledge, more carefulness, it will only bring more careful and better practice that guarantees better result in the end.

[arabspaceship123]

Bitcoin influencers deserve the same personal protections as other ppl. They shouldn't be scared they've got to live life to the max so they should enjoy their time. If ppl are scared they'll be kidnapped they shouldn't post personal info in social media but it isn't fair to live life in fear.

[Becassine]

Did you know that in France, business owners' data is public? It's very easy to find the personal data of a business owner, especially a self-employed person.

First, there's the legal notice on a website, which is mandatory for companies under the 2004 Law on Confidence in the Digital Economy (LCEN). This data must include a wide range of information:

- Company: company name, registered office, SIREN number, and sometimes the intra-community VAT number.

- For sole traders, they must provide first and last name and address (often their home address for self-employed people).

This information can be publicly accessible via the company's website, in addition to the data published in public registers such as the Trade and Companies Register (RCS) or the INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies).

On June 11, 2025, Renaissance MP Paul Midy tabled a bill to limit public access to sensitive data, such as the personal addresses of company directors, in public registers. But unfortunately, this sensitive data won't be protected any time soon. Everything is too easily accessible.

How are things working in other countries?

Furthermore, a certain discretion also seems necessary to me for certain professions.

[Ryu_Ar1]

Bitcoin influencers deserve the same personal protections as other ppl. They shouldn't be scared they've got to live life to the max so they should enjoy their time. If ppl are scared they'll be kidnapped they shouldn't post personal info in social media but it isn't fair to live life in fear.

When deciding to take that path, in the end they need to be aware of the possible conditions that occur and they only need to minimize it so that things that are not too expected are never felt later, especially for those who clearly show their activities or even their portfolios in crypto which makes them feel less secure but that is a risk and impact that is commensurate with them and the popularity they have.

Protection is optional but if it is felt that it is still possible to happen then it is up to the influencer but I do realize that when talking about fear it actually comes from our own suggestions but if you really want to be safer and more comfortable then in the end trying to stay hidden and anonymous is still one of the most appropriate steps to take.

[Doan9269]

how can btc influencers ensure their safety and that of their loved ones?

How can they both have visibility AND ensure their safety?

Most of these influencers are not investors, instead they were paid to promote and advertise for a particular crypto entity, which they were being paid to do so, this does not necessarily have to be that they are the real investors, because those that are into bitcoin will not have enough time to advertise their self to the public for what they do, because they value their privacy and they gain noting from all these, they were instead busy with their weekly candles making trades or holding their asset on a non custodial wallet, whereby it becomes difficult for them to be tracked.

[FortuneFollower]

how can btc influencers ensure their safety and that of their loved ones?

How can they both have visibility AND ensure their safety?

Most of these influencers are not investors, instead they were paid to promote and advertise for a particular crypto entity, which they were being paid to do so, this does not necessarily have to be that they are the real investors, because those that are into bitcoin will not have enough time to advertise their self to the public for what they do, because they value their privacy and they gain noting from all these, they were instead busy with their weekly candles making trades or holding their asset on a non custodial wallet, whereby it becomes difficult for them to be tracked.

Agreed, there are KOLers and those who invest in something for real - both have their roles, and both fulfill them accordingly.