Bitcoin gives self custody and not anonymity

[X-ray]

Bitcoin is as anonymous as you can make it to be. Buying bitcoin through P2P won't expose your identity but honestly even if bitcoin is not anonymous, the fact that nobody control your money or able to freeze your money randomly is already a good advantage for me.

If you've used remittance services back in the days you will know how beneficial is using bitcoin and its decentralized blockchain.

[TypoTonic]

Why are we saying we cannot actually have total privacy with bitcoin, I still think even if the process is actually a lot more complicated or requires you to be careful there is technically a chance of been anonymous with bitcoin, the transactions you still think are public are definitely nothing as long as it is not linked to a specific person or linked to some addresses, this is easily common by using new addresses for every new bitcoin transactions and never to actually link them together, this way the public’s sees bitcoin but never knows who it belongs to. This to me is anonymity and still privacy.

Anonymous, yes. But private? Nope.

You need to understand the difference between these two terms. The blockchain is a public ledger, it is designed to be transparent. Anyone can see the balance in your address and track the flow of incoming and outgoing transactions. This information (as an example) is even used by some members to find and expose campaign cheaters in the forum, although they still remain anonymous.

[(Hummus)]

You actually stated facts, Bitcoin doesn't really give anonymity, even if you don't use your real name to make your transactions based on the fact that your address is there it can always be traced back to you. Self custody is important because it gives you control over your money without being tied or dependent to bank limitations or restrictions. Bitcoin only guarantees privacy and not anonymity there is actually a difference

[Crypt0Gore]

If you are looking for anonymous transactions go and look for XMR, it is build with privacy and anonymity in mind, Bitcoin doesn't offer any of these than decentralisation.

There are ways that you can use your Bitcoin in a privacy way and that's through mixers or specially made Bitcoin wallets like Samorai wallet, this is users choices to make but way different from something that was build from scratch as a anonymous digital currency.

Bitcoin can't serve all our needs which is why I believe that it is not going to be enough, Bitcoin existence isn't to eradicate other digital currencies but to exists along with them.

[Alpha Marine]

Why are we saying we cannot actually have total privacy with bitcoin, I still think even if the process is actually a lot more complicated or requires you to be careful there is technically a chance of been anonymous with bitcoin, the transactions you still think are public are definitely nothing as long as it is not linked to a specific person or linked to some addresses, this is easily common by using new addresses for every new bitcoin transactions and never to actually link them together, this way the public’s sees bitcoin but never knows who it belongs to. This to me is anonymity and still privacy.

You've said it yourself. If the transactions are already public, how can they be private? Every bitcoin transaction is public for anybody to see on the network. The difference is, since it's just an address and not a name, a social security number or a face, you cant tell who made that transaction; that's anonymity.

Take the forum, for example. It's a pseudonymous forum. I could be a lady posing as a man; nobody knows, but everybody sees every post I make. My posts are public for anybody who comes to the website to see, but they don't know who I am. The moment you click "post", your post becomes public. People can see your post and know which account posted it, but you, who is behind the account, is anonymous (unless you've revealed yourself, of course). It's not so different from Bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions are public, not private.

[fuguebtc]

Bitcoin is as anonymous as you can make it to be. Buying bitcoin through P2P won't expose your identity but honestly even if bitcoin is not anonymous, the fact that nobody control your money or able to freeze your money randomly is already a good advantage for me.

If you've used remittance services back in the days you will know how beneficial is using bitcoin and its decentralized blockchain.

P2P trading cannot guarantee complete anonymity.
If you choose to transact directly and pay in cash. You may also have your face recognized or be recorded on camera by someone else.

If you use a bank account or e-wallet, your transaction history will be saved and the authorities can still track you.

Using a gift is probably the best way to ensure anonymity but this depends on the seller, as they may ask you to provide photo ID for verification.

In general, it is easier to stay anonymous with small transactions because they are less noticeable, but with large transactions, it is much harder.
But, yes, Bitcoin cannot guarantee us absolute anonymity but it can guarantee us complete control over our money.

[X-ray]

P2P trading cannot guarantee complete anonymity.
If you choose to transact directly and pay in cash. You may also have your face recognized or be recorded on camera by someone else.

If you use a bank account or e-wallet, your transaction history will be saved and the authorities can still track you.

Using a gift is probably the best way to ensure anonymity but this depends on the seller, as they may ask you to provide photo ID for verification.

I actually agreed, using bank account or e-wallet still exposes identity, but usually using bank account or e-wallet is enough to keep people from using CEX and forcefully demanded to do KYC to prevent personal information stealing and for me this is enough.

If people want anonymity using bitcoin they can always P2P with cash.

[Rustam Meraj]

Main problem with crypto, as you have rightly said, is that to get safety and more people using it, you have to give up freedom and privacy, since 100% anonymity is lost second you use controlled exchange to buy crypto, as KYC rules connect your wallet address to your real name, allowing government to follow transactions on public record. Still, you still have main good point self-custody means that you will have full rule over your money and government will not be able to stop your money right away, which is most important freedom that remains, and this tracing feature will also help authorities to catch criminals who mistakenly think that Bitcoin is untraceable.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Not worth it. Remember this: 22 Years Old Robbed of $850,000 USDT at Karachi Airport (Pakistan)

The risks of face to face trading are very high. While maintaining your privacy is important, I think protecting yourself from dangerous situations is also important. There are bound to be bad actors in such space and if you’re trading coins worth over $500 you stand the chance of getting robbed.

It's super dangerous for your safefy physically and in worst case you can be killed, not only robbed or partially physical harmed. It is not good for your privacy while it has very high risk of losing your bitcoin, even your life.

There are many reports on terrible phyiscal attacks with many different consequences with worse ones are deaths.
Physical Bitcoin attacks.
Physical Bitcoin attacks (2).

[Mandoy]

You actually stated facts, Bitcoin doesn't really give anonymity, even if you don't use your real name to make your transactions based on the fact that your address is there it can always be traced back to you. Self custody is important because it gives you control over your money without being tied or dependent to bank limitations or restrictions. Bitcoin only guarantees privacy and not anonymity there is actually a difference

You're right. Bitcoin is not anonymous but pseudonymous, after any address is associated with you the footprint is traceable. Self-custody is the actual power, as you have the complete control over your money without having to use banks. There is privacy, but no anonymity.

[Jawhead999]

I actually agreed, using bank account or e-wallet still exposes identity, but usually using bank account or e-wallet is enough to keep people from using CEX and forcefully demanded to do KYC to prevent personal information stealing and for me this is enough.

If people want anonymity using bitcoin they can always P2P with cash.

Hmm, I think it's a different topic if we talk about bank account and e-wallet because if we talk about those centralized payments for sure it will expose our identity. Example if we use Monero, it's a privacy oriented coins and no one can see the transaction because the blockchain is private. If we use bank account or e-wallet to buy/sell Monero, our identity would be exposed too.

[RockBell]

Bitcoin is as anonymous as you can make it to be. Buying bitcoin through P2P won't expose your identity but honestly even if bitcoin is not anonymous, the fact that nobody control your money or able to freeze your money randomly is already a good advantage for me.

Bitcoin is anonymity and strongly private and this why people are always avoiding centralized exchanges, and even when you do p2p depends on how the whole thing is going. And anything that as to do with data collection was not the main the plan for bitcoin from the first time. And since the centralized exchanges is now in picture we have to live with it, and the self custody is one of the best innovation exept for does leaving there bitcoin in an exchange but they will one day learn the hard way.

If you've used remittance services back in the days you will know how beneficial is using bitcoin and its decentralized blockchain.

When you are using a decentralized network if gives you freedom with exposure of your data, and some people have not really learned and this is all because they did not do there own research before starting, because they would have seen people with different experiences.

[uchegod-21]

there is absolutely no way you can purchase bitcoin without atleast minimal revealing of your identity or kyc.

There's, Face to Face trade.

You can trade without need to create an account which you submit KYC and you receive the payment in cash, so the banks didn't know it.

How is putting your physical safety at risks any way better than undergoing KYC procedures? Face to face trading should be highly discouraged here. There are numerous risks including the risk of physical robbery and even loss of life if the Bitcoin holder tries to resist the attackers. Unless you trust the other party 100%, never try to meet anyone for physical trading. P2P and DEX are much safer and reduce the need for much KYC.

[Satofan44]

In addition, buying and selling of verified crypto accounts are rampant, some also offer after-sales in case the particular account gets flagged. Loads of bad actors resort to this. Meanwhile, law abiding folks bears the risk of having their personal information leaked lol. 10/10 i feel protected everytime I kyc.  /s

Exactly, you get it. Most people that write about these topics do not have any experience or knowledge on what is actually going on. That is why they write generic nonsense.

You need to understand the difference between these two terms. The blockchain is a public ledger, it is designed to be transparent. Anyone can see the balance in your address and track the flow of incoming and outgoing transactions. This information (as an example) is even used by some members to find and expose campaign cheaters in the forum, although they still remain anonymous.

Next time read the posts on the first page before writing something that I have already explained.

You actually stated facts, Bitcoin doesn't really give anonymity, even if you don't use your real name to make your transactions based on the fact that your address is there it can always be traced back to you. Self custody is important because it gives you control over your money without being tied or dependent to bank limitations or restrictions. Bitcoin only guarantees privacy and not anonymity there is actually a difference

Wrong. Enjoy your negative tag for lying about the basics on how Bitcoin work. An address can not be traced back to a person unless there is additional information which can be used with that. Bitcoin does NOT provide privacy.

P2P trading cannot guarantee complete anonymity.
If you choose to transact directly and pay in cash. You may also have your face recognized or be recorded on camera by someone else.

Complete nonsense. Nobody gives a fuck who you are in P2P. You are just a poor person, do you think someone will track you over your $200 transaction? Stop watching so many action movies idiot.

How is putting your physical safety at risks any way better than undergoing KYC procedures? Face to face trading should be highly discouraged here. There are numerous risks including the risk of physical robbery and even loss of life if the Bitcoin holder tries to resist the attackers. Unless you trust the other party 100%, never try to meet anyone for physical trading. P2P and DEX are much safer and reduce the need for much KYC.

Another stupid idiot writing nonsense about topics which you have no idea about. You are make a false comparison between doing a P2P trade with a random person and using a trusted CEX. If you want to compare these without looking like a complete retard then you must compare a P2P trade with a random person and the use of a random, no-name CEX that nobody has heard of. Which is safer? Giving your data to this CEX? 

P2P trading is a huge industry. No established player will risk their reputation over your pathetically small transaction. Clients often want discretion, facilitators want reputation and clients. If you know what you are doing, you are never going to have a single issue.

[Hyphen(-)]

You actually stated facts, Bitcoin doesn't really give anonymity, even if you don't use your real name to make your transactions based on the fact that your address is there it can always be traced back to you. Self custody is important because it gives you control over your money without being tied or dependent to bank limitations or restrictions. Bitcoin only guarantees privacy and not anonymity there is actually a difference

How will your address be tracked to you if you are not using centralized data change wallet that have your details with them in form of KYC?

Bitcoin transactions is not like bank transactions where your account details will contain all your information, it is something anonymous even though the transaction is public in a blockchain, who owns a wallet only knows his wallet, no one can track your wallet back to you personally, but your balance and transactions can be monitored.

I still believe there is both privacy and anonymity in Bitcoin is being used in decentralized way.

[Emjay24]

there is absolutely no way you can purchase bitcoin without atleast minimal revealing of your identity or kyc.

There's, Face to Face trade.

You can trade without need to create an account which you submit KYC and you receive the payment in cash, so the banks didn't know it.

What is the guarantee that the cash you received is following you home or to the place you would like to utilize it?

This is more like setting yourself up. You can finish exchanging your coins for cash and when you're done sending the coins successfully you may be held at a gun point to give back the cash, IMO face to face is even worse than doing KYC. I only do face to face with people that I know very well and am sure they are into crypto.

Back to the topic, I do not think you can achieve 100% anonymity especially when you've meddled with CEX, you can try using mixing services like mixers and CoinJoin features but that still doesn't guarantee 100% anonymity, it only makes it harder to link the coins back to you.

[colinistheman]

You actually stated facts, Bitcoin doesn't really give anonymity, even if you don't use your real name to make your transactions based on the fact that your address is there it can always be traced back to you. Self custody is important because it gives you control over your money without being tied or dependent to bank limitations or restrictions. Bitcoin only guarantees privacy and not anonymity there is actually a difference

How will your address be tracked to you if you are not using centralized data change wallet that have your details with them in form of KYC?

Bitcoin transactions is not like bank transactions where your account details will contain all your information, it is something anonymous even though the transaction is public in a blockchain, who owns a wallet only knows his wallet, no one can track your wallet back to you personally, but your balance and transactions can be monitored.

I still believe there is both privacy and anonymity in Bitcoin is being used in decentralized way.

Like in the case of Satoshi, we all know his wallet and the amount of bitcoins he owns but we cannot know his real identity. Because it is not linked to any of his personal information. However, his identity could be exposed if he intends to sell and convert his bitcoins into fiat, even if he uses decentralized services. Because fiat always goes through the banking system or other centralized services.

So it can be said that our anonymity will be guaranteed in the crypto space when using decentralized services. But once we decide to convert them to fiat or vice versa, our identity can be exposed at any time.

[lizarder]

This reason is also why scammers can not go scot free when the authorities is actually ready to fish you out where criminal believes bitcoin is a scam free monetary technology.
Non-custodial is the main thing where authority does not decide how you uses your funds while you can not keep total anonymity if you must transact on the p2p.

The most important thing is to distinguish between fraudulent behavior and the underlying reasons for privacy or anonymity. We must also discuss the perspectives, so that each individual can develop a perspective on anonymity and self-custody in their Bitcoin investment journey. Unfortunately, not everyone may use these techniques, as many people may still be willing to undergo KYC when using centralized exchanges, so that we no longer talk about privacy or anonymity.

Some argue that there are other methods, such as face-to-face trading, but these are also quite risky because crime can arise from opportunity, and we never know how the risks could be far worse than trading on an exchange. Of course, everyone has considered all the possibilities, and we must be selective to maintain our personal and asset security.

[Scarlett_23]

there is absolutely no way you can purchase bitcoin without atleast minimal revealing of your identity or kyc.

There's, Face to Face trade.

You can trade without need to create an account which you submit KYC and you receive the payment in cash, so the banks didn't know it.

How is putting your physical safety at risks any way better than undergoing KYC procedures? Face to face trading should be highly discouraged here. There are numerous risks including the risk of physical robbery and even loss of life if the Bitcoin holder tries to resist the attackers. Unless you trust the other party 100%, never try to meet anyone for physical trading. P2P and DEX are much safer and reduce the need for much KYC.

I agree with you on this, one should never risk physical security by not following the KYC procedure. It is not safe to carry Bitcoin anywhere where our fiat currency is not safe.

Because Bitcoin is very valuable.

Now coming to the OP's words, in fact, everyone can see Bitcoin transactions and it is understood who is transacting how much money but who is behind this address cannot be seen.

[Awaklara]

there is absolutely no way you can purchase bitcoin without atleast minimal revealing of your identity or kyc.

You are right, those who buy Bitcoin on a CEX, even if they withdraw it and keep it in their own wallet, cannot completely escape government oversight. There is a history of deposits and withdrawals on the exchange that can be tracked. 
We maintain the self-custody of the Bitcoin we own. But it is not entirely anonymous. Some people will not be happy with the changes that occur. But some will not mind.