Avoid posting the total amount of your bitcoin holdings online!

[(BTC)]

I was browsing r/btc today, mostly because the sub is extra-entertaining when there are significant shifts in price, and like clockwork, I'm observing dangerous, reckless, and stupid bitcoin price-drop behavior.



It's even, might I say understandably, getting up-voted/awarded heavily, with other users engaging with the post by commenting on their current total stack size. I'm not trying to disparage, minimize, or downplay the achievement of reaching ownership of one full coin, it's awesome for him. This type of behavior also happens in the same vein, during bitcoin price-increases, when people post specifics online related to how much bitcoin they have just sold, but I digress.

There's a saying I've heard that goes along the lines of, "A fortune shared publicly becomes everyone's buisness.". I know for a fact there are tons of people here who know this is not a good practice and know why it's not a good practice, so I don't feel like I need to elaborate too much on the subject. Aparently the OP knows it's going to garner reaponses along the lines of, "Hey, man be quiet! You shouldn't say how much bitcoin you have.", because he openly claims that he is using an offline wallet, doesn't care who knows he has one full bitcoin, and is content waiting for all his distant friends/family to hit him up. Does he feel invincible? Does he feel cocky? Does he feel smart? Probably. Is he, though? Absolutely not, by no stretch of the imagination, is this smart or sensible behavior.

Hell, the guy may even be totally lying! "Stacking coins since 2021"? For all we know he could've started in 2017. "One whole bitcoin"? He may have 0.1, he may have 10, shit he might even be a no-coiner and is larping for internet attention. He could also be trying to actively obfuscate his true holdings by misleading adversaries already looking for him. This is also pointless, because a better alternative is to say nothing that's inherently divulgent at all. Many people fail to realize that this type of behavior, while still (incomprehensible to me) occuring in our social-media poisoned/reality warped world we live in, is the same when it comes to fiat currencey. Are you comfortable posting the total current numerical value of fiat sitting in your checking account, or under your mattress? If not, then why would you do the same with your bitcoin? Make it make sense, for heaven's sake.

I'll end this PSA, warning, message to the people sitting in the back of the room with their heads in the clouds, whatever you wanna call this, by saying one thing - It's impossible nowadays to stay 100% anonymous on the internet. I don't mean to fear-monger or blackpill. I, myself, am not perfect by any means, and I've had to learn some lessons the hard way. The only thing that defines your safety, is the amount of adversaries looking in your direction, the resources available to those adversaries, and the desperation of those adversaries. One whole coin, 0.1 of a coin, Jesus even a few hundred thousand sats can be enough for some freak out there with nothing to lose. Why invite more of them due to an inibility to speak with discretion instead of specifics?

/rant
Here's a page I read every once in a while: Known Physical Bitcoin Attacks

[OcTradism]

There's a saying I've heard that goes along the lines of, "A fortune shared publicly becomes everyone's buisness.".
Here's a page I read every once in a while: Known Physical Bitcoin Attacks

It's generally applicable for everything in human life because basically Privacy Matters.

A more visualized site about Physical attacks involving cryptocurrency.
https://stats.gart.io/

To keep your bitcoins safely, you must to keep your bitcoin holding in secret. In the other words, don't talk about your bitcoin holding to anyone.
21 tips for securing your bitcoin.

Privacy and security are related with each other for Bitcoin users and safety of their bitcoins.
Bitcoin privacy guide.
Bitcoin security guide.
Security issues with browser-based Bitcoin wallets.
How to protect your bitcoin from $5 wrench attacks.
The DOs and DON'Ts of Bitcoin private key management.

[X-ray]

Yes, you generally don't want to disclose anything financial related.

However, these reddit post could be a fabricated piece of story or engagement farming, there are many of them that are doing this for the purpose of farming karma.

Some even reposting old stories, etc.

Two things people should do, never disclose your wealth and never trust reddit post or anything posted online easily.

[mindrust]

r/btc is a clown car, has always been. Still though, even they seem to accept that bch is not the real bitcoin nowadays. I don’t see them pushing that bullshit so often lately. They look more like r/buttcoin which is an anti bitcoin sub…

Anyway, sharing the details of your wealth is never a good idea whether it is crypto or not. It brings unwanted attention.

Listen to the voice of reason, as Frank Lopéz says:

“Guys who last in this business fly straight, low key and quiet”

[Somegory]

I believe that's Reddit ? I would do the same if I can because my Reddit account has no information about my country, name and address, even the username is the one generated by Reddit itself, there is no way anyone can know the real me on that platform.

Unless this person have given their username to friends and family, that makes it identical to him as the real owner, but anyways it's still not a safe practice, I only use Reddit for reading and finding solutions to things that aren't crypto related.

Things have changed, talking about Bitcoin today can easily land you in grave danger, it's better to pretend like you've never heard the name Bitcoin before.

[Darker45]

The big difference between having 1 whole BTC and having a similar amount in fiat is that you're probably keeping the former yourself while you're keeping the latter somewhere else. In which case, a robber might be more tempted to attack you for your Bitcoin than for your fiat.

Absolute ownership, full control, self-custody is a double-edged sword. While it increases your freedom, it also increases your risk. You won't get robbed for the money that's in your bank account. But you might get the attention of criminals for being your own bank.

[Ucy]

It's unlikely someone will find you and steal your bitcoin if your identitiy and location are unknown, but you could be hacked or spied on for those private information after revealing the amount of bitcoin you own. Internet gatekeeper or owner of known/established website you pass through will be careful not to steal your coins even though they have your private info, and they probably know that stuff like that will always make them to be seen as suspects. It's like letting only bank cashier or a security person go through your private info that reveals how much you own during a fund withdrawal from their bank. later someone traces your location and steal the money. If asked by an investigator who knew about the private info  you will remembrr only the cashier and security person. So, staying anonymous even though your anonymity is publicly linked to your bitcoin, is safer, since only wallet owners and gatekeepers could possibly know how much bitcoin their anonymous users have, unless they are revealed to more people on a random site. But wallet owner will be careful hacking your phone to know your identity and address.

Fiat is a different case entirely, as zero or very few thieves will dare give you their bank names and ask you to transfer your money to their accounts. They will probably try to get you to go to atm and withdraw physical cash in order to remain undetected.

[Mpamaegbu]

However, these reddit post could be a fabricated piece of story or engagement farming, there are many of them that are doing this for the purpose of farming karma.

They may think it's cruise but in reality they're thoughtlessly making themselves objects of target. We've heard stories of people who were wrongly kidnapped with the kidnappers thinking their victims were actually rich because of their online display of wealth and affluence.

Some even reposting old stories, etc.

Those who do that are simply wicked. Their intention isn't far from deceiving the public and causing panic. It's wickedness.

[Zlantann]

I believe that's Reddit ? I would do the same if I can because my Reddit account has no information about my country, name and address, even the username is the one generated by Reddit itself, there is no way anyone can know the real me on that platform.

Unless this person have given their username to friends and family, that makes it identical to him as the real owner, but anyways it's still not a safe practice, I only use Reddit for reading and finding solutions to things that aren't crypto related.

Things have changed, talking about Bitcoin today can easily land you in grave danger, it's better to pretend like you've never heard the name Bitcoin before.

Why would someone even expose his worth in a public space? Even if he has no information attached to the account but there are still other ways of identifying the location or personal information of an individual in a forum. It is better to be off track than to spend time and resources to clear the track.

I see people flaunting money or wealth online for public gratification. Living a private life has always been my style and this is why I chose Bitcoin. We are living in a time where criminal activities are increasing, and avoiding public wealth display is now essential.

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

Why would someone even expose his worth in a public space? Even if he has no information attached to the account but there are still other ways of identifying the location or personal information of an individual in a forum. It is better to be off track than to spend time and resources to clear the track.

I see people flaunting money or wealth online for public gratification. Living a private life has always been my style and this is why I chose Bitcoin. We are living in a time where criminal activities are increasing, and avoiding public wealth display is now essential.

They have reasons for sharing their stories, but they thought wrongly about that and self harmed their privacy, physical safety and security of their bitcoin.

Whenever they want to have better privacy, it's not easy but it is achievable and if people want it, they must learn first, then change their practice.

5 simple tips for improving digital privacy.
Five tips are quoted below while if you need more information, more details, you can read them in the article.

Stop giving out your phone number, stat
Use different email addresses for different things
Turn off location tracking
Use a VPN
Log off social media

[ColdLava40]

A long read, but sometimes people gets clumsy.

It might be out of pride, who knows? They want the world to know them and know they are wealthy. People these days just forget the simple fact that no body really cares about what you are or how you are a doing, if it doesn't add any hair to their skin.

Flunting your wealth online or your Bitcoins precisely will not only put you in grace danger, but your house hold a primary target.

I just believe that people today no longer values their privacy and it's the truth. If they do, we don't have to always have to respect the reason they should keep personal hodlings private

[Lida93]

People would wake up one day and decide to use their hands to invite unnecessary attentions to themselves which can cost them their safety or loss of their funds in quick time for what they spent years to build.

Gone are the days people or strangers would take the information you may be sharing about your finances to the public as motivation for them to also work hard diligently in attaining such wealth or asset. The narrative has changed, it's rather you making yourself and asset a target of attack both online and physical. You hustled it secretly, enjoy it secretly.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

People would wake up one day and decide to use their hands to invite unnecessary attentions to themselves which can cost them their safety or loss of their funds in quick time for what they spent years to build.

Gone are the days people or strangers would take the information you may be sharing about your finances to the public as motivation for them to also work hard diligently in attaining such wealth or asset. The narrative has changed, it's rather you making yourself and asset a target of attack both online and physical. You hustled it secretly, enjoy it secretly.

The bad and terrible things with such people who are careless and ready to "flex" their personal life is they repeatedly do such risky activities offline and online many times and maintain it a long time. It's very less possible that a person flexes about his bitcoin today, then tomorrow he will be physically attacked or phished online.

In most scam stories, people were scammed or attacked, even to deaths, because they had dangerous activities during a long time enough so that they attracted enough bad people to steal their bitcoins online or attacked them offline and physically.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Someone doesn't even have to show any amount of Bitcoin they are holding  on the social media because what ever public validation they are seeking to get could also bring them close to the problem they don't expect, from the information they give out online, someone can have a clue on how to track down this person and take all their coins from them. Those hacks and thefts that normally happen successfully did not just happened in a day, it's starts from the day the scammers gets a loophole on their victim and they will start to plan on how to execute the plan. We should be careful with the kind of personal information we put out online.

[Filicius]

The recommendation not to strut in public could be said of any wealth, but in the case of Bitcoin (or other crypto) it is especially problematic, because of how difficult it is to follow the trail of what was taken in the case of extortion.

It is not very prudent in general to show off a big house, luxury car, etc. because they imply that you may have other liquid assets of value. But in the case of bragging about having one whole Bitcoin, it is not necessary to to infer anything.

[DiMarxist]

It's common sense that we should learn to keep our Bitcoin holdings private and keep it off social media or even make it known to others. This is because the world we are is getting much more tougher when it comes to security, so to keep yourself from trouble or even getting scammed in the process it's important that we keep our crypto currency activities with much secrecy. Posting your crypto/Bitcoin holdings means that we are opening ourselves up for trouble from the outside world.

[Orpichukwu]

Some prioritize attention-seeking behaviour, fame and engagement over their own personal safety and privacy; people just talk and praise themselves sometimes even when they don't have what they claim to have and get unnecessary targets on their backs, and from the statement, the guy in this story knows the danger linked to his action but will still choose to do it anyways, prepared for the worst or whatever reason they have.

With the way insecurity is on the rise across the world, exposing your real wealth and putting targets on your back is something that should least be in anyone's mind.

[Lida93]

People would wake up one day and decide to use their hands to invite unnecessary attentions to themselves which can cost them their safety or loss of their funds in quick time for what they spent years to build.

Gone are the days people or strangers would take the information you may be sharing about your finances to the public as motivation for them to also work hard diligently in attaining such wealth or asset. The narrative has changed, it's rather you making yourself and asset a target of attack both online and physical. You hustled it secretly, enjoy it secretly.

The bad and terrible things with such people who are careless and ready to "flex" their personal life is they repeatedly do such risky activities offline and online many times and maintain it a long time. It's very less possible that a person flexes about his bitcoin today, then tomorrow he will be physically attacked or phished online.

In most scam stories, people were scammed or attacked, even to deaths, because they had dangerous activities during a long time enough so that they attracted enough bad people to steal their bitcoins online or attacked them offline and physically.

Not even a one time flagging of your crypto asset should be anything to be done and if people that do this severally and had to get away with it, such an attitude shouldn't be encouraged by others because it has actually increased the stories on wrench attacks where people innocently talk about how much bitcoin sats they have being able to accumulate.
And there are locations where people are with this mentality that anyone that has bitcoin is a rich dude, as in they don't care to know if it's just a $100 worth, all they know is you're a bitcoin owner and that means you can be a means for them to escape some hardship should they severely attack you and force you to transfer your asset to their possession.

[serjent05]

@OP  once your Bitcoin holdings go public, it is not only everyone's business, but it is also one of the possiblity that the person who brags about his holdings will be targeted by people who have ill intentions. 

It is a good work that you give a link about a physical attack on a Bitcoin holder.  This simply means that it is not a joke to say people who lurk around the internet may have bad intentions toward people who are so confident in bragging about their fortune.

As much as possible, we must shut our mouths when it comes to finances.  After all, it is better to be in a low profile than to be known, but bad intentions toward us are everywhere.

[I_Anime]

Privacy play a vital role when it comes to cryptocurrency in a whole , disclosing your bitcoin stack is not safe at all even when your personal information are not in the site or social , that doesn't mean that there are not folks that are familiar with that account use in disclosing your bitcoin stack , don't trust anyone with your privacy even your close friends because they can turn against you any moment because of something we call greed So always play it safe by being more Serious with your privacy.