The @Bitcoin Twitter account changed its bio to describe #Bitcoin as "trackable digital gold"! 😱 This came as a surprise to many, but it's absolutely true. Bitcoin is easily trackable. 🔎This can be very bad, but it can also be good.
First, Bitcoin, and most cryptos, are public, though pseudonymous. This means transactions aren't linked to your identity, and anyone can create new wallets. But every single activity is public on-chain. Just check a block explorer like Blockchair.
THE GOOD
Crypto is the most radically transparent financial system in the world. Every last satoshi is accounted for. Where all the money is, who runs the network, how much is being sent, etc. is all publicly-available data. This builds enormous trust in the system.
THE BAD
Literally everything you do is public information! All your income, your purchases, how much you have, the whole world can see all of it. All you need is a single link to your identity, like sharing a tipping address, and you're exposed 😱
There's ways you can protect your privacy on public chains: coin mixing, avoiding address reuse, avoiding using "doxxic change", and being careful with address exposure. These protect you from thieves and scammers, but not governments. Privacy on public chains is hard! Some privacy-focused coins, such as Monero and Zcash (the gold standard) and more, hide much more, giving great privacy. But but there's always a trade-off: technically difficult, data-intensive, more time-consuming, and inability to 100% verify the entire coin's supply!
Crypto is in this strange dance of privacy vs. transparency. It honestly needs both, though they're necessarily in conflict with each other.👁️🕵️ Network and institutional transparency plus personal privacy is a great goal. But especially choice: you choose what you reveal. To better understand the various privacy approaches employed by different cryptocurrencies, and their common attack vectors, check out the videos that I did for ZecHub, including the one on personal privacy. It's phrased from the Zcash perspective, but these tips apply regardless of which cryptocurrency you're using.
Finally, follow Naomi Brockwell's work. She's one of the premier educators on personal privacy. Also follow Seth For Privacy (npub1tr4…2y5g) . He's an invaluable resource, especially on achieving privacy on transparent chains like Bitcoin.
Privacy is a fundamental human right!✊
TheDesertLynx / Joël Valenzuela
npub1lv…nfuw6
2023-07-20 15:35:21
Author Public Key
npub1lvav9a8a7p70zst3sfplzs6e3swqslzjnppruxlhejezulujkrpq3nfuw6Published at
2023-07-20 15:35:21Event JSON
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"content": "The @Bitcoin Twitter account changed its bio to describe #Bitcoin as \"trackable digital gold\"! 😱 This came as a surprise to many, but it's absolutely true. Bitcoin is easily trackable. 🔎This can be very bad, but it can also be good.\n\nFirst, Bitcoin, and most cryptos, are public, though pseudonymous. This means transactions aren't linked to your identity, and anyone can create new wallets. But every single activity is public on-chain. Just check a block explorer like Blockchair.\n\nTHE GOOD\n\nCrypto is the most radically transparent financial system in the world. Every last satoshi is accounted for. Where all the money is, who runs the network, how much is being sent, etc. is all publicly-available data. This builds enormous trust in the system.\n\nTHE BAD\n\nLiterally everything you do is public information! All your income, your purchases, how much you have, the whole world can see all of it. All you need is a single link to your identity, like sharing a tipping address, and you're exposed 😱\n\nThere's ways you can protect your privacy on public chains: coin mixing, avoiding address reuse, avoiding using \"doxxic change\", and being careful with address exposure. These protect you from thieves and scammers, but not governments. Privacy on public chains is hard! Some privacy-focused coins, such as Monero and Zcash (the gold standard) and more, hide much more, giving great privacy. But but there's always a trade-off: technically difficult, data-intensive, more time-consuming, and inability to 100% verify the entire coin's supply!\n\nCrypto is in this strange dance of privacy vs. transparency. It honestly needs both, though they're necessarily in conflict with each other.👁️🕵️ Network and institutional transparency plus personal privacy is a great goal. But especially choice: you choose what you reveal. To better understand the various privacy approaches employed by different cryptocurrencies, and their common attack vectors, check out the videos that I did for ZecHub, including the one on personal privacy. It's phrased from the Zcash perspective, but these tips apply regardless of which cryptocurrency you're using.\n\nFinally, follow Naomi Brockwell's work. She's one of the premier educators on personal privacy. Also follow nostr:npub1tr4dstaptd2sp98h7hlysp8qle6mw7wmauhfkgz3rmxdd8ndprusnw2y5g . He's an invaluable resource, especially on achieving privacy on transparent chains like Bitcoin.\n\nPrivacy is a fundamental human right!✊ ",
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