Itโs well-known that Bitcoin runs on an open ledger called the timechain, though commonly known as the blockchain.
While this ledger is visible to anyone, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. It is sometimes possible, however, to deduce who sent bitcoin to whom, based on a few clues that centralized exchanges will know, due to โKnow Your Customerโ (KYC) laws.
๐ก๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐, but here are some things you can do to use bitcoin more privately.๐
To enhance your anonymity in the realm of Bitcoin, it's crucial to ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ. By ensuring each address is used only once, users significantly bolster their on-chain privacy.
Another effective method is the utilization of ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐. Protocols like JoinMarket and PayJoins, and platforms like Wasabi and Samourai offer the ability to mix coins (UTXOs) and their histories from multiple users. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ช๐น๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, making it difficult to trace transactions to a particular individual.
It's also important to ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐, wherever possible. These platforms often require extensive Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, creating a significant privacy risk. Decentralized exchanges like Bisq and RoboSats are preferable alternatives, as ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐บ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.
๐ฅ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ณ๐๐น๐น ๐ป๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ is another step towards privacy. By doing so, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ-๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, which can link transactions to your IP address. Operating a full node ensures that your transactions are verified independently, keeping your online activity within your control.
Implementing ๐บ๐๐น๐๐ถ-๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐๐ adds an additional layer of security and privacy. These wallets require multiple keys to authorize a transaction, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ, while also adding another security layer to your holdings.
Using tools like ๐ง๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ก๐ to mask your IP address while transacting adds an extra layer of privacy. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, thereby safeguarding your online identity.
Finally, ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ. Often overlooked, the information revealed by checking mempool.space or posting transaction info in an online discussion ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. Caution in this area is essential to maintain complete privacy in your bitcoin transactions.
When these practices are diligently followed, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ค๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ-๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ. Each step plays a crucial role in safeguarding your identity and financial autonomy in the digital age.
Give this a ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ค and a ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐, and ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ this for when you need it.
What other privacy methods are there?
Share them in the ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐โฌ๏ธ