Bitcoin is Not Anonymous and Lacks Privacy
Bitcoin is often advertised as an anonymous digital currency that offers a high level of user privacy. People can hide their identities behind a wallet address, and generate additional addresses if needed. But is Bitcoin as anonymous and privacy-centric as uneducated people assume? The answers might surprise you. Right now, there is a decent level of customer privacy in business. But it only exists on a conditional basis. In the current financial infrastructure, any bank can and will disclose any personal information if the government requests it. While this may not be of great concern for....
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Maybe some people still believe it, but Bitcoin isn’t really anonymous. Indeed, isn’t anonymous at all: all the transactions in this currency are recorded in a public —and widely-available-online— ledger. Tracking the funds and the parties behind them isn’t that hard, and that’s why privacy coins were created. The privacy coins are cryptocurrencies with in-design […]
If there is anything the internet loves these days, it’s privacy. From the boom in VPN use to anonymous accounts and encrypted websites, maintaining privacy is certainly appealing to the average internet user. This interest in privacy has also coincided with the rise in blockchain technology, a concept that thrives on the idea of privacy. […]
How private is Bitcoin? On the one hand, it is entirely anonymous. On the other, it is completely transparent and trackable. How can that be - and what does it mean for privacy? Incumbent Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox recently imposed authentication rules on people trading fiat currencies on its network. The rules - which didn't apply to people trading only in bitcoins - require people to verify their identities. There may not be any such requirements on native bitcoin users yet, but it highlights the issue of privacy. Many people using Bitcoin don't want others to know who they are. The....
Adam Ludwin co-founded Chain.com, a bitcoin developer platform. Prior to Chain, Adam was a venture investor in companies including Vine, Slack, Kik, and Paperless Post. In this article, he addresses the distinction between privacy and anonymity in bitcoin. Bitcoin is often described as a way to transact anonymously. But just how anonymous is it? First off, it is useful to draw a basic distinction between anonymity and privacy in the context of financial transactions. We will call a transaction "anonymous" if no one knows who you are. We will call a transaction "private" if what you....
Cointelegraph spoke to Ryan Taylor aka Baby Giraffe, Director of Finance at Dash about the new phenomenon of private-centric cryptocurrency. Cointelegraph: What brought about anonymous currency? Ryan Taylor: I think privacy became an issue for users once Blockchain analysis started to become more widespread several years ago. There’s been a real shift in the attitudes of the public on the importance of privacy, especially when it comes to something as private as their finances. I think revelations of email hacks, the Edward Snowden leaks, and other government snooping all contribute to a....