I open this thread because it seems many people have the illusion of anonymity with Bitcoin.
There's a degree of anonymity when you pay with Bitcoin: it's a little more than when you pay in cash, when you buy online, and it's THE SAME of paying in cash if you use Bitcoin at a cafe or in a shop.
But if you think the government can't "spy on you" when you use Bitcoin you are so wrong.
NSA KNOWS you have something to do with Bitcoin when you launch your wallet and connect to a node.
They control each and every connection, so they see from home at n.XX Dumb Street, where Genius Guy lives, somebody just opened a Bitcoin wallet, because you just connected to a Bitcoin node.
And because the volume transfer reveals the amount of money transmitted, they could also know if you have a load of Bitcoin or you are just a guy with average cash.
Now, I may be wrong on this, but it seems pretty straightforward to think: NSA can filter PHONE CALLS and emails, you think they can't set up a system and identify who is running a Bitcoin node and, consequently, users with wallets?
If this system is not already up, it will soon be.
They won't know who is in front of the computer when the wallet is opened, but sure as the Sun, they know at that house somebody is using Bitcoin.
You scared of hackers? That's a better motivation for privacy but still... if you are here now, on this forum, chances are you are so tech savvy that you have a good antivirus installed, you don't open popups and install crap you don't know the origin of.
Also, think the following: if you are so scared to show that you use Bitcoin, what will happen in the future, when a large part of population will use it?
Will they all pretend to be still using dollars?
And last but not least... if a hacker manages to enter a computer, no matter if you use Bitcoin or bank account: he'll fuck both.
Sure, with Bitcoin the thing is much faster, but you won't be safe, regardless.
The problem is not Bitcoin, the problem is, and remains, being tech savvy.
There's a degree of anonymity when you pay with Bitcoin: it's a little more than when you pay in cash, when you buy online, and it's THE SAME of paying in cash if you use Bitcoin at a cafe or in a shop.
But if you think the government can't "spy on you" when you use Bitcoin you are so wrong.
NSA KNOWS you have something to do with Bitcoin when you launch your wallet and connect to a node.
They control each and every connection, so they see from home at n.XX Dumb Street, where Genius Guy lives, somebody just opened a Bitcoin wallet, because you just connected to a Bitcoin node.
And because the volume transfer reveals the amount of money transmitted, they could also know if you have a load of Bitcoin or you are just a guy with average cash.
Now, I may be wrong on this, but it seems pretty straightforward to think: NSA can filter PHONE CALLS and emails, you think they can't set up a system and identify who is running a Bitcoin node and, consequently, users with wallets?
If this system is not already up, it will soon be.
They won't know who is in front of the computer when the wallet is opened, but sure as the Sun, they know at that house somebody is using Bitcoin.
You scared of hackers? That's a better motivation for privacy but still... if you are here now, on this forum, chances are you are so tech savvy that you have a good antivirus installed, you don't open popups and install crap you don't know the origin of.
Also, think the following: if you are so scared to show that you use Bitcoin, what will happen in the future, when a large part of population will use it?
Will they all pretend to be still using dollars?
And last but not least... if a hacker manages to enter a computer, no matter if you use Bitcoin or bank account: he'll fuck both.
Sure, with Bitcoin the thing is much faster, but you won't be safe, regardless.
The problem is not Bitcoin, the problem is, and remains, being tech savvy.