Post
Topic
Board Development & Technical Discussion
Re: Can Coinjoin transactions be traced? Busting Bitcoin privacy myths!
by
PrivacyG
on 13/01/2025, 15:21:16 UTC
I'll be a broken record, but for those people who haven't heard it, hear it now. - That's probably why it might be good OPSEC to add another layer of untraceability after a CoinJoin by sending a transaction to yourself through the Lightning Network using those CoinJoined outputs.
For the ideal circumstances of an individual who uses every thing properly, it is a good idea to follow your Bitcoin through multiple layers of Privacy before the end destination.  However, I think most of us never do things perfectly considering we are humans after all and it leads to a few problems.

I believe the first Privacy layer has to be the second strongest, but the final layer the strongest if top Privacy is desired.  Sending Bitcoin through multiple layers of Privacy is overkill for many and I some times agree with that.  There is no point in being so desperate if after bouncing Bitcoin from Coin Joins to Lightning, Monero and other methods the final destination is Binance.  That is just burning Money down the road on Fees and all for zero Privacy effects.

Then there are a lot of people who think a Coin Join will do wonders but they are using SPV enabled Electrum on their Windows office laptop and they will happily 'Anonymously' purchase stuff online with the same Bitcoin, filling up forms of personal information before placing orders.

But then there are also people who make subtle mistakes they will only later on find out about, when it is too late and their Privacy is gone anyway.  From my personal experience, what I suggest is that while it is a good idea to bounce Bitcoins through various methods of improving its Privacy, it is an excellent idea to consider those Bitcoins compromised EVERY time, even if they were bounced through 100 Coin Joins.  These Bitcoins should be used normally but Privately.  Learn from mistakes, move on and do a better job next time.  At the end of the day, Bitcoin Privacy involves a really lengthy learning curve and even the best may mess up.