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Let’s suppose i buy some bitcoin on an exchange platform (kraken for example).

This platform Ask me some informations (id card).

Now, if i transfer all my bitcoins to a physical wallet, then to another one wallet: is there a way for the platform owner to say: i Know The identity of this wallet owner.

Please note i do not want to do something nasty. It is just for understanding.

Thanks

Bob5421
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  • Depends on lot of things and in this case it might be easier to guess for kraken. Please read my medium post about doing chain analysis related to an exchange hack recently in India to understand how some people approach such cases apart from algorithms: https://medium.com/@prayankgahlot/cashaa-hack-f9a169cb6913 –  Aug 22 '20 at 11:01
  • Thanks, what should i do to be anonymous ? – Bob5421 Aug 22 '20 at 13:20
  • There are lot of things involved in being anon and doing bitcoin transaction that are not linked to your real identity: network, chain and external are basic categories where network refers to your own full node, explorer, IP, etc. chain refers to analysis which anyone can do looking at transactions and external is your activity online related to transactions. I had prepared slides for a presentation which covers basic things: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1N6jT6SbBl3OxohbdEQj_f1su9nf9UqetAgLYu6RfeWQ/edit –  Aug 22 '20 at 14:36
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    Does this answer your question? [How anonymous are Bitcoin transactions?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/52/how-anonymous-are-bitcoin-transactions) - or any of [the answers to these 166 questions on the subject](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/search?q=anonymous+is%3Aq)? – RedGrittyBrick Aug 22 '20 at 14:37
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    Does [How can one remain relatively anonymous while using bitcoin?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/439/5406) answer your question? – Murch Aug 22 '20 at 15:29

2 Answers2

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Is Bitcoin really anonymous?

No, most people describe it as pseudonymous.

When people say that, what they mean by Bitcoin is the tools, technology and network described by Satoshi Nakamoto in the original whitepaper where he described a system of electronic cash that did not rely on trusting third parties.

They usually don't mean the parasitic third-party businesses like Kraken that some people trust with their money.

Bitcoin itself can be relatively anonymous even when parasitic businesses choose not to be (or are forced by governments not to be).

If you feel these parasitic third-parties are exposing your identity more than you are comfortable with, don't use them.

Since the beginning of time, security and convenience work against one another. If you value something - privacy say - you have to invest hard work and money in achieving that and you have to sacrifice some or all convenience.

Note that although I characterise third party exchanges as parasitic, this is mainly for rhetorical effect. They are parasitic but many of them do offer valuable services and provide the convenience that many of us seek. I don't think it right to use a more sympathetic adjective like symbiotic because I think the vision offered by Nakamoto was of a system of cash that could thrive without any dependency on trusted third parties.

RedGrittyBrick
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  • On more precision: Let's suppose i have a ledger physical wallet with 2 btc accounts (same passphrase for all the wallet accounts): Let's suppose my first account identity has been revealed by kraken. The second account is really anonymous (mine by my self for example). Is there a way to reveal the second account identity from the first ? Thanks – Bob5421 Aug 24 '20 at 09:04
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    @Bob5421: If the two accounts have distinct seeds, follow BIP32, dont reuse addresses and you don't move funds between them -- then it would be very difficult for others to infer any relationship between them. But this more specific question should be asked as a new question (after searching here to see if it already exists with good answers) – RedGrittyBrick Aug 24 '20 at 09:16
  • Thanks, but just to clarify, the 2 accounts have the same seeds on a ledger device ? – Bob5421 Aug 24 '20 at 11:53
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No, it's not. You can create anonymous wallet, but then the problem to get Bitcoin and not to associate your identity with this coins. If you will use part of them to pay you bill/service where it's possible to find your ID, the game is over. All other transactions from the same wallet possible to associate with you ID.

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