Anonymity in the world of cryptocurrency: the rules of fair play

Cryptocurrencies brought to the world the possibility of anonymously making transactions and avoiding the usual tax schemes, but does this mean that with their help the government can no longer control the circulation of funds of its citizens ?! On the pros and cons of anonymity, digital hygiene and opportunities to confuse traces, further in the material.

Anonymity: who needs it and why?

Every person who wants to get the title of a good citizen of the country is forced to comply with a number of conditions, which include the provision of information about their incomes, the timely allocation of the stated share of funds to the state treasury and a number of other requirements. Such rules have become familiar and do not cause questions, because "they still live like this." However, in fact, every person who complies with the state-prescribed behavioral measures falls under complete control:

• His income no longer belongs to him alone - he must share them with the state. And where the subtracted part of the money will be sent further - to good deeds, or to the official in his pocket, he has no right to find out. Rather, there is a right, but in fact there are no ways to implement it.
• The very possibility of disabling control is missing. As a result, anyone who makes money and uses it in everyday life, instantly comes into the view of the regulatory authorities.

The launched bureaucratic machine is based on work associated with banking structures, which also feed on ordinary citizens who cannot remain anonymous. Want a loan? - Pay huge interest rates established by the monopoly with the support of the state, which is also interested in the appropriation of part of the profits. At the same time, in order to receive money, a person will have to go through seven circles of hell, including collecting certificates confirming his identity, and getting acquainted with “dear to the heart” with additional insurance.

Since the life of a modern person is associated with the need to conduct transactions a little more than completely, at the output he, without knowing it, transmits information about his every step to the appropriate authorities.

Such a scheme of work seems to be extremely inconvenient and disadvantageous for ordinary people: commissions, unreasonable value additions, and most importantly, constant control by the “big brother”.

The importance of digital hygiene to preserve anonymity on the example of the experiment

As evidence of the control capabilities of modern users, UK filmmakers decided to launch the show in an unusual format. Its essence was as follows: a number of selected people were given a task, the purpose of which was to hide from the special services agents for 28 days.

In order to remain in the "shadow", people had to radically change their usual way of life:

• The telephone and the Internet were out of the security zone - with their help, every “fugitive” could be tracked in a matter of seconds.
• Bank cards have also become unavailable - when you try to pay or withdraw money, the corresponding signal could also be tracked.
• Walking down the street, people had to think about not getting into the lens of video cameras, because in this case the pursuers could also get information about their location.

During this experimental show, it was found that an attempt to prevent the growth of its own digital footprint will always be associated with a number of inconveniences. The reason is that most of the areas that make up the habitual life of a modern person make it possible to receive a large amount of information about him (taxi order, online payment for goods and services, etc.). Accordingly, to be out of surveillance, you must completely eliminate the digital component from your life.

Interesting! Another proof that working in the digital space is important not to leave any prints, was the arrest of the accused of stealing funds from the open spaces of the MtGox exchange and their laundering of Alexander Vinnik. Intelligence agencies tracked him on the digital trail.

Advantages of cryptocurrency in anonymity issues

Working with cryptocurrencies allows you to completely restructure the presented scheme, making it as simple and profitable as possible for users. Conducting operations on the blockchain opens up opportunities for complete control of the financial environment, which eliminates the direct need to work with banking institutions (even if it is necessary to obtain a loan, it can be executed thanks to agreements of the parties based on a smart contract).

Each transaction is carried out without direct control by third parties. At the same time, a high level of security is maintained, and the identities of users can be hidden behind the wallet addresses.

Anonymity of cryptocurrency from the point of view of government bodies

For the government, the anonymity of citizens in the financial environment is a terrible dream, and cryptocurrency - its embodiment. In many ways, the negative attitude to the new financial instrument, which allows you to hide the identity of the parties when conducting transactions, is due to the inability to apply standard control measures to this scheme. Accordingly, anonymity carries the danger of:

• The inability to track a transaction leads to a loss of control over the circulation of funds. In addition to the mercenary aspects of the issue, in the form of taxes and other fees, the problems of financing terrorism and money laundering also come out of sight.
• The government of each country is obliged to ensure the safety of citizens and the protection of their interests in the financial environment. Anonymity in the implementation of transactions in this matter does not fully meet these requirements.

A curious historical example of the adoption of anonymity in the financial environment is the decision of the Japanese authorities to approve Bitcoin as a legal means for making payments. The decision was made under the yoke of the public, amid growing popularity of cryptocurrency. The lack of a clearly defined legal framework led to the fact that the new financial instrument became the basis for global money laundering. Representatives of the mafia Yakuza, who began to use cryptocurrency with joy to legitimize their income, were especially pleased with the decision of the authorities.

Bitcointalk user 27_Mikhail_27: No government will allow anonymous money to replace Fiat. It will be just anarchy. Of course, on condition that this government wishes prosperity to his country.

Low bitcoin anonymity and traceability

Working with Bitcoin, each user must be aware of one truth - his transactions will remain anonymous only in case of non-disclosure of the binding of the address of the wallet to the person. After receiving the information provided, you can see the entire transaction history from the very first. As a result, the choice in favor of this cryptocurrency involves some risks of de-anonymization, which can be avoided only by observing digital hygiene.

The ability to obtain data about the user is greatly simplified if he withdraws the cryptocurrency into cash. The standard scheme: entering cryptocurrency on the exchange >>> its exchange for fiat >>> withdrawal to the card, as a rule, requires passing KYC procedures.

User bitcointalk Shevrole1313: Of course, that transactions and cash withdrawal can be traced to any wallet owner, you just need to set a goal. Anonymity is a very relative thing, especially when you withdraw Fiat.

Interesting! KYC in the world of cryptocurrency most users consider "deflection" under the requirements of government agencies.

Work through bitcoin mixers

For those who do not want to abandon the convenient option of working with Bitcoin, as with the most common cryptocurrency, services have appeared that can eliminate the problems of its insufficient anonymity. They are called "mixers", from which it follows an understanding of the process of achieving the result: transactions are mixed up, to end up confusing the trace. In detail, the process is as follows:

• the user sends the number of coins necessary for transfer to the mixer’s wallet with instructions on where exactly the transfer should be made;
• The mixer processes the application and sends the funds from another address.

At the exit, it turns out that the sender has interrupted the chain, which can become evidence of the fact of sending money on his behalf. Such procedures are carried out for a small commission.

Interesting! Bitcoin mixer services are especially popular on darknet. Crypt users, who value anonymity and do not want to get caught on deanonymizing their identity, use such services to avoid possible persecution.

Work with more anonymous cryptocurrencies

For users who do not want to renounce Satoshi’s anonymity ideas and put up with the ability to trace identity through Bitcoin transactions, a number of cryptocurrencies were created. The most popular representatives of the direction of increased anonymity are the following projects:

• Monero;
• DASH;
• Zcash.

There are other, less common coins that can also provide a sufficient degree of anonymity of their users.

Bitcointalk user meleonk: zcash, monero - why not anonymous storage options ??) The cue ball has not been anonymous for a long time, and the anonymity of the cue ball is not needed, the cue ball now has a different task - value.

Each cryptocurrency with a high level of anonymity offers its own solution to the problem of tracing traces. There are still debates about which project seems to be the most effective.

Alternative methods

In addition to the presented methods, there are also additional ways to avoid persecution. Most of them are on the other side of the Internet - in the darkweb. As an example, a service that anyone can receive:

On the product card there are customer reviews:

Summing up

Thus, it is extremely difficult to remain completely anonymous in the modern world. Ideally, it is necessary to abandon all the benefits of civilization and quietly get to a desert island, in order to drag out its existence. However, if hermitage seems unacceptable measure, you should think about digital hygiene and the possibility of breaking the chains of binding transactions to the individual through working with cryptocurrencies of heightened anonymity, mixers and offers from the people of the darknet.