Regarding the anonymity of cryptocurrency, it's true that for BTC, specifically, the blockchain is a public ledger, so anonymity doesn't technically exist for that particular currency, although this is fairly easy to get around if you use a wallet like I do that generates a new BTC "address" each time you receive Bitcoin. First, though, …
Regarding the anonymity of cryptocurrency, it's true that for BTC, specifically, the blockchain is a public ledger, so anonymity doesn't technically exist for that particular currency, although this is fairly easy to get around if you use a wallet like I do that generates a new BTC "address" each time you receive Bitcoin.
First, though, I should probably explain the terms "wallet" and "address," since there is confusion around how this technology works.
A wallet is a sort of virtual safe you can manage via several different user interfaces (my current preferred one is Exodus) that makes it easier to keep track of your various transactions in various cryptocurrencies all in one place, much like an online bank account.
Except in this case, *you* are your own bank since none of this information is stored in a central server like it is at a big bank like Chase or Charles Schwab; it's all "out there" in the public ledger created by the vast network of computers all processing the transactions.
And by extension, if you lose your login credentials to your wallet, there is no customer support line that can assist you in restoring them; *you* have ultimate responsibility to store your "keys" in a safe place, the keys being a list of random words generated when you create your wallet that will allow you to restore your access to your funds by proving to the *decentralized* network of the blockchain that you are, in fact, the controller of the funds.
Hence the phrase, "not your keys, not your wallet" and why people go to extraordinary lengths to preserve this list of secret words offline since anyone who puts together the full list could take over control of your wallet. Without the list, though, it's impossible to restore access to the funds, which is also why you'll hear stories of early adopters of BTC who stored them on a flash drive but lost their keys and so can *never* recover those funds.
Now, different cryptocurrencies function differently, but with BTC, whenever you want to receive funds from someone, you have to give them your BTC "address."
The use of the term "address" was a mistake on the part of its creators, in my opinion, since it's really more of an invoice number rather than a constant identifier like an email address is.
If you're discreet, it should be difficult for an outsider to ever link your real world identity with your BTC address(es), but if they *did* put 2 and 2 together, then, due to the public nature of the BTC blockchain, anyone *could* see a history of how much BTC was transferred into and out of a given address.
HOWEVER, most wallet management software these days make it easy to generate a new "address" (invoice number) every time you want to receive BTC from someone, so that out on the public ledger, the transactions are broken into hundreds or even thousands of separate records, and anyone trying to snoop on your personal finances would have to have every single address (invoice number) you've ever used and add all of them up to figure out how much you really hold.
Lastly, it's true that the easiest way for people to start acquiring BTC (or any cryptocurrency, really) is to buy it on an exchange like Robin Hood or Coinbase, and all of the major players are now "KYC" (know your customer) compliant, so to create an account and fund it with USD or some other fiat currency, you have to send the exchange proof of your ID, and they report any sales to the IRS and can see how much crypto you buy and sell through their platform.
However, this is really only a problem for those who plan to buy crypto and flip it for more USD or fiat currency by playing the market like they would with stocks.
These people aren't into crypto for the philosophical, longterm implications but rather for the short-term gain.
If one decides to be a "h0dler" (a "holder") and simply amass BTC and other crypto over time, hoping to use it as an actual currency for exchange in the future rather than ever turning it back into fiat trash (I think of this as going "off grid" with regards to money), then there's not much the IRS or regulators can really do since you can turn BTC into other types of crypto and back or transact with other freedom fighters off of the centralized exchanges (i.e. out in the ether of the decentralized blockchain), and there is no way they can track it all or tax you since you're now out of their failing system. It's only if you want to go back "on grid" by selling your crypto for fiat currency on an exchange hooked up to the Establishment that you'd then get hit with all of their regulations and taxes.
That was long, but I hope it helped you better understand the revolutionary nature of cryptocurrencies, especially BTC and why they really are different from the CBDCs planned for us by the mfers currently running the show.
Regarding the anonymity of cryptocurrency, it's true that for BTC, specifically, the blockchain is a public ledger, so anonymity doesn't technically exist for that particular currency, although this is fairly easy to get around if you use a wallet like I do that generates a new BTC "address" each time you receive Bitcoin.
First, though, I should probably explain the terms "wallet" and "address," since there is confusion around how this technology works.
A wallet is a sort of virtual safe you can manage via several different user interfaces (my current preferred one is Exodus) that makes it easier to keep track of your various transactions in various cryptocurrencies all in one place, much like an online bank account.
Except in this case, *you* are your own bank since none of this information is stored in a central server like it is at a big bank like Chase or Charles Schwab; it's all "out there" in the public ledger created by the vast network of computers all processing the transactions.
And by extension, if you lose your login credentials to your wallet, there is no customer support line that can assist you in restoring them; *you* have ultimate responsibility to store your "keys" in a safe place, the keys being a list of random words generated when you create your wallet that will allow you to restore your access to your funds by proving to the *decentralized* network of the blockchain that you are, in fact, the controller of the funds.
Hence the phrase, "not your keys, not your wallet" and why people go to extraordinary lengths to preserve this list of secret words offline since anyone who puts together the full list could take over control of your wallet. Without the list, though, it's impossible to restore access to the funds, which is also why you'll hear stories of early adopters of BTC who stored them on a flash drive but lost their keys and so can *never* recover those funds.
Now, different cryptocurrencies function differently, but with BTC, whenever you want to receive funds from someone, you have to give them your BTC "address."
The use of the term "address" was a mistake on the part of its creators, in my opinion, since it's really more of an invoice number rather than a constant identifier like an email address is.
If you're discreet, it should be difficult for an outsider to ever link your real world identity with your BTC address(es), but if they *did* put 2 and 2 together, then, due to the public nature of the BTC blockchain, anyone *could* see a history of how much BTC was transferred into and out of a given address.
HOWEVER, most wallet management software these days make it easy to generate a new "address" (invoice number) every time you want to receive BTC from someone, so that out on the public ledger, the transactions are broken into hundreds or even thousands of separate records, and anyone trying to snoop on your personal finances would have to have every single address (invoice number) you've ever used and add all of them up to figure out how much you really hold.
Lastly, it's true that the easiest way for people to start acquiring BTC (or any cryptocurrency, really) is to buy it on an exchange like Robin Hood or Coinbase, and all of the major players are now "KYC" (know your customer) compliant, so to create an account and fund it with USD or some other fiat currency, you have to send the exchange proof of your ID, and they report any sales to the IRS and can see how much crypto you buy and sell through their platform.
However, this is really only a problem for those who plan to buy crypto and flip it for more USD or fiat currency by playing the market like they would with stocks.
These people aren't into crypto for the philosophical, longterm implications but rather for the short-term gain.
If one decides to be a "h0dler" (a "holder") and simply amass BTC and other crypto over time, hoping to use it as an actual currency for exchange in the future rather than ever turning it back into fiat trash (I think of this as going "off grid" with regards to money), then there's not much the IRS or regulators can really do since you can turn BTC into other types of crypto and back or transact with other freedom fighters off of the centralized exchanges (i.e. out in the ether of the decentralized blockchain), and there is no way they can track it all or tax you since you're now out of their failing system. It's only if you want to go back "on grid" by selling your crypto for fiat currency on an exchange hooked up to the Establishment that you'd then get hit with all of their regulations and taxes.
That was long, but I hope it helped you better understand the revolutionary nature of cryptocurrencies, especially BTC and why they really are different from the CBDCs planned for us by the mfers currently running the show.