4 ms·

Anonymity is quite the growing market segment. And the NSA is as unpopular as ever. It's fascinating how the public responds to the government.

amelius 12y ago
Is that true? I hear bitcoin is gaining market share, and it is the antithesis of anonymity.
- andrewchambers 12y ago
  I think you are confusing anonymity with something else. Bitcoin is entirely anonymous, but all transactions are public. You can create as many wallets and keys as you want, and you don't have to tell anyone you own them.
  - olefoo 12y ago
    This only allows you to stay anonymous if you can get your money out of bitcoin anonymously. Whether by buying dollars/yen/whatever on an exchange or purchasing goods and services. And it's damn hard to buy a yacht anonymously regardless of the unit of account the transaction is done with.
    - aboutus 12y ago
      The most important aspects of bitcoin is that it's decentralized (cannot be controlled by governments and banks) and inflation-proof. It's not anonymous, but certainly more private than using a debit or credit card!
    - andrewchambers 12y ago
      You can get bitcoin anonymously by mining. The weakness is in trading, even then, there are anonymous goods such as digital goods, and probably ways to perform anonymous escrow when trading real goods. In practice, people don't care, because they aren't doing anything illegal.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - superuser2 12y ago
    You identify yourself as the owner of a Bitcoin address every time you transfer funds into or out of a currency with which you can pay food and rent.
    - andrewchambers 12y ago
      Obviously, but you can buy digital goods anonymously.
  - simonebrunozzi 12y ago
    Bitcoin is NOT anonymous, it is pseudonymous [1], unless you use complicated things like Bitcoin mixers. [1] http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/11/26/2121214/bitcoin-is-not-anonymous-after-all http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/11/26/2121214/bitcoin-is-no...
    - andrewchambers 12y ago
      A pseudonym that can be changed after every use is anonymous.

amelius 12y ago

Is that true? I hear bitcoin is gaining market share, and it is the antithesis of anonymity.

andrewchambers 12y ago
I think you are confusing anonymity with something else. Bitcoin is entirely anonymous, but all transactions are public. You can create as many wallets and keys as you want, and you don't have to tell anyone you own them.
- olefoo 12y ago
  This only allows you to stay anonymous if you can get your money out of bitcoin anonymously. Whether by buying dollars/yen/whatever on an exchange or purchasing goods and services. And it's damn hard to buy a yacht anonymously regardless of the unit of account the transaction is done with.
  - aboutus 12y ago
    The most important aspects of bitcoin is that it's decentralized (cannot be controlled by governments and banks) and inflation-proof. It's not anonymous, but certainly more private than using a debit or credit card!
  - andrewchambers 12y ago
    You can get bitcoin anonymously by mining. The weakness is in trading, even then, there are anonymous goods such as digital goods, and probably ways to perform anonymous escrow when trading real goods. In practice, people don't care, because they aren't doing anything illegal.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- superuser2 12y ago
  You identify yourself as the owner of a Bitcoin address every time you transfer funds into or out of a currency with which you can pay food and rent.
  - andrewchambers 12y ago
    Obviously, but you can buy digital goods anonymously.
- simonebrunozzi 12y ago
  Bitcoin is NOT anonymous, it is pseudonymous [1], unless you use complicated things like Bitcoin mixers. [1] http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/11/26/2121214/bitcoin-is-not-anonymous-after-all http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/11/26/2121214/bitcoin-is-no...
  - andrewchambers 12y ago
    A pseudonym that can be changed after every use is anonymous.