Can you pay with Bitcoin anonymously?
Although many people claim that bitcoin is anonymous, bitcoin is only pseudonymous, because it has a transparent blockchain. This means that anyone can see that an address contains x bitcoin, to where this address sent bitcoin and from where this address received bitcoin. Blockchain analysis is possible, even if you use a bitcoin mixer.
If you want to send a secure, private and untraceable transaction, use Monero. Monero has an obfuscated blockchain. Due to RingCT technology, it is difficult to find out which exact addresses were involved in a transaction, as well as the amount transferred.
100% anonymity cannot be guaranteed (just as 100% security can never be guaranteed). But if you want to send bitcoin to someone with more privacy, you can "mix" your bitcoin via monero.
Howto:
- Generate two monero (XMR) wallets with the desktop wallet or web wallet
- Convert your BTC to XMR with shapeshift.io, send to monero wallet 1
(Update November 2018: Shapeshift.io is no longer anonymous because it now requires government ID for all crypto-crypto exchanges. Instead you can use https://blocktrades.us/, https://www.morphtoken.com/ or https://binance.com/ to safely and freely exchange altcoins.) - Send funds from monero wallet 1 to monero wallet 2 with at least 5 ring size (4 mixin) – you can churn for better untraceability
- Convert XMR to BTC with xmr.to, send to a new bitcoin address from a new wallet
For better security, use Tor to change your IP address. In the future there will be an option to use monero with the i2p network (kovri).
For more information about monero, check getmonero.org and /r/monero.
If you found this guide useful, feel free to send a contribution to 1CaLCR5mGwS4FJzU1HZm9qwr5WoRYFDdyB (BTC).
This article was written by Web4Crypto. Web4Crypto offers web development, web design, programming and scripting services from $40 and accepts Bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum and other cryptos. Visit https://web4crypto.xyz for more information and a free consultation.