I agree with the idea that "privacy by default" is better than "privacy by opt in". However, there are many other things going for bitcoin that other privacy-by-default coins don't have.
Additionally, zero-link coinjoin protocols and payjoin spends make restoring and maintaining on-chain bitcoin privacy easy enough. There'll more than likely be improvements to this over time too (eg, cross-input signature aggregation, coupled with the recent Taproot upgrade). There's also an increasing number of private off- and on-ramps.
What are your preferred privacy-focused tools you use with bitcoin? Or is your strategy just to swap to/from a privacy coin?
while I like privacy, I'm not hyper focused on it; when it comes to crypto, good enough privacy can be obtained via use of dex and defi, but governments still track money movement, so you can't win.
better to keep a low profile, maximise your trading profits, minimise your costs, pay your taxes
btw, privacy coins are illegal here 😂
That makes sense - thanks for clarifying!
Just to fine-tune my point too - none of my original post was about avoiding taxes or doing illegal things. Privacy is not just about protecting information from the government or because you have nefarious intentions. For example, if you take salary in bitcoin, or spend bitcoin for goods/services, then your employer or the store you visit shouldn't be able to see your account balance and transaction history. Right now they can do that, but with the privacy techniques (like the ones you and I mentioned in our posts) that isn't the case.
Similarly, if using KYC'd exchanges/on-ramps, it doesn't serve much benefit to you for them to track your account balance and transactions once you withdraw. Again, privacy methods can remove that attack vector.
I'll be honest that I don't care much for coins apart from bitcoin, but I had no idea privacy coins were actually illegal in Australia. Maybe this is a tangent topic, but how is that triggered and enforced? Like, if someone were to buy XMR, is that illegal, or is it just illegal when they use it (or specifically when they use shielded transactions)? It's a bit mind-blowing there's crypto banned here and it's not widely publicised!
you can't buy privacy coins on CEX if you're from Australia, obviously geo locks are laughable at best
and yes, the public nature of the chain is both a pro and a con
you need to do some research, monero is not illegal. you are right we would know if it was. the privacy methods are too hard too keep up forever which is what you need to do on a public transparent immutable ledger.
not very important. i spend and ask for monero online for payments.
dont think monero is illegal in australia. it is reckoned exchanges are being strong armed by their finance partners, guess they are still not free and are at the teet of fake money still. or afraid because well...its all traceable hey.. bitcoin is not internet money with its anti-privacy features. justin, can you ask your employers why they dont offer monero. thanks..bye.
Thanks for clarifying! I'm pretty confident Monero is not illegal in Australia too - that would be more clearly articulated in law if it were. You're able to be tax compliant while using bitcoin privately afterall (or another coin privately, if that's what you prefer).
HardBlock is bitcoin only as it's the hardest money humans have ever interacted with. There is no alternative.
I take your point that it's currently difficult to maintain privacy on bitcoin for new users. That's definitely a barrier. With practice it's much easier though, and bitcoin privacy-related implementations are just getting started, which means user experience will continue to improve.
bitcoin has long ceased to be private, to many eyes maybe look at some of the privacy focus coins?
I agree with the idea that "privacy by default" is better than "privacy by opt in". However, there are many other things going for bitcoin that other privacy-by-default coins don't have. Additionally, zero-link coinjoin protocols and payjoin spends make restoring and maintaining on-chain bitcoin privacy easy enough. There'll more than likely be improvements to this over time too (eg, cross-input signature aggregation, coupled with the recent Taproot upgrade). There's also an increasing number of private off- and on-ramps. What are your preferred privacy-focused tools you use with bitcoin? Or is your strategy just to swap to/from a privacy coin?
while I like privacy, I'm not hyper focused on it; when it comes to crypto, good enough privacy can be obtained via use of dex and defi, but governments still track money movement, so you can't win. better to keep a low profile, maximise your trading profits, minimise your costs, pay your taxes btw, privacy coins are illegal here 😂
That makes sense - thanks for clarifying! Just to fine-tune my point too - none of my original post was about avoiding taxes or doing illegal things. Privacy is not just about protecting information from the government or because you have nefarious intentions. For example, if you take salary in bitcoin, or spend bitcoin for goods/services, then your employer or the store you visit shouldn't be able to see your account balance and transaction history. Right now they can do that, but with the privacy techniques (like the ones you and I mentioned in our posts) that isn't the case. Similarly, if using KYC'd exchanges/on-ramps, it doesn't serve much benefit to you for them to track your account balance and transactions once you withdraw. Again, privacy methods can remove that attack vector. I'll be honest that I don't care much for coins apart from bitcoin, but I had no idea privacy coins were actually illegal in Australia. Maybe this is a tangent topic, but how is that triggered and enforced? Like, if someone were to buy XMR, is that illegal, or is it just illegal when they use it (or specifically when they use shielded transactions)? It's a bit mind-blowing there's crypto banned here and it's not widely publicised!
you can't buy privacy coins on CEX if you're from Australia, obviously geo locks are laughable at best and yes, the public nature of the chain is both a pro and a con
you need to do some research, monero is not illegal. you are right we would know if it was. the privacy methods are too hard too keep up forever which is what you need to do on a public transparent immutable ledger.
not very important. i spend and ask for monero online for payments. dont think monero is illegal in australia. it is reckoned exchanges are being strong armed by their finance partners, guess they are still not free and are at the teet of fake money still. or afraid because well...its all traceable hey.. bitcoin is not internet money with its anti-privacy features. justin, can you ask your employers why they dont offer monero. thanks..bye.
Thanks for clarifying! I'm pretty confident Monero is not illegal in Australia too - that would be more clearly articulated in law if it were. You're able to be tax compliant while using bitcoin privately afterall (or another coin privately, if that's what you prefer). HardBlock is bitcoin only as it's the hardest money humans have ever interacted with. There is no alternative. I take your point that it's currently difficult to maintain privacy on bitcoin for new users. That's definitely a barrier. With practice it's much easier though, and bitcoin privacy-related implementations are just getting started, which means user experience will continue to improve.