I got a bit coin wallet

[flat4 79]

From multibitHD and its awesome!, of course I don't have any bit coins and they expensive to buy.

 

Just wanted to share.

[bigbrosbitch 65]

​I hate to temper the excitement of everyone concerning bitcoin legalisation in EU and proliferation of services, but, Bitcoin is AT BEST pseudo-anonymous.

 

​https://bitcoin.org/en/protect-your-privacy
​https://bitcoin.org/en/you-need-to-know

​

Bitcoin.org notes:

​
 

​Bitcoin is not anonymous

​

Some effort is required to protect your privacy with Bitcoin. All Bitcoin transactions are stored publicly and permanently on the network, which means anyone can see the balance and transactions of any Bitcoin address. However, the identity of the user behind an address remains unknown until information is revealed during a purchase or in other circumstances. This is one reason why Bitcoin addresses should only be used once. Always remember that it is your responsibility to adopt good practices in order to protect your privacy.

​

​...

​

​Understanding Bitcoin Traceability

​

Bitcoin is often perceived as an anonymous payment network. But in reality, Bitcoin is probably the most transparent payment network in the world. At the same time, Bitcoin can provide acceptable levels of privacy when used correctly. Always remember that it is your responsibility to adopt good practices in order to protect your privacy.

​

Bitcoin works with an unprecedented level of transparency that most people are not used to dealing with. All Bitcoin transactions are public, traceable, and permanently stored in the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin addresses are the only information used to define where bitcoins are allocated and where they are sent. These addresses are created privately by each user's wallets. However, once addresses are used, they become tainted by the history of all transactions they are involved with. Anyone can see the balance and all transactions of any address. Since users usually have to reveal their identity in order to receive services or goods, Bitcoin addresses cannot remain fully anonymous. For these reasons, Bitcoin addresses should only be used once and users must be careful not to disclose their addresses.

​

​Recent studies also show quite a bit of traceability via passive analysis of public data, including mapping of 'anonymous' donations to Wikileaks in practical research  (from 2013):

​

​http://anonymity-in-bitcoin.blogspot.fr/2011/07/bitcoin-is-not-anonymous.html?shshowComment=1311562003966#c3981060857259811711

​

​

 

Bitcoin is not inherently anonymous. It may be possible to conduct transactions is such a way so as to obscure your identity, but, in many cases, users and their transactions can be identified. We have performed an analysis of anonymity in the Bitcoin system and published our results in a preprint on arXiv.

The Full Story

 

Anonymity is not a prominent design goal of Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin is often referred to as being anonymous. We have performed a passive analysis of anonymity in the Bitcoin system using publicly available data and tools from network analysis. The results show that the actions of many users are far from anonymous. We note that several centralized services, e.g. exchanges, mixers and wallet services, have access to even more information should they wish to piece together users' activity. We also point out that an active analysis, using say marked Bitcoins and collaborating users, could reveal even more details. The technical details are contained in a preprint on arXiv. We welcome any feedback or corrections regarding the paper.

​

​...

​

​Conclusion

This is a straight-forward passive analysis of public data that allows us to de-anonymize considerable portions of the Bitcoin network. We can use tools from network analysis to visualize egocentric networks and to follow the flow of Bitcoins. This can help us identify several centralized services that may have even more details about interesting users. We can also apply techniques such as community finding, block modeling, network flow algorithms, etc. to better understand the network.

​

​

​Cash remains king for true anonymity of all payments. Why do you think the Global Stasi want to ban it (as well as propping up their bankrupt financial institutions)?

​

As an aside, when cash is eventually outlawed by the state (coming soon... risk of 'terrorism' didn't you know? /sarc),  I recommend your local towns implement local currencies, as is being done in parts of the UK already.

 

Basically local versions of 'monopoly money' will be one such solution, plus barter and use of items that provide 'near-monies' e.g. gift cards and the like.

​

​

[InactiveUser 188]

flat4 downloaded a piece of Free Open Source Software. All of a sudden, flat4 is able to make and receive free of charge, international, instant payments in a decentralized, transparent system. No bank, no government, no company able to tell flat4 who they can or cannot deal with, or for what purpose. I think that's super awesome.

Compare that to the world's most popular method of online payments:
 

Brian and Jan Ficht had their PayPal Canada account frozen after they used it to pay for a three-week educational tour of Cuba's urban agriculture practices.

 

(CBC News)


Sure, Bitcoin doesn't offer perfect privacy or anonymity. Point taken. But you can't expect the first iteration of a totally new technology to solve all problems at once. Alternative crpytocurrencies with a focus on privacy are already in the works:
Zerocoin/Zerocash
Monero

Dash

We will get there.


flat4, what do you mean by "they're expensive to buy"?
You don't have to buy a full bitcoin all at once! 0.1 BTC would cost you about $31 at this moment.

[flat4 79]

flat4 downloaded a piece of Free Open Source Software. All of a sudden, flat4 is able to make and receive free of charge, international, instant payments in a decentralized, transparent system. No bank, no government, no company able to tell flat4 who they can or cannot deal with, or for what purpose. I think that's super awesome.

 

Compare that to the world's most popular method of online payments:

 

Brian and Jan Ficht had their PayPal Canada account frozen after they used it to pay for a three-week educational tour of Cuba's urban agriculture practices.

 

(CBC News)

 

 

Sure, Bitcoin doesn't offer perfect privacy or anonymity. Point taken. But you can't expect the first iteration of a totally new technology to solve all problems at once. Alternative crpytocurrencies with a focus on privacy are already in the works:

Zerocoin/Zerocash

Monero

Dash

 

We will get there.

 

 

flat4, what do you mean by "they're expensive to buy"?

You don't have to buy a full bitcoin all at once! 0.1 BTC would cost you about $31 at this moment.

Well hell i did not know that you can buy small amounts.

Where would you tell a rookie like me to go buy some of this new world money at?

[zhang888 1066]

Try at localbitcoins.com

[InactiveUser 188]

That is a good question. It really depends. You can either buy them from fixed-rate exchanges, or buy them more or less directly from other people, on a trading market.

Fixed-rate exchanges will charge a significant premium (10-25% is not uncommon) but may offer convenient and instant payment methods (credit card, online banking, pre-paid vouchers).

Trading on markets will yield better prices because deals are made person to person, with the market only taking a small cut (usually < 1%).
Downside: You will have to register and verify your bank account first. Some markets may also require ID.

I would recommend to do some research, starting with this list.

[flat4 79]

Ok thanks for the list.

[go558a83nk 364]

I've had a good experience with localbitcoins.com

[iwih2gk 94]

I've had a good experience with localbitcoins.com

 

They have a nice escrow system to help protect both sides of the transaction.  I feel much safer doing that than meeting somebody "face to face" while holding a wad of cash.  A 5-10% premium is acceptable for any transaction under 5 BTC.  My take on it.

 

flat4 welcome to the BTC hobby.  Please take the time to study and learn to USE a cold wallet.  Cold and multi sig are not that much tougher to learn and the security is exponential when doing so.

[flat4 79]

Yes i was looking at Trezor since its less expensive than keepkey.

 

 I need to do more reading on the localbitcoins, i understand that you create a wallet with them and you can keep your coins there but they encourage a hard wallet and multibit HD or the other as a safety measure. 

 

So when i buy a partial bit coin and it sits in my localbitcoins wallet and then I ( assuming ) transfer the bitcoins to my multibitHD or hardware wallet  that also would incur a fee , no?

[zhang888 1066]

There are no fees for transfering bitcoins from one platform or wallet to another. There is a small optional transaction fee, which is 0.0001 BTC, to make confirmations faster.

But that's nothing compared to other payment systems. 0.03$ for any transaction.