Blockchain / cryptocurrencies / Bitcoin - basic education

[enjolras]

In other words, what is this wild horse, sporting barbarian names, that was born after the 2008 crisis, with the goal in mind to revolutionise the traditional financial system, basing its core principles around trust and transparency initially ?

Dedicated to those who are scared of the transition towards digital payments, plus to satisfy the curious minds who prefer a starter understanding, to gather reassurance before adoption.

Here's an introduction course at beginner level. It's popularization for your grandma. The videos suite's presentation is 4 parts long, but only ~30 minutes in total.

(Dash, the sponsor, is the trademark abbreviation for Digital Cash, a competitor of Bitcoin, with added layers of speed allowing instant secure transactions and arguable optional privacy - mixing payments - at the network level ...different than Monero, which acts more profoundly at the protocol level)

Spoiler: The following concepts are more specific to Dash, expect the "added privacy" one, which concerns BTC

Decentralised autonomous "governance" (DAO)



The fungibility and privacy function discussion is interesting to distinguish the various ways of conceiving the qualities of a said coin. Dash can be considered a Bitcoin equivalent, cause it utilises part of the codebase that has been tweaked further with extra layers of abilities, potentially doing more in the stealth field...

(Disclaimer : Dash's Evolution build has still not yet been released in 2020. It takes time)


———————-——-

To top it, this is a witty fun comedic opener, presenting some of the possible benefits of switching to an independent (from the banks), peer and tech controlled monetary environnement.
("Fiat" is the general term defining traditional currencies like USD/EUR/CHF/etc, not a car manufacturer ;))

 

[iamamovingtarget]

Good info...If you spend a little time looking into it it's not as big and scary as everyone thinks... Chose a trading platform to buy your crypto (I chose coinbase), get yourself a wallet (I chose electrum) and you're off...

 

[enjolras]

It especially emphasizes why/how Bitcoin (the original digital coin's invention) was created in the first place as an open book to achieve consistent transparency, freely consultable as a permanent statement revealing the truth of payments to everyone requesting access to the data (through "block explorers") ...instead of being opaque, which is a general misconception !
I wanted to post it so everyone understands that Bitcoin, on its own, is not safe to pursue illegal activities properly.

If you got Bitcoin addresses of A or C (which you'll do at some point or from simple requests), by entering them here https://www.blockchain.com/explorer or there https://live.blockcypher.com/btc (or just at many other public sites), you can consult if/when they got paid (plus when they can respend this money when enough "confirmations" from the "miners" happened, and where dispatched), the amounts, the overall balance ...not only as the extension of your action, but others as well ...if they'd reuse the same Bitcoin address over and over (a common bad practice) or by the association of monitoring many.
In fact, you can in theory spy the small fortunes of running an illegal trade business. It can be like checking strangers' bank accounts openly from your sofa. A potential gift to LE, which has other sophisticated powers to track advanced use of traceable blockchains (Bitcoin)

 

[enjolras]

Reposting this part alone (at 5:10 minutes), because the important argument is valid for Bitcoin, which by design leaves a perpetual trail of all the relationships between participants, not even trying to offer a moderatly obscuring function, unlike the "PrivateSend" of Dash (not recommended neither).




Unlike what can be read in the PPH, Bitcoin is not "anonymous", not even private by definition. As standalone use, it is conceptually flawed. It cannot be compared as "online cash".
Moreover, the PPH states that mixing Bitcoins through a tumbler "cuts and breaks" the transaction links. It is again incorrect. The process attempts to blur the tracking of ownership but does not resist to meta-analysis or random prosecution of an uncaring provider.

The only ways to send Bitcoin anonymously are :
* trading Bitcoin directly with somebody, against cash / goods / service, have them sent directly to the address of the seller, without transfer to a personal wallet in between. But then, you're involving this person into an illegal activity as a cover
* acquired through a Bitcoin ATM https://coinatmradar.com not asking for any identification elements (still could have you videotaped with cameras about the timestamped deal, but it would then lead to a persona non-grata research), buying some with cash, sent directly to the address of the seller again. Then the liability is diluted, transposed to the corporate distributing the machine

There are better ways, involving altcoins (other than BTC) and technics, while keeping the liability to yourself about the personal matter of CTB.

 

[iamamovingtarget]

Reposting this part alone, because the important argument is valid for Bitcoin, which by design leaves a perpetual trail of all the relationships between participants, not even trying to offer a moderatly obscuring function, unlike the "PrivateSend" of Dash (not recommended neither).




Unlike what can be read in the PPH, Bitcoin is not "anonymous", not even private by definition. As standalone use, it is conceptually flawed. It cannot be compared as "online cash".
Moreover, the PPH states that mixing Bitcoins through a tumbler "cuts and breaks" the transaction links. It is again incorrect. The process attempts to blur the tracking of ownership but does not resist to meta-analysis or random prosecution of an uncaring provider.

The only ways to send Bitcoin anonymously are :
* trading Bitcoin directly with somebody, against cash / goods / service, have them sent directly to the address of the seller, without transfer to a personal wallet in between. But then, you're involving this person into an illegal activity as a cover
* acquired through a Bitcoin ATM https://coinatmradar.com not asking for any identification elements (still could have you videotaped with cameras about the timestamped deal, but it would then lead to a persona non-grata research), buying some with cash, sent directly to the address of the seller again. Then the liability is diluted, transposed to the corporate distributing the machine

There are better ways, involving altcoins and technics, while keeping the liability to yourself about the personal matter of CTB.

When you refer to "a personal wallet in between" would this hypothetically cover "escrow" bitcoins held for say even more hypothetical dark web market purchases?

 

[enjolras]

I meant it as a personal mobile or computer software wallet, but it could be a random online escrow service, if you prefer and manage to arrange this with the seller (unlikely, outside of delegated at a DarkNet market)

An escrow arbitration could be just a local particular deposit wallet (which uses a regular address for storage, broadcasting on the blockchain) which is accompanied with more instruction rules, typically "multiple signatures" of 3 parties or more, to release the funds when everyone agrees on a similar consensus ...But in practice, it could also originate from a 3rd party site, then the dispute resolution is debated by a more or less unbiased mitigation, which the market organises itself, or pays a volunteer to assure the task.

You generally don't know the behind the scenes about the process and security, unless you assure them yourself (multi-signature wallet like CoPay), then you'd need to talk the seller into the idea and find a 3rd person trusted by both of you (which would have the last word order to unlock a withdrawal to the seller, only if the funds were deposited, available into the shared ownership address, then the product is received and conform to the client's expectations)
Otherwise, online, you're reliant on the decision and sometimes your deposit will stay at what is called a hot wallet (one that is under the danger of thieves) or a cold storage (for corporates, it would be a hardware setup, disconnected from the internet).
Even the most reputable online services use a mix of both, because it's too much tedious work to have all coins stored at hardware wallets at all times. Lastly, you could still encounter an exit scam from the market / escrow site.

Anyway, your "money" is never lost or "unplugged" from the information chain, because it's a virtual record on the cloud. At all times, its place can be spotted and tracked, unless you'd use Monero, then it becomes a matter of probabilities : an inspection could eventually reveal there's X% chance that the origin comes from a basket of multiple senders (yourself included), without the ability to define who had the initial ownership exactly. Furthermore, this likelihood will dissipate over time when more unrelated transactions occur and new members join the Monero network, but is not something one should care or worry about (from the beginning, the anonymity is strong)

(Sorry, I'm expanding over reason. It's the occasion !)

 

[enjolras]

When you refer to "a personal wallet in between" would this hypothetically cover "escrow" bitcoins held for say even more hypothetical dark web market purchases?

The only ways to send Bitcoin anonymously are :
* ...
* acquired through a Bitcoin ATM https://coinatmradar.com not asking for any identification elements (still could have you videotaped with cameras about the timestamped deal, but it would then lead to a persona non-grata research), buying some with cash, sent directly to the address of the seller again. Then the liability is diluted, transposed to the corporate distributing the machine

In this particular case with Bitcoin, you wouldn't want to introduce a bridge wallet on your phone/computer, between the ATM and the merchant ...because of possible careless errors and the fact it's unnecessary because someone/something else (ATM) controls to send the payment instead of you, without intervention (the ATM has a built-in wallet that will transfer virtual coins to the merchant's wallet, keeping you out of the loop!)

Further explanation :
* since the Bitcoin's blockchain is transparent, it does not really matter if you send from A (ATM) to B (merchant) or from A (ATM) to B (secondary wallet of yours or miscellaneous site or friend's wallet) to C (again misc. site) to D (merchant). It doesn't help with the privacy. LE would be able to tell in both situations that it went through the departure up to the destination points, navigating back through the whole path.
* more problematic and tricky, if A to B (personal soft wallet) to C, it could establish fingerprint leakages if you don't pay attention, by proceeding recklessly. The "fault" could originate from the use of a wallet whose development is not optimal without knowing, and/or you not covering your IP address.

Let's develop where a faulty logic of choosing tools can slip into

From Reddit


Again


These are 2 different Monero wallets : 1 (Cake) is better than the other 1 (MyMonero, although very popular).
This problem could as well arise with Bitcoin wallets which connect to remote nodes with a variable implementation, when you'd never fact-check a verification of the ins and outs, hurrying to order your product.

Side note : Cake wallet connects to a remote node, which has a copy of the entire blockchain distantly ...in that case, the mobile app is of the "light wallet" type, because you can move the coins without the need to download the entire blockchain yourself on a personal device (any, possibly even a different one than the device of the wallet, then they're to be linked).
In practice, in order to send payments and receive them (especially for the updated balance to show) with Cake, on the app, you just wait for a status bar to "SYNCHronize" at 100%. That simple

The investigation of remote nodes that don't belong to yourself, could show the IP address of the persons transacting (what is seen on the previous image). A solution to not have to bother about own IP being spoiled, outside of using a VPN as a cover, would be to setup and run your own Monero node or "Daemon" (downloading the entire blockchain on the official wallet in any local computer or distant VPS), connect the Cake wallet to it ...then you can transact safely out of scrutiny, without a VPN.
But the connection is complicated to organise so we'll skip. I was just saying the option for education purposes

When light wallets (typically those you'll install often) are used, an in-depth analysis of the 2 distant nodes, relied on by the sender and recipient (there's communication between a coin user and the external node he utilises if not running his own one), could reveal the IP address of parties...
Just imagine the scenario of using your wallet (at the other side of the payment too, there's generally a lazy drug dealer) without masking the device's IP with a VPN ...this would become a typical overlooked mistake, breaking the deal of the rest of your efforts! potentially rendering them less worth

 

[iamamovingtarget]

In this particular case with Bitcoin, you wouldn't want to introduce a bridge wallet on your phone/computer, between the ATM and the merchant ...because of possible careless errors and the fact it's unnecessary because someone/something else (ATM) controls to send the payment instead of you, without intervention (the ATM has a built-in wallet that will transfer virtual coins to the merchant's wallet, keeping you out of the loop!)

Further explanation :
* since the Bitcoin's blockchain is transparent, it does not really matter if you send from A (ATM) to B (merchant) or from A (ATM) to B (secondary wallet of yours or miscellaneous site or friend's wallet) to C (again misc. site) to D (merchant). It doesn't help with the privacy. LE would be able to tell in both situations that it went through the departure up to the destination points, navigating back through the whole path.
* more problematic and tricky, if A to B (personal soft wallet) to C, it could establish fingerprint leakages if you don't pay attention, by proceeding recklessly. The "fault" could originate from the use of a wallet whose development is not optimal without knowing, and/or you not covering your IP address.

Let's develop where a faulty logic of choosing tools can slip into

From Reddit
View attachment 33635

Again
View attachment 33636

These are 2 different Monero wallets : 1 (Cake) is better than the other 1 (MyMonero, although very popular).
This problem could as well arise with Bitcoin wallets which connect to remote nodes with a variable implementation, when you'd never fact-check a verification of the ins and outs, hurrying to order your product.

Side note : Cake wallet connects to a remote node, which has a copy of the entire blockchain distantly ...in that case, the mobile app is of the "light wallet" type, because you can move the coins without the need to download the entire blockchain yourself on a personal device (any, possibly even a different one than the device of the wallet, then they're to be linked).
In practice, in order to send payments and receive them (especially for the updated balance to show) with Cake, on the app, you just wait for a status bar to "SYNCHronize" at 100%. That simple

The investigation of remote nodes that don't belong to yourself, could show the IP address of the persons transacting (what is seen on the previous image). A solution to not have to bother about own IP being spoiled, outside of using a VPN as a cover, would be to setup and run your own Monero node or "Daemon" (downloading the entire blockchain on the official wallet in any local computer or distant VPS), connect the Cake wallet to it ...then you can transact safely out of scrutiny, without a VPN.
But the connection is complicated to organise so we'll skip. I was just saying the option for education purposes

When light wallets (typically those you'll install often) are used, an in-depth analysis of the 2 distant nodes, relied on by the sender and receiver (there's communication between a coin user and the external node he utilises if not running his own one), could reveal the IP address of parties...
Just imagine the scenario of using your wallet (at the other side of the payment too, there's generally a lazy drug dealer) without masking the device's IP with a VPN ...this would become a typical overlooked mistake, breaking the deal of the rest of your efforts! potentially rendering them less worth

no sarcasm at all but you should write up some small pieces and try sending them someplace - in a field of BS and guesses you actually know quite a bit about this....

 

[enjolras]

It especially emphasizes why/how Bitcoin (the original digital coin's invention) was created in the first place as an open book to achieve consistent transparency, freely consultable as a permanent statement revealing the truth of payments to everyone requesting access to the data (through "block explorers") ...instead of being opaque, which is a general misconception !
I wanted to post it so everyone understands that Bitcoin, on its own, is not safe to pursue illegal activities properly.

If you got Bitcoin addresses of A or C (which you'll do at some point or from simple requests), by entering them here https://www.blockchain.com/explorer or there https://live.blockcypher.com/btc (or just at many other public sites), you can consult if/when they got paid (plus when they can respend this money when enough "confirmations" from the "miners" happened, and where dispatched), the amounts, the overall balance ...not only as the extension of your action, but others as well ...if they'd reuse the same Bitcoin address over and over (a common bad practice) or by the association of monitoring many.
In fact, you can in theory spy the small fortunes of running an illegal trade business. It can be like checking strangers' bank accounts openly from your sofa. A potential gift to LE, which has other sophisticated powers to track advanced use of traceable blockchains (Bitcoin)

The main differences, theorical and practical, achieved by a "closed" blockchain which has its own codebase different than Bitcoin, and how to benefit from the upgrade, exposed (2016, but not outdated. The RingCT cryptography and amount values' opacity is nowadays in place).










It's pretty cool that as time flies, the shielding grows. One can relax increasingly, not the opposite. With Bitcoin, you'd never know when a de-anonymisation would take place. The wind could turn as soon as an authority decides to get their hands dirty.

no sarcasm at all but you should write up some small pieces and try sending them someplace - in a field of BS and guesses you actually know quite a bit about this....

If at all, I only have the ambition to dress up an accessible no BS guide around Monero, so Bitcoin can be ditched and peeps keep their head cool. Right now, trying to be convincing about the advantage to transition ;)

 

[iamamovingtarget]

The main differences, theorical and practical, achieved by a "closed" blockchain which has its own codebase different than Bitcoin, and how to benefit from the upgrade, exposed (2016, but not outdated. The RingCT cryptography and amount values' opacity is nowadays in place).




View attachment 33659

View attachment 33660

View attachment 33661

It's pretty cool that as time flies, the shielding grows. One can relax increasingly, not the opposite. With Bitcoin, you'd never know when a de-anonymisation would take place. The wind could turn as soon as an authority decides to get their hands dirty.



If at all, I only have the ambition to dress up an accessible no BS guide around Monero, so Bitcoin can be ditched and peeps keep their head cool.

you should be called "monero man"...

 

[enjolras]

Not here for credits. In an egoist mood, it would permit the longevity of the supply chain, as well as everyone's peace of mind. At the moment, too many people hesitate to go with the most peaceful method, and revert to subpar ones. Some of the dilemma has to be attributed to ignorance, the rest about supposed complexity, which in fact principally is an illusion if set in order.

 

[iamamovingtarget]

you should be called "monero man"...

An alliterative bit of play, no offence meant...

 

[enjolras]

Besides, I personally value another privacy coin over Monero : Zcoin.

Home | Firo - Privacy-preserving cryptocurrency

Firo is a digital currency with a focus on setting privacy standards.

zcoin.io

At this second, it's less practical for gentle adoption. It's planned to evolve in the right direction though, with its proprietary twist at privacy to be enabled by default as well, instead of conditionally. Still, it will lack market approval for a long time or eternally versus the establishment of Monero.

I'm voicing this precision since I plan to ramble about Monero more in a near future. I wouldn't want people to suspect I "work" for "them". I have zero interest placed in it whatsoever.

 

[enjolras]

Thank you to whom contacted me, having autonomously studied the basics "all night" from scratch ! which appeared like "a LOT" ...to realise it was feasible to overcome the difficulties in order to go anonymous the noble way (between 2 persons with cash). You made my day :)

 

[enjolras]

Andreas Antonopoulos Receives $2.6 Million in Donations After Being Mocked for Not Getting Rich from Bitcoin

A woman has reportedly given away 25 bitcoin, adding to a flood of donations worth around 154 bitcoins, helping to bring the total amount to nearly $2.6 million. The one receiving the donations? Andreas M. Antonopoulos who is known for delivering keynote speeches about the digital currency’s...

cryptocoin.news

Andreas is the know-it-all Bitcoin man. His YouTube channel is the go to place to get advanced education and insightful visions.

 

[enjolras]

 

[Fire&Ash]

Sorry to but in but I got stuck on cake wallet. What is it? Is it a virtual wallet like Electrum? I saw the explanation that said

"since the Bitcoin's blockchain is transparent, it does not really matter if you send from A (ATM) to B (merchant) or from A (ATM) to B (secondary wallet of yours or miscellaneous site or friend's wallet) to C (again misc. site) to D (merchant). It doesn't help with the privacy. LE would be able to tell in both situations that it went through the departure up to the destination points, navigating back through the whole path."

so how do I hide my trail?
what is Monero? Is it a wallet too? Some of the explanation is hard to understand

 

[Viro_Major]

 

[Viro_Major]

 

[Viro_Major]

This is how the Firo wallet will look like, released next month. This is the latest next gen solution to achieve secure anonymous crypto payments...

Spoiler

It will enforce privacy by default like Monero, just with a tighter cryptography applied. In fact, whereas Monero only blurs the trails between participants in terms of dilluting probabalities, Firo clears all of them by burning past coins then redeeming brand new ones that do not convey any past history of transactions. It works like destructing then printing money, which is really smart.

Also, through the MasterNodes system of Firo, we'll be able to earn about 10% of annual interests on the deposits (which aren't even locked but always free to use). However, it is subject to other parameters like market price fluctuations. Either the effect can add up and make you compound profits, or they can counteract themselves (you lose on the coins' value but also get granted more coins for free over time, which then becomes a compensation mechanism against market volatility). So it could serve as an investment for those who are patient and accept a bit of risk.

Stay tuned but start by having a read already, to familiarise yourself with the principles

FAQ | Firo - Privacy-preserving cryptocurrency

Firo is a digital currency with a focus on setting privacy standards.

firo.org

 

[Viro_Major]

Earn Passive Income with Crypto Pt 1: Staking vs DeFi

Sign Up Here for the CT Club! https://patreon.com/cryptotips

open.lbry.com

Heidi !!! I don't even like you that much. You're too much of a blinded optimistic without nuances. I see religion in you. Vade retro satanas

 

[TooConscious]

To save wasting a thread I have a simple question....
Before the last month a bit coin exchange would cost me at least one quarter of what is now...
Which seems ridiculous
Is it just me getting f*cked over by the system or is it something that has happened and everyone is now in the same boat....
It just seems ridiculous.

Appreciate any help. Thanks