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Bitcoin Perfectly Anonymous — Until You Spend It

Posted by Unknown on from the cover-your-tracks dept.

jfruh writes "One of the great attractions of Bitcoin as a currency is that it's completely secure and anonymous. But according to researchers (PDF) from UC San Diego and George Mason University, that anonymity starts to vanish the minute you exchange bitcoin for real-world items or conventional currencies. The researchers tracked transactions across the Bitcoin ecosystem and found points where it would be easy for a government with subpeona power to find the identity of a Bitcoin user. They also concluded that the currency wasn't especially attractive for money-laundering purposes." Graph theory explains many things.

3 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Just like IRL by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Funny

    every time you stand in front of a CCTV camera you are exposing yourself to the world.

    No, the judge was very clear that I'm not allowed to do that any more.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  2. Re:Of course. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Of course, nothing is really anonymous. It is just a cat and mouse game.

    Nothing is really anonymous either. Just look at all the 'hacked' exchanges or a 51% attack.

    And furthermore, nothing is really anonymous.

  3. Re:Of course. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course, nothing is really anonymous. It is just a cat and mouse game.

    Nothing is really anonymous either. Just look at all the 'hacked' exchanges or a 51% attack.

    And furthermore, nothing is really anonymous.

    I disagree. I think that nothing is really anonymous.

    Cowards are anonymous. And nothing. But other than that, nothing is anonymous.