Bitcoin not so anonymous, Irish researcher says
Jul 29, 2011, 19:01 (1 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Nathan Witkop)
"Well, to be fair, originally the system was never described as
anonymous, but the developers would say that it's rather
pseudo-anonymous. So you use some identifier and that's all that
can be traced back to you. There are two things: The first is that
the media often say that Bitcoin is anonymous, and I would say that
anyone that works in the development of Bitcoin would agree that
these reports are wrong.
"The second thing is that Bitcoin has this unusual property that
if I receive Bitcoins from two sources, A and B, I can generate one
identity to receive the Bitcoins from A and I can generate a second
identity to receive the Bitcoins from B and there's no way to link
these two identities. However, maybe in a couple months time, I can
perform another Bitcoin transaction and where I send these Bitcoins
to C. This third transaction can link A and B. So by joining the
Bitcoins together in my wallet, A and B, and sending them to C,
I've revealed that previously the two identities that I used to
receive the money from A and B are controlled by the same
person."
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