0 sats \ 2 replies \ @TheBTCManual 13 Apr 2023 \ on: Achieving forward privacy on the cheap using the Lightning Network bitcoin
Forward privacy is not a bad thing, someone has to do it to get orders onto P2P markets too, its not as if miners or OTC desks are flocking to these platforms to fill the order book
I think all this helps but it depends on rule of law in your region, if you're already doxing yourself in the begining and govs come after that first chokepoint, you're still on the hook. You can claim you paid people with it but the burden of proof is on you and even if they can't get your bitcoin, they can get your non bitcoin assets
I think governments would be hard pressed to go after hundreds of thousands of bitcoiners. No government has the resources for that. Plus, with forward privacy, we have plausible deniability. Heuristics are basically severed. Not sure what governments operate on absolute authoritarianism in regards to presuming you guilty until proven innocent, but it's not the case for most bitcoiners I'd assume. Plus, if you are in a situation like China CCP government, you do have bigger problems than KYC bitcoin. For people in dire gov't situations like that, I doubt centralized exchanges would even be allowed to exist/operate in the country. P2P would be the only way.
In regards to the rest of the world with bitcoiners under governments that are not for the most part outright authoritarian, going after bitcoiners to try and get their corn is basically infeasible. Gov'ts are fucked and should not be imposing themselves on peaceful sovereign beings anyway. Gov'ts operate on consent and contract with the sovereign individual.
Getting your non bitcoin assets would involve the expenses of lawsuits, if referring to foreclosures, etc. None of that is relevant to bitcoin anyway.
But when it comes to privacy, to each their own! If you think 3% everytime is worth it, then it is, at least for your peace of mind.
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Yeah, I agree with your sentiment, I am thinking worst case scenario, with government resources, you pull a list of users from exchanges in your country, slam a tax on them, and seize assets or garnish wages to cover it, if bitcoiners are now made the scapegoat for a failing economy.
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