Open question to the community,
Considering the censoring of Samourai Wallet, Whirlpool and other means to transact with privacy online using Bitcoin.
What user friendly options for the non technical people are left?
Lightning ⚡️
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17 sats \ 8 replies \ @rod OP 7 Jul
LN private?
AFAIK, when making a payment over the LN, the payment path is disclosed. This means that the sender's node and the recipient's node are connected, making it possible to trace the transaction.
Am I missing something?
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Am I missing something?
Yes, everything about how LN works. Learn more about how HTLCs works.
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you can make use of the embedded node + LSP ( check out Zeus if you haven't ) or custodial wallet as burner wallet.
It really depends on how you use it.
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i second this recommendation. zeus embedded node, open channel to olympus LSP ( its all handheld via the app). that is about as good as it gets rn for users that are not gonna run their own node.
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Thanks Natalia, much appreciated
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keep exploring:)
I got a detailed post about Zeus coming up soon ✌🏽
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17 sats \ 2 replies \ @rod OP 7 Jul
Looking forward to reading it.
I am planning on writing a follow up on the Ark Protocol as well, looks promising...
Still, being tech savvy and transacting with privacy is not difficult, I am looking for answers for non tech savvy to do so in a safe manner, liquid is easy as pie, but doesn't feel safe, therefore I would not recommend it, LN is too complicated for non tech people. The irony, after so many years and we are still so early...
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38 sats \ 1 reply \ @Natalia 7 Jul
LN is too complicated for non tech people
nah, and I'm non tech people 🤔 it's not so hard to understand once ppl don't mind testing things out, that's how I learned everything about Bitcoin, learning from testing.
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I meant, if you want to do it right is a lot of work and know how, not for the average person without any knowledge about LN and Bitcoin...
Aqua wallet. Pay via Liquid or Lightning.
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Yes 👍 💯
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It is an interesting option, but, AFAIU, it uses Liquid side chain, centralized and federated, additionally, transactions still generate metadata, such as transaction size, fees, and timestamps about the transaction. While this metadata is less sensitive than the transaction details themselves, it can still be used by chain analysis corps and organized crime conglomerates (plenty of resources) to gather information about the transaction, clearly more private than without it,better than nothing but not a silver bullet.
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38 sats \ 8 replies \ @zklsbn 7 Jul
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What about boltz swaps?
Convert on chain ⛓️‍💥 to lightning ⚡️ or liquid
Transact using lightning or liquid
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17 sats \ 1 reply \ @rod OP 8 Jul
On chain to burner LN wallet with Boltz swaps to merchant payment... That works and not too complicated, good suggestion, thanks!
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I love Boltz plus they have great support on Telegram via Aqua channel
Lightning also has privacy because it is off chain
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17 sats \ 3 replies \ @zklsbn 8 Jul
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Smart
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True
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You are correct, thanks for pointing it out. The metadata part still a valid argument thought
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17 sats \ 0 replies \ @guts 7 Jul
You can't on chain.
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17 sats \ 1 reply \ @SatsMate 7 Jul
ecash is private, but it is not bitcoin. Also don't transact large amounts with ecash.
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17 sats \ 0 replies \ @rod OP 7 Jul
Thanks for sharing, either way, wouldn't touch it.
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To maintain privacy, avoid reusing addresses for multiple transactions, better still just use privacy focused wallets
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Managing your UTXOs is very important as well as not reusing, agree. But, any basic chain analysis will dox your wallet very quickly.
What do you mean with privacy focused wallets? AFAIK we had only Samourai Wallet and Wasabi, but now we are out of options
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38 sats \ 4 replies \ @zklsbn 8 Jul
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17 sats \ 3 replies \ @rod OP 8 Jul
Thank Radentor, awesome list.
Which one would you recommended for the non tech savvy?
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I use Zeus and Mutiny and I don’t code
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38 sats \ 1 reply \ @zklsbn 8 Jul
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38 sats \ 0 replies \ @rod OP 8 Jul
Thanks!
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ecash
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17 sats \ 2 replies \ @rod OP 7 Jul
ecash is private? You have any pointers? Either way, thanks for sharing, I'll check it out, although the idea is to transact with Bitcoin with privacy
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ecash is the most private way to send or receive small amounts of bitcoin (more accurately, vouchers you can redeem for btc on lightning)
check out:
  • enuts
  • minibits
  • cashu.me
just don't put more into ecash than you can afford to lose - and don't keep it there for long periods - you can get rugged.
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Thanks for sharing, will look into it.
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There is also whisper addresses. buts its a bit more long winded.
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Liquid
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17 sats \ 0 replies \ @rod OP 7 Jul
A federated sidechain network, I am very uncomfortable with Liquid, is basically a corporate centralized owned L2, will never use it. Not planning to trust my funds to "middle men". Thanks for sharing though, appreciate it
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