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Demand for anonymous bitcoin?

Kaplan
Tue, 07 Oct 2014 15:57:02 GMT

What has saddened me in recent years is the move from bitcoin roots of a privacy preserving technology, to one now in the stranglehold of AML/KYC policies, to the point where sellers are now boasting they are XYZ compliant. I have been a bitcoin trader myself (not on this account) during the very early days and only stopped a few months ago when bank troubles halted trade all together, despite me doing over £1m in successful trades with no fraud complaints. Now I am close to resolving the banking problem, but I wanted to know what demand there is for wanting to purchase/sell bitcoins anonymously in the UK through solutions such as cash in hand and MoneyGram, as well as the usual bank transfer although it won't have anonymity of course as your bank might still be able to figure it out. Before people start the usual "Oh but you're helping criminals" blah blah. I frankly don't care - it is up to each individual to choose what they do with their money and if they do something illegal, there are many other (and easier) ways to catch them doing so and trust me, serious money launderers and high rank criminals are not going to use something like LocalBitcoin because it leaves records. Anyway, my service would be simple, you buy/sell bitcoin to me and I keep minimal records as required by law which according to my solicitor, is only what money has come in/out with no name requires since we don't have to register to mandatory AML procedures. Thoughts on if there is a market for this still?

headrush69
Tue, 07 Oct 2014 16:00:03 GMT

I agree. The best that can be done really is cash payments, or cash deposit. I'm not worried about being anonymous when selling, but my buyers can be.

grifferz
Thu, 09 Oct 2014 03:11:56 GMT

Given that there is no simple way to pay for stuff online where the seller can be sure it won't be reversed by an anonymous buyer, this is inevitable. If you want/need to buy bitcoin anonymously, you can still do it with plenty of traders: by meeting in person and paying cash, or by paying above the odds so their risk is built in. Just browse through these threads to see the 5 figure losses of sellers who decided that no one would be mean enough to rip them off.

SaltandPepper
Thu, 09 Oct 2014 22:20:35 GMT

When coins were not worth very much; say less than $50 no one really cared. Once the prices escalated last year to around $1000, every Tom Dick and Harry wanted to dive in. BTC was meant to be anonymous and uncontrolled by any one entity. The philosophy behind BTC was extremely Libertarian in thought. Like anything else, once there's money to be made you'll have people like Schrem and the Wrinklesack twins crying for regulation in order to shore up their potential investment income. My philosophy in buying and selling coins is to give the buyer/seller the most privacy possible. I never ask or require for more information than is necessary to complete the trade.