Bitcoin Q&A: Fungibility, Privacy, Anonymity
Channel: aantonop
Date: 2017-09-07

Is Bitcoin as anonymous as cash? Cash is still more anonymous than Bitcoin, which is pseudonymous. However, Bitcoin will become more anonymous and there are a number of other related cryptocurrencies which you can move in and out of to increase your privacy under certain conditions. The conference on Bitcoin scaling in Milan addressed strengthening privacy and fungibility. I'm a strong believer in financial privacy.

Fungibility in Bitcoin, creating blacklists are expensive, common laws "receiving stolen property" and fungibility of fiat. Discount rates, bad money chasing out good money. Gresham's law in India. Human graphs, six degrees of Kevin Bacon. How easily bitcoins are tainted. Lightning Network.

The trade-offs for privacy and anonymity. Privacy is inefficient and costly, it takes commitment and sacrifice to implement, but being able to serve that community is very important. Some people think that trade-off is one worth paying because it pays back in the currency of freedom, and there are many places in the world where the trade-off is very easy. You never really appreciate freedom until you don't have it; for most people, privacy and freedom will not be issues until they start feeling their loss, and by that time it's usually too late.

Chapters
0:00 Is bitcoin as anonymous as cash?
1:23 Fungibility in bitcoin
10:15 The trade-offs for privacy and anonymity

The first question is part of a talk which took place on October 19th 2016 at the Bitcoin Wednesday Meetup in Amsterdam, Netherlands: https://www.meetup.com/BitcoinWednesday/events/234498117/

Watch the full talk here: https://youtu.be/P6F1vTG_hA0

The second question is from a talk which took place at the Silicon Valley Bitcoin meetup on April 11th 2017 at the Plug and Play Tech Center (@PlugandPlayTC) in Sunnyvale, California: https://www.meetup.com/Silicon-Valley-Bitcoin-Users/events/233760417/

Watch the full talk here: https://youtu.be/i_wOEL6dprg

The third question is from a talk which took place during the 3rd Hackers Congress at Paralelní Polis (30th of September - 2nd of October) in Prague. #HCPP16

Watch the full talk here: https://youtu.be/n2yD1PSWBU0

RELATED:
How is fungibility tied to privacy? - https://youtu.be/VuI-8EwqIS8
How do we protect privacy when bitcoin is traceable? - https://youtu.be/PaNDHsix8cs
Privacy, Identity, Surveillance and Money - https://youtu.be/Vcvl5piGlYg
Why we should resist financial surveillance - https://youtu.be/KBFedmrDTQw
The future of digital money - Open Blockchains or Dystopia? - https://youtu.be/Z3oArEyen6M
Why KYC is dangerous - Microviolations of Privacy As Payment - https://youtu.be/rwF7nMWUjBs
The Lightning Network - https://youtu.be/vPnO9ExJ50A
Does MimbleWimble enhance privacy? - https://youtu.be/paOAgR3LuGI
Zcash in the cryptocurrency ecosystem - https://youtu.be/j8ILYfIm_G0
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? - https://youtu.be/1iEv-gUZNx4

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and well-respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042

[NEW] MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388

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