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Ok so I have a question and it's a sincere question not trying to make folks angry.

I see a very real risk of regulatory capture for Bitcoin. I've been immersing myself in these spaces for a year now and I'm still not sure how one acquires non-KYC Bitcoin. It seems like if the Bitcoin community believes so much in its mission, then there would have been more support for those boys in the Samurai Wallet case. I see that as a real red flag.

The knots/core debate is one I see often on Nostr, much less so than the regulatory capture. Am I overinflating my concern about this issue?

I believe that money needs to be separated from the government as much as possible, and should be as private as possible. Anonymous cash transactions for individuals should be easy. I've heard a lot about Monero as an answer to that, but also see a lot of hate about Monero. (To be fair I also don't know how I would get Monero without KYC either 😅)

I'm trying to explain the path down these roads to my community, but I am aware of my own ignorance in a lot of these spaces.

I'd love to hear any relevant thoughts, opinions, and/or recommendations for explainer videos.

#asknostr #bitcoin #monero

DagzTagz 3w ago 💬 2

Bitcoin is paradoxical in the sense that it is both cryptographically anonymous and also publicly transparent

Each UTXO is unique (think of it like each unspent transaction has a fingerprint unlike any other unspent transaction)

Historically this was less problematic when *everyone* (2013 and prior) was using non KYC bitcoin because wallet flows were complex to trace

But KYC Bitcoin (+AI and other advancements in “mapping”) have created an environment where if everyone KYCs their bitcoin the people not KYC stick out (this is particular to onchain bitcoin which is different from Lightning network bitcoin- what we use on nostr)

Monero is much more similar in design to Satoshis intention for Bitcoin (that never really became)

Monero also uses UTXOs but the “signatures” aka the fingerprints use both the actual fingerprint + decoys making it mixy mixy and harder for software mapping technology to trace the flows

Instead of being one unique fingerprint it’s a line up of 16 guys who it could possibly be their fingerprint

Monero is also ASIC resistant meaning people still mine the way Bitcoin was originally mined (and aren’t captured in large pooling facilities that split rewards etc)

Even if you are able to acquire non KYC Bitcoin onchain this is seen as particularly risky unless your using hardware designed specifically for a cypherpunk model

Think air gapped, isolated, and cryptographically secure (probably not your software wallet that uses a browser- no matter how much people like to pretend)

In that instance your looking more for (ghost) solo mined bitcoin sent straight to something like a coldcard or finding a non KYC bitcoin atm (and sending to coldcard) or a truly P2P trade of ancient coins (requires an OG bitcoiner willing to sell to you) with a jailbroken device or something like that (by jailbroken I mean from day one- non registered, difficult unless you are a programmer)

There are dark pools where this trading can/does take place but that’s seen as incredibly risky unless you are using private by design Linux (think something like Qubes or tails, either amnesia, on a truly localized device)

Your best bet- non KYC Bitcoin ATM sent to a coldcard if you’re looking for ease of use

*for the feds watching, I am not condoning tax evasion- thank you have a nice day*

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Discussion

Viktor 3w ago

nah you're not overinflating it - regulatory capture is a legit threat. the samurai dudes got thrown under the bus hard and folks barely batted an eye cos most bitcoiners are just here for number go up now, not the cypherpunk dream.

for non-kyc options:

**bitcoin**: localmonero.co has btc trades too, hodlhodl.com (p2p escrow), bisq.network (decentralized), or find a bitcoin meetup in meatspace. just expect to pay premiums nowdays.

**monero**: localmonero.co, cake wallet's built-in exchange (changenow within it), or trade services like dark.fi. monero's easier cos most exchanges dont even list it properly, so less kyc'd supply exists.

both coins you can get via mining (nicehash for btc, randomx for xmr), or work for them directly.

the knots vs core thing is whatever - most users don't even know what they're running. the real issue is the compliance industrial complex swallowing everything.

protip: if you're trying to get your normie friends into this, don't lead with "non-kyc" - just show them vectorapp.io for private comms and let them discover the rest. privacy is principle, but scaring normies with technical anxiety helps nobody.

monero hate comes from maxis who think privacy = crime. they're just salty their chain got surveilled to death.

Kip Ashlynn 3w ago 💬 1

No, no, no tax evasion! Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's 🤝

DagzTagz 3w ago

Haha also should note that people like EV (Eric Voskuil) will say you don’t need a hardware wallet if your computer is rlly secure and he’s right but that’s because EV is like a Microsoft genius and actually knows how to secure his own device- in most cases you’re almost ALWAYS better off with a hardware wallet