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There's this notion in Bitcoin that we are building tools to help the world become a better place – but when faced with actual, real world problems, responses are often reactionary and self-serving.

Bitcoin isn't private enough? You're just not using the right tools. The tools are too complicated? You're just not dedicated enough to the cause. Bitcoin fixes all your problems, you just need to spend countless hours of your life to understanding it.

Yesterday, nostr:nprofile1qyg8wumn8ghj7efwdehhxtnvdakz7qgnwaehxw309ac82unsd3jhqct89ejhxtcpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujucmpw4ek2uewvdhk6tcprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujucm4wfex2mn59en8j6f0qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummn9eek7cmfv9kz7qgewaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8xmn0wf6zuum0vd5kzmp0qy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjctzd3jjummjvuhsqgykrhztmdarqyq9dg8tpzqr5jww8tjdy2wehj8t07r2lxfsna9fach3y264 released a report on the usability of Bitcoin (and privacy coins) for activists, and it's a sobering look at how builders in this space have failed those they claim to help protect.

No-KYC on- and off-ramps are still too hard to use. Coins need to be swapped between networks or privatized with dedicated software. Self-custody is easy, but wallets offering network-level protections are often not directed at non-technical users.

We can ignore these criticisms if we want. Or we can stop gaslighting users and skeptics alike for not being educated or engaged enough, and start dedicating more resources to building tools that actually serve the needs of those who need it most.

https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2025-01-15-report-release-call-to-action-financial-confidentiality-in-the-age-of-digital-surveillance/

Deleted Account 11mo ago

13 EASY steps to reach Bitcoin privacy Nirvana :)

Step 1 - Ignore the fact that you live in a hostile environment with limited internet access and take a 1000 hour Bitcoin crash course. Juggle this task with other commitments like NOT DYING and STAYING ALIVE.

Step 2 - Purchase a laptop or a google pixel phone with no CCTV footage of yourself doing so from a person who doesn’t know you. Oh, by the way you have no money because you are a whistleblower and your bank account has been frozen.

Step 3 - Try and find a VPN provider that accepts sats as payment and download to your device. But you don’t have KYC free sats yet? VPN first then sats? Trust a free VPN provider? Decisions … you might have blown your cover before you started!

Step 4 - Purchase a burner Gmail address and password to access the google play store that is sandboxed on your mobile device so you can download a BTC wallet. Do this several times whilst paying for the privilege in a non private way because all the password and addresses don’t work!

Step 5 - Gotta run your own node! Yes, I’ll get one delivered to my house in downtown Gaza City. Verify, don’t trust! Gotta have a node! Might as well not even own Bitcoin if you aren’t running a node…

Step 6 - Download sparrow wallet and stamp your seed phrase into titanium! Again, just get a stamp seed sent to your house in rural Belorussia! Easy peasy! Paper backups suck! Or go and buy a stamp kit from the corner store in Kabul. You won’t have any problems...

Step 7 - Buy some KYC sats using an online marketplace! Except you don’t have any of the accepted fiat on and off ramps! You haven’t even got any KYC free collateral bitcoin yet to use robosats. Oh well, better luck next time! I guess you could rely on a donor … do you know them? Do you trust them with your life? Anyways you now have sats that are kinda private… 90% confident! Somehow you just made it work…

Step 8 - Perform a join market coinjoin and verify the transaction on your own node that was delivered to your apartment in Moscow… Forgot about sanctions. They don’t exist…

Step 9 - The answer to step 8. Build your own node! But hang on a minute, you share a room with 2 other people and security is a solid 1/10 in rural Sudan with rolling blackouts to boot. Ouch…

Step 10 - Use Wasabi with no node to mix the corn instead and trust the coordinator! 90% sure we are still good.

Step 11 - Make sure your primary Bitcoin internet connected device never comes into wifi or Bluetooth connection with any other device you have or any other persons device. Don’t make a single mistake. Ever.

Step 12 - Build your own faraday cages for all of your devices! Squeeze in the time to do this right after you have escaped across the border fleeing civil conflict.

Step 13 - Voila! You are now a private Bitcoin user!

Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13!!!

Oh wait… how do I spend it privately? And where can I spend it privately in hostile non permissive environments? I’ve downloaded the BTC Company app but I can’t find Iraq listed? Maybe West Papua is a country I can select on Bitrefill?? Bummer…

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Discussion

El presidente Eloy Musketti 11mo ago

Call James Bond for help

Nicole Casanova 11mo ago

Thank you. I do believe Bitcoin is a test on so many levels of our perseverance yet as you stated, there are many things we need to get right to be private and that's if you've got the luxury of time, good Internet, a safe home base.