Nostr Web Client

Plenty of people still use Tor in China. They just use bridges/proxies or steg-based things like webtunnel to route around that.

And just because less people use it doesn't mean it isn't more anonymous than people using https (anonymity VS "privacy")

Roger H 1y ago

I don't know of anybody en masse that uses Tor in China, but I know plenty of people who use VPNs. My point wasn't a direct analogue of the technology, it's the fact that once your tech is a narrow use case, it's easier to target. China can't target regular web traffic at a protocol level because too much useful stuff is there - they have to ban IP by IP. Even bridges for Tor don't work that well in Mainland. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1204.0447

Btw, if we want to be direct, I have never seen an instance yet of P2P trade in China with Monero vs. Tether/BTC. Which is my point. If the liquidity conditions are not met, the tech isn't even usable in certain jurisdictions. FYI, this isn't because Monero are some on-chain geniuses, most "traders" are nabbed by interactions with the Chinese banking system. But in arrests, public reporting, sleuthing on Chinese social media - very little known interest in Monero.

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Saberhagen The Nameless 1y ago

The masses don't use Tor in general. So yea that is no surprise it is the same way in China.

Just because something is popular, like VPNs in your example, doesn't mean it provides anonymity like Tor does though, so I don't understand the point in comparing them. VPNs don't provide anonymity so it's moot that it is more popular. You're just shifting your trust from a local ISP to your VPN.

In the same way, just because Bitcoin is popular doesn't mean it provides anonymity (especially how most use it). It provides pseudonymity at best if used correctly which very few do. Monero is a smaller pool, but provides real anonymity in that pool, especially for receivers which can potentially be any user that has ever existed.

I don't claim to know much about Chinas crypto scene but I'm sure most of them are trading on Binances centralized ledgers just like they do here, so we can immediately scratch any of that Tether/BTC/crypto activity off the list as "using" it.

I think you need to remember that Bitcoin (and any crypto worth it's salt) is black market money at it's core. It's value props are lost on white market transactions where regulators can impose any arbitrary restrictions they want up to, and including, banning those transactions. Black markets are the only permissionless markets.