Using a privacy wallet

[GiffMeReta]

After making a few purchases, I want to move away from KYC wallets and use something that's harder to trace.

I've had a Metamask wallet for years, but it only holds some ETH. Since most vendors I've come across reliably accept BTC, I need a wallet that handles BTC (Metamask appears to).

The options seem limited https://am-i.exposed/guide/, so I'm considering switching to one of those. Exodus is listed among wallets to avoid for privacy reasons, so I doubt I'll choose it.

Does anyone have firsthand experience or suggestions about genuine privacy with wallets, to help tell what's legitimate from what's just hype?

 

[ladyj779]

GiffMeReta said:

After making a few purchases, I want to move away from KYC wallets and use something that's harder to trace.

I've had a Metamask wallet for years, but it only holds some ETH. Since most vendors I've come across reliably accept BTC, I need a wallet that handles BTC (Metamask appears to).

The options seem limited https://am-i.exposed/guide/, so I'm considering switching to one of those. Exodus is listed among wallets to avoid for privacy reasons, so I doubt I'll choose it.

Does anyone have firsthand experience or suggestions about genuine privacy with wallets, to help tell what's legitimate from what's just hype?

Just so you know, certain vendors continue to take Bitcoin, but others have stopped, citing price swings. A few tack on an 8-10% surcharge for Bitcoin payments. My recommendation is to go with a stable coin.

 

[GiffMeReta]

ladyj779 said:

GiffMeReta said:

After making a few purchases, I want to move away from KYC wallets and use something that's harder to trace.

I've had a Metamask wallet for years, but it only holds some ETH. Since most vendors I've come across reliably accept BTC, I need a wallet that handles BTC (Metamask appears to).

The options seem limited https://am-i.exposed/guide/, so I'm considering switching to one of those. Exodus is listed among wallets to avoid for privacy reasons, so I doubt I'll choose it.

Does anyone have firsthand experience or suggestions about genuine privacy with wallets, to help tell what's legitimate from what's just hype?

Just so you know, certain vendors continue to take Bitcoin, but others have stopped, citing price swings. A few tack on an 8-10% surcharge for Bitcoin payments. My recommendation is to go with a stable coin.

Appreciate the suggestion, but I don't keep crypto on hand. The funds sitting in my Metamask date back to around 2022. Whenever I need to buy something, I get exactly what's required and use it right away.

 

[maokai]

Your question is a bit unclear — KYC isn't something wallets themselves perform. If KYC is happening, it's an onboarding provider behind the scenes doing it, not the wallet.

For privacy, the wallet choice barely matters. What counts is the network underneath.

Realistically there are only 2 big choices: Monero and Zcash. With either one, finding vendors who take them will be difficult.

 

[GiffMeReta]

maokai said:

Your question is a bit unclear — KYC isn't something wallets themselves perform. If KYC is happening, it's an onboarding provider behind the scenes doing it, not the wallet.

For privacy, the wallet choice barely matters. What counts is the network underneath.

Realistically there are only 2 big choices: Monero and Zcash. With either one, finding vendors who take them will be difficult.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was getting at — something like a wallet from Coinbase or Cashapp

 

[maokai]

GiffMeReta said:

maokai said:

Your question is a bit unclear — KYC isn't something wallets themselves perform. If KYC is happening, it's an onboarding provider behind the scenes doing it, not the wallet.

For privacy, the wallet choice barely matters. What counts is the network underneath.

Realistically there are only 2 big choices: Monero and Zcash. With either one, finding vendors who take them will be difficult.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was getting at — something like a wallet from Coinbase or Cashapp

Those aren't wallets at all. Cashapp functions as a payment service and on-ramp, essentially a centralized exchange. Coinbase is likewise a centralized exchange.

What is your actual goal when it comes to privacy?

An on-ramp without KYC? A network built around privacy? A wallet that tracks as little as possible? My guess is you want all 3, but the question as you've written it is fairly confusing.

My suggestion would be to begin by looking for a "no KYC on ramp" available where you live. For most of them, the process involves mailing physical cash. After you locate one, check which coins it supports. I'd aim for Monero or ZCash, since those are the 2 largest privacy coins. Bitcoin and Ethereum can be traced by design, which is exactly what a blockchain is meant to be: a public ledger. Then pick a wallet compatible with whichever coin you land on, selecting from the list in the link you shared. Out of that link, the only ones I'm familiar with are Trezor and Cake.

Beyond that, best of luck locating a vendor that takes a privacy coin.

 

[fetefille]

GiffMeReta said:

After making a few purchases, I want to move away from KYC wallets and use something that's harder to trace.

I've had a Metamask wallet for years, but it only holds some ETH. Since most vendors I've come across reliably accept BTC, I need a wallet that handles BTC (Metamask appears to).

The options seem limited https://am-i.exposed/guide/, so I'm considering switching to one of those. Exodus is listed among wallets to avoid for privacy reasons, so I doubt I'll choose it.

Does anyone have firsthand experience or suggestions about genuine privacy with wallets, to help tell what's legitimate from what's just hype?

I go through KYC to buy, but I keep multiple wallets and move funds between them, switching up the addresses I send to inside each one.

If a vendor takes monero, I'll use cake/cake wallet — you can buy through coinbase or some other KYC service, though I'm not sure if that still works — and even then I still rotate the wallet addresses.