Cryptocurrency isn't completely anonymous

 There are two given reasons people choose to use a cryptocurrency. One is that they want a currency that isn't tied to a government, which might destabilize their sovereign currency for political reasons. Since Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies fluctuate at frequencies and levels that would make the Russian ruble appear rock-steady, it's hard to understand the reasoning here, except as some sore of weird libertarian thing.

The other reason is the claim that the blockchain controlling cryptocurrency transactions delivers complete and transparent ownership of cryptocurrency coins/tokens while making the transactions completely anonymous. As the link below documents, cryptocurrency transactions are far from anonymous, and in the right hands, can be used to identify most users.

A word of warning: the Wired story is about using cyber sleuthing of blockchains in the service of catching distributors, users and creators of child sexual abuse materials ("child pornography'). There are no pictures or graphic descriptions, but the nature of this activity may be upsetting to some readers.


https://www.wired.com/story/tracers-in-the-dark-welcome-to-video-crypto-anonymity-myth/?bxid=6155dd8a2e1b7a63ce1bcc98&cndid=66704460&esrc=CITIZENNET_FB_BACKCH&mbid=mbid%3DCRMWIR012019%0A%0A&source=EDT_WIR_NEWSLETTER_0_DAILY_ZZ&utm_brand=wired&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_content=WIR_Daily_040722&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_040722&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl&utm_term=P4

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