Topic: Are We Witnessing the Death of Privacy in Crypto? 🚨 (Read 467 times)

If you are talking about day-laborers and so on, I agree that is very common (it's the only reason I still have physical paper cash anymore).

That said, physical cash--and even Bitcoin--is theoretically traceable unless you do a lot of things that are a pain in the ass--and none of the people I've ever dealt with have indicated doing any such thing.

But here's the thing: in the US at least, they don't tend to create some kind of massive IRS investigation to go after some laborer so they can recover a whole $2300 in back taxes or whatever. It's just not done. They go after people who evade hundreds of thousands or millions because anything else is a waste of their time. That's why this practice is done, not because these people had Monero.

I know people that only recently stopped using PayPal for payments only because it automatically takes out taxes--but they just moved to some other app. "Theoretically" they could be made to pay back taxes, but only if the IRS specifically targeted them which is unlikely.

Physical cash is theoretically traceable and yet this is how this kind business has been done in the USA for years and it works just fine. You don't need to use the same payment method that Bin Laden uses in order to evade a few thousand a year in taxes.

Of course even if people like this could only use a secure crypto like Monero for some reason, that market would be very small. You're talking about a fraction of the wages of a fraction of the population--and the lowest paid part of the population as well.

IMO the worst thing that can happen to you is the government locking you out, or worse doing something that authoritarian countries are known for, which is blocked Internet, cash limits, limited transfers of money abroad... If that's happening to you, leave while you can. There are still places you can be free and life is too short to live it in shitholes where the government thinks of you like you're expendable work force.


No, because you still have choices. Many countries don't develop CBDC and even some of those that are will not force people to use it, just present it as an alternative. Most likely some of these projects will not be used until they decide to go with the next step, which is cash ban. At that point people will have to decide if they still want to live in these countries.

I'm not sure where you live, but in my country, a significant portion, if not the majority, of self-employed workers evade taxes. And it's not just a few transactions; more than half of their income might go unreported. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said that most of these people would prioritize the second kind of privacy you mentioned, if they were forced to choose.

And, from my experience with this world, I find it hard to believe that, in other parts of the world, only a small minority of people would attempt to evade taxes. The reality is that people need both kinds of privacy.

Every discussion about "privacy" needs to distinguish between two very different kinds of privacy:

#1: Privacy from non-government actors, such as criminals, marketers, friends, family, colleagues, and the public at large.

#2: Privacy from official government inquiries targeted at specific breaches of the law, usually at specific individuals.

Privacy for #1 can be had from reputable companies that make it their business to protect your privacy, such as most VPN companies.

Privacy for #2 can really only be accomplished with something like Monero (and pointedly not Bitcoin), and even then, you need to take care not to use any mechanism to spend your coin in a way that can be traced back to you.

But to be clear, privacy in the #2 sense is the only reason the blockchain architecture exists because that is it's only unique feature (everything else blockchain does can be handle faster/cheaper/better/safer using other architectures).

Most people do not want or need the "privacy" of #2.

Yes, there are a tiny few people who live under oppressive governments, or are, well, plain old criminals or terrorists, but most people don't need to--or want to--go up against their government. And this is 100% the case for any public company.

Since most people use some kind of KYC-enabled means of buying and selling their digital currency, it is definitely true that the privacy of #2 is mostly... dead. But almost nobody cares about that.

As for CBDCs, they will not "destroy freedom" anymore than any government-protected monopoly "destroys freedom": i.e. by displacing products in the private sector. Governments like El Salvador have tried to use the power of their government to forcibly shove a certain product down the throats of their citizens ("Bitcoin" I believe it's called), but this has failed. The free market will figure this out, and it's wrong--and impractical--to ask the government to try to intervene.

I personally don't think we're going to see too many (or any) prominent CBDCs for the simply reason that the private sector will handle this need just fine.

The biggest threat to cryptocurrency as I see it has always been just one and that’s no other than the government. They are the only ones with something to lose in all these and what would they be loosing, a great deal of control over its citizenry. Let’s not forget how money is the great controlling tool for the government and how they could print more money for just any reason and limit it to archive certain purposes in a country. Fiat money is their greatest asset and with cryptocurrency attaining mainstream, it would in a lot of ways shine a light on what is done in the shadows with fiat.

Don’t know how CBDC is breaking into this and if we really should have to consider it, then we should as much be talking about fiat. CBDC isn’t any different from fiat, just in the digital forms and operating in the wallets. It’s fiat and nothing more.

Yeah, I think it's all about profit, basically. They want to take advantage of every opportunity to increase their income. If I'm not mistaken, they used to disagree and not support Bitcoin or cryptocurrency, but eventually they gave in when seeing great potential, and wanted to get in and take advantage of the opportunity. I wonder why it's upside down.

I don't think there ever was truly privacy in crypto.  There was only the illusion of privacy.  Those who invested in privacy coins underperformed greatly.  Same with those who invested in crypto that was meant to provide a free internet.  We can only hope that Bitcoin acts as a Trojan Horse and once it has been fully integrated with people's daily lives it is updated to provide the privacy abilities that we all know was meant to come someday.  For now, we support and watch with hope.

As far as I understood, crypto was never about privacy but it was there to solve the problem that was existing with P2P payment (i.e. to get rid of 3rd parties in payment and so on, what's written in whitepaper). Some cryptocurrencies are still decentralized but it's definitely weakening and that's logical.

Monero is too much privacy-focused. When it's impossible to track transactions and the origin of coins, governments prefer to have such a currency under constant pressure and that's logical too (but this doesn't mean I like it).

I think that privacy coins like Monero will survive because it has a high marketcap and is more adopted/supported, it's also one of the best currency for privacy. Another reason why I think that privacy tools and coins will survive is that it's impossible to ban anything, especially a crypto. If the government manages to successfully ban coins like Monero, believe me, another new coin will pop up that will be much more powerful than Monero and much harder to catch, that's the nature of evolution.

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CBDCs are a completely different subject. They are very dangerous, they'll totally destroy the financial freedom in the world and it should be worrisome for everyone. I don't know why any governments like the idea of CBDC because they aren't guaranteed to be in the government forever and when another party will take over their place, they'll be in a huge trouble too because CBDCs kill the freedom of people, of absolutely everyone except those who are in governments for that time.

I simply hope that there will not come a time when CBDCs take the place of cash.

Cbdc's are pro-surveillance tools and they make the governments job of monitoring people's finances a lot easier, however, cbdc are not cryptocurrencies, it is just fiat in digital form. As for the attack on privacy, it is not new, the government do not like privacy and decentralization, and the truth is that a lot of people who use crypto do not even care about their privacy or anything related to that, they just want profit, but there are enough privacy tools to use if you want to achieve privacy.

It is not that the government wants to intervene in the Bitcoin protocol. That's why they didn't support Bitcoin years ago and also said negative things about it to scare people off, but when they see that there's nothing they can do about it, they decide to join it. It is not because they want to implement tax policy because the decentralization of BTC didn't prevent them.
Having said that, if Satoshi's real identity is known to the public they (the government)will try to interfere in the Bitcoin protocol to achieve a centralized protocol .

Bitcoin isn't how it used to be and how privacy were been protected has change from the way it were back then. I mean, every new person coming to crypto could buy a small amount of Bitcoin and they get introduced about self custody, about decentralization and how to avoid middle men but I think now that Bitcoin is so expensive, most new people like the retailers eyes are on altcoins and the first place they go is centralized exchanges where you have to do KYC before you are allow to buy and sell anything.

Another challenge is institutional adoption, there is no way you are going to make Bitcoin pass through government without government making controls. We need adoption and without government there is no adoption, this is why many institution even Binance that is the largest centralized exchange has to accept kyc and funny thing is despite that, they are been sue for $4B just because they didn't follow due processes and how the government want things to be done. Some people that value privacy will continue to value theirs but the ratio will be very low.

Are We Witnessing the Death of Privacy in Crypto? 🚨

I don't think we’re seeing the death of privacy just yet. Sure, it’s certainly harder nowadays to buy or sell Bitcoin without jumping through some hoops. Not only are exchanges demanding KYC, but thanks to the Travel Rule, UK and EU exchanges now require you to detail the beneficiary of any withdrawal you make. Even Bitcoin ATMs and shops (at least in Spain) are banned from buying and selling without KYC as of December 30, 2024.

Leaving aside the fact that this new EU regulation has rendered these ATMs and shop franchises uncompetitive (we’re talking fees that are 50x higher than what a CeFi exchange charges) and essentially useless—they probably deserve some compensation for this—it’s just another attack on our privacy. It’s yet another example of a draconian Financial Big Brother at work. And it’s not just about debanking, Operation Chokepoint 2.0, or the Canadian truckers incident—it goes much further.

Take Spain, for instance. They’ve implemented new regulations forcing hotels and Airbnbs to collect 42 data points at check-in. Yes, 42. That includes everything from your phone number and payment type to the names of everyone staying in the room and their relationship to you. And where is all this data going? Into a centralized database that, let’s face it, probably isn’t anonymized or encrypted—and by law, it’s to be stored for three years.

But enough rambling about failed socialist states. Back to Bitcoin. We just need to adapt. Use P2P marketplaces, whether online through Tor or offline at Bitcoin meetups. Ideally, trade small amounts that have gone through mixing services or have been swapped into Monero and back to BTC. Don’t be shocked if, at some point, undercover cops start showing up at meetups to slap you with a fine—or a shiny set of handcuffs—for not disclosing your transaction. So, manage your addresses wisely.

One tool I’ve always wanted to try is the OpenDime—a nifty little “credit stick” that generates and stores private keys without ever releasing them, unless you pierce the motherboard at a specific spot. It essentially allows for an off-chain transaction. Cool, right? The problem is, I’ve never come across one, and honestly, I’d probably be wary of accepting it as a buyer. I suspect the person on the other side of the trade would feel the same way.

But let’s keep things in perspective. The big bad governments of the world have pledged to eradicate poverty, hunger, alcohol, drugs, prostitution, gambling, tax evasion, money laundering, mean posts on X (thanks, UK—and maybe China?), inflation, and corruption. And how’s that going for them? In every case, they’ve failed miserably, often making the problem worse.

Speaking of privacy, let’s talk about the pricing of non-KYC Bitcoin. In most developed countries, the premium for non-KYC Bitcoin can range anywhere from spot price up to 5–10%, depending on demand and availability. Considering the limited supply of truly non-KYC Bitcoin, some would argue that even a 10% premium is worth it for the peace of mind and anonymity. Others have floated the idea of “Bitcoin Tourism” as a workaround—hop on a cheap flight to a country that values privacy and freedom, buy or sell Bitcoin there, and then head back home to your own bureaucratic nightmare. It’s not exactly convenient, but it beats giving up all your data just to make a simple trade.

Stay humble, mint plebs, and stack sats.

Precisely now we are better off because until now what we had was an imminent launch of CBDCs and the path for KYC to every crypto transaction around the world. With the incoming US president, the country with the largest GDP in the world will not have CBDCs and in principle should be more respectful of privacy than socialist regimes, which remains to be seen, but now we are less bad than we were, that's for sure.

Before, having CBDCs and KYC everywhere was going to be the norm whereas if the rest of the world goes down that road and the USA does not, the USA will continue to be seen even more as the land of the free and the rest of the world will be subjected to authoritarian regimes no matter how much they allow you to vote once every four years.

I agree there's a clear trend toward governmental oversight, especially when it comes to deanonymization. KYC has become a widespread practice, and cooperation of crypto exchanges with financial regulators is very common.
Private cryptos are restricted in some countries, but overall remain legal. I think it's more that there isn't enough demand for such privacy than that there's so much governmental pressure.
As for CBDCs, they are explored by many governments, but I don't think they are becoming widespread so far. I don't think CBDCs are a major threat because I don't believe we'll see mass adoption of them, and even if we do, that's more of a fiat replacement than crypto replacement.
Privacy is still a choice people can make, but many (perhaps the majority) don't make that choice.

That's true. The real killer of privacy is the replacement of physical cash with CBDCs. Government regulations of crypto can be ignored by using privacy coins and there is little that governments can do about transactions that are using XMR or other privacy coins. However the real problem is that in the end one needs to buy physical goods and services and in order to do that he needs to use fiat and when fiat is in the form of bank money (credit/debit cards) and CBDCs without any physical cash, at that point there is no privacy.

Even if privacy tools remain, the benefits from them will be quite limited because sooner of later one needs to convert crypto to CBDCs in order to buy services and goods.

It's quite the opposite. Privacy technologies in the crypto space are continuously evolving, with bitcoin coinjoin and XMR. A more relevant question might be: how much pressure are authorities exerting on people who use these privacy technologies? I'd argue that this pressure is likely to go up as time goes by.

We are witnessing the battle between the pressure and influence of the government to centralize cryptocurrency and the avid supporters of freedom of transactions.  Government may pressure companies and its citizen but there will always be groups that will go against this tide of centralization. But surely we are not witnessing the Death of Privacy in Crypto.

Government may be powerful but their power is not enough to shut down decentralization and privacy.  We can see the torrenting file as an example.  They had been trying to shutdown this kind of service but since it is decentralized sharing of file, government cannot totally shutdown this kind of stuff.

Same goes with cryptocurrency and privacy coins.  Government can suppress and implement regulations against privacy in cryptocurrency but freedom-loving people will find ways to circumvent these restrictions.

If we look for it if it's not normal in my opinion. Usually the prifation is for a few groups and not everyone knows and understands what and its functions. Today there are quite a lot of coins or Taken who say that we have that feature guard but in fact only writing on their whitepaper if we check further.

There will be two sides, and centralized coins and projects will always be there.
The luxury is to have a choice and an alternative - and it's still there for everybody.

Yeah, I also agree and don't want Satoshi to show up, because there will be many risks factor happened to if Satoshi appeared. However, I don't think that government not only want to avoid the money laundering but also want to track every crypto user, or maybe even want to interfere too, and it could be to take advantage of tax opportunities from every crypto user so that in the end every user is required to do KYC, and I think all this is my speculation, and hope that government policy is for the good.

We are witnessing the death of privacy. In its early years, Bitcoin was anonymous because it was new and governments didn't know how to track it but over time, governments became advanced and now it's possible for them to track the majority of Bitcoin transactions. I heard this from government officials that they didn't set taxes and didn't require KYC on Bitcoin services because they didn't think about Bitcoin as a currency. Now they admit that Bitcoin is a currency and try to regulate it.

Governments actively cooperate with different companies to implement blockchain technologies, which is good but they also try to create and implement CBDCs. CBDCs will completely destroy financial freedom because you won't be able to pay outside of CBDC. If you upset the government, they'll completely block your access to your finances. Today we live in a time where people only care about themselves and today is the worst day to become dependent on others for your needs.

I believe that in the next few years, privacy tools and coins will not be as widespread and easy to use as they are today.

What I'm more curious about is do people really need and care about privacy as they say? I know there are still many people who value privacy but not as many people care about it as we see. I believe most of us are in this market for profit, money and not for privacy. Privacy, anonymity...All are just excuses to cover up our real ambition of making more profit.

I dare say that even if bitcoin becomes centralized or government controlled, but if it remains volatile and generates huge returns, people will continue to invest in bitcoin. And those who complain about privacy will continue to invest in bitcoin.

If everybody won't ban it and strictly follow that rule. But I agree - adoption which goes into the mainstream usage means regulations, and lots of them, because bigger entities are interested in that and what their people are doing, especially if it's related to income / funds, etc.

Mass crypto adoption comes with government regulations and KYC. If you don't want government regulation and KYC just stick to the privacy coins and never use a regulated centralized crypto service/platform. Cryptocurrencies are a part of the financial world and the financial world is regulated everywhere. Crypto privacy isn't dead, but I'm curious about all the people, who are obsessed with privacy. Do you have something to hide? Are you doing scams, money laundering and tax evasion? Usually the people, who complain about privacy are the ones, who have something to hide.

Not dead yet, it's still surviving but expect it to be dead within a decade if we go forward at the same speed. Banks have started to allow crypto transactions to their customers and the banks know who are the crypto users. We are using centralized exchanges where we do KYC. The decentralization is getting weaker as institutions are adopting Bitcoin. Real privacy is getting weaker every day as more and more centralized platforms are becoming popular. People using those platforms and compromising their privacy. We are to blame, not the companies.

I'd say it already started a long time ago, way back when the earliest governments were established. This cat and mouse game has been running for millennia. Spies for the government snooping around. People trying to do their stuff as far away from them as possible.

The rules of the game have never changed, but worry not. Privacy is one sacred thing. It won't die. People will always seek it. Developers will always innovate for its sake. Advocates won't stop fighting for it. There will always be something in store for us to go around anti-privacy measures. There will always be brilliant people on both sides. The race would never end.

Can I say it's starting?
With the excuse of crime, corruption, money laundering, they prohibit privacy in crypto. Because this system is contrary to the government's openness to continue to monitor how its citizens are active. As long as the government system is like that and crime still exists, I think the government will continue to prohibit with a privatization system that is used for crime and harms the country. 

IMO

So, the question is: 
❓ Is true privacy in crypto dead? 
It isnt dead as long it wont be touching up centralized platforms and being under some regulation then it would really be that just remaining.
As long it is existing and there are people who are supporting then its impossible for it to be dead.

❓ Or is there still hope for a decentralized, private future?
Of course, we might be seeing that centralization is becoming that more common specially into crypto coins/tokens but still
people will be preferring into those things that brings up that anonymity and full decentralization yet this had been the main interest
back from the start.

Let’s discuss: 
- What are the biggest threats to privacy in crypto today? 
On the moment that exchangers will be not able to accept it out and it is really that starting up.Delisting privacy coins but somehow
we do have DEX around so it wont be that much a problem and also some service that could make out some conversions too.

- Which privacy tools/coins still have a chance to survive? 
Yes, as long there's really that one uses and paid up for the service then it will survive. Mixers for example arent that dead.

- Will CBDCs completely destroy financial freedom?
F*ck CBDC's. I dont see these stuff to be useful.

Surely, it isn't death that we're witnessing. There are still mixers out there. Coinjoin is also available. Monero and ZCash and Dash and other privacy-focused coins are also within reach to everybody. There are still, albeit a few, genuine decentralized and peer-to-peer platforms where personal information aren't required. Therefore, privacy in crypto isn't dead.

But we shouldn't be expecting the race to end soon, or ever. Governments will always be there. Law enforcement is necessary. Privacy, somehow, is an obstacle for them. Governments want to control and monitor everybody. People want privacy. They want to be left alone doing their thing. There might not be a perfect compromise. There might always be a certain degree of conflict. Citizens and governments will always be in a love-hate relationship.

Most privacy coins may face their end of existence but yes monero and zcash may continue to thrive. They will always find their niche in this market because some crypto enthusiasts still prefer their services from time to time. Also, they are already proven their use when it comes to privacy matters. Aside from the fact that up until now, a lot of trading platforms are still supporting these coins. Hard to sustain your presence in the market if you can't trade them right away.

Privacy coins will only experience death if the darknet market are destroyed and shot down by regulators
That's why it still hard to destroy monero and zcash in such market

Some are still finding it hard and got no knowledge about decentralization and it's policy, kyc based options becomes their opinion because they never value and understand what privacy all about.

No


That is when you choose to go through such, you have the option of going for a centralized or decentralized path, kyc in using bitcoin shouldn't be a challenge, when the bitcoin network itself is all about privacy and security being a decentralized p2p network, but its such a pity that only few understand this from the start.



That is if you're using a centralized exchange, you're on your own, not your keys not your coins, all these government modifications can only affect the users under a centralized authority or institute.


Which is that, all you may say is to be an exchange and they were know by that already


No


Not everyone before now and later in life will accept the use of a centralized exchange or organization for the safety of their crypto, because they know these exchange operates under the regulations of the government.

I still consider Bitcoin as the best crypto to use when it comes to privacy but for Monero, and Zcash we don't know yet if they are going to quench off the market but it is certain that the government is going hard on them in the area of privacy.
For this reason is why I never want Satoshi to show himself because the government may want to hold him accountable for the privacy benefit people will get through Bitcoin if use CoinJoin, and other privacy method just like they did with Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm.

Any currency that becomes successful is inevitably going to have a lot of people who are not using it privately but quite the opposite.

The issue here is the potential elimination of all private means to use Bitcoin without touching regulation. If that happens, then everyone will use Monero because there would be no other private currency to turn to.

In the name of adoption, I think yes. If you are into protecting your privacy, you still can go to the DEX and swap platforms. It's hard to find a way not to submit KYC docs though when you cash out.

But yes we are going in a direction but not really death to privacy. You still have the freedom to hide yourself.  But it doesn't matter we are all on board, the biggest institutions are on board and the government is already up to invest by stacking up BTC for its reserve.

Regardless of what anyone else writes here, it cannot be denied that the transition from fierce centralization critics to rolling on the floor for them is qhite damning.

I am talking mainly about Ripple for which I recently scraped a thread from 10 years ago full of people hostile to it.

It turns out that opinions can be bought with money. In particular, 5x gains.

The government's efforts to prohibit mixers that are considered dangerous although seen from the benefits of mixers can be privacy, so since then I can say yes that the privacy you mean has been lost.
For what the third party is doing, privacy becomes an enemy with them.
KYC everywhere shows that they have succeeded in drowning privacy because if that is not done, according to them all those involved in crypto like criminals who will damage the system.

Privacy in crypto is not dead yet, at least not completely; we still have the option of choosing to be completely anonymous or following a step to use crypto just like crypto and not like it should be used. Mind you, those who want privacy in crypto should avoid using centralised coins and still expect to remain in control; there is a serious fight against privacy, but that does not mean that privacy is dead.

The biggest threat to privacy is convincing the people that there is no point in remaining private; if everyone knows the importance of privacy, then government actions and attacks are just minor, as you can still find your way around in protecting yourself.

Mixers and their usage have been indirectly defined as money laundering tools. Monero is gradually getting delisted by some exchanges, as most don't even have it available and traded in their market, but they still have a chance as long as you know how to use them with complexly decentralised tools.

CBDC will only continue from where the fiat system stops if you are comfortable using fiat and the banking sector; then you will have no problem using CBDC because it will have the same stick rules detecting what you can use your fund for and how you can use it.

Yes! The privacy is not fully gone yet but it will eventually go away. All DEXs will be closed down the way mixers were taken down. Crypto was great when there was not much corporate interests around it. It moved fine as a parallel economy. But with more and more corporate and government intervention into crypto, privacy will be fully gone eventually.

I know XMR and Zcash are still active but if the governments start tracking down the miners and impose punitive actions against them, these coins will also die a painful death..

Privacy coins in crypto still exist nowadays, but I am sure they will all die, and are currently under pressure on the grounds of avoiding money laundering, so that several countries have banned them. Monero is really threatened to die, while Zcash still has the possibility to survive I think, because Zcash can still allow for transparency, while Monero is truly private.

It always depends on what the final goal is, and everybody can have a different idea. If we want cryptos to be anonymous with zero interference from governments and banks then yes, the cryptos are probably dead. If we want mass adoption then we need to somehow compromise because there is no way that the governments would allow exchanges to run without KYC, and it's pretty clear why. Anyway bitcoin has never been completely anonymous.

No, privacy on Bitcoin was already solved years ago with coinjoin transactions: https://mempool.space/tx/9c6479472e1f3b5861c86bc904d11814e715a84c21aa8d0dd0861e635555451f


Bitcoin is the only privacy coin you need. You can turn your Bitcoins completely anonymous with Wasabi Wallet.


The dollars in your bank account are a CBDC. The dollars in your Tether address are a CBDC. The dollars in your Cash App are a CBDC. The dollars in your Paypal are a CBDC.

The existence of CBDCs doesn't stop Bitcoin.

I always like to read the following post by o_e_l_e_o when the subject is CBDCs:


I think this post explains it very well.

Sheesh. No wonder it seems like something centralized (dismissing its name) and not good potential-wise.

With more strict Know-Your-Customer and governments getting better at tracking, it's tough for privacy coins like Monero and Zcash facing bans in some countries. While major crypto companies would like to make the space feel less private by working with the regulators. However I think more clear regulations might actually move to legitimize crypto and maybe even open doors for more privacy focused projects. I am just trying to be more positive here, since It's not all black and white. The future of privacy very well could be a factor of how these regulations will keep on evolving. Crypto isn't dead regarding privacy, it's in survival mode. Whether this survives will be due to innovation and how the community innovates.

no it’s not
it is inevitable that we would see more kyc or centralized versions of crypto projects because crypto is becoming more and more popular and mainstream but i don’t think it will be forever like this i have hope at least that at some point more people will value privacy and by how the internet is acting these days i think it will come sooner than we think

besides there are still those who are very discreet and private it just really depends on you true privacy in crypto is not dead if you willingly ignore those that require you to give up information practice privacy protection and privacy will never die

Nobody can stop you from buying, selling and transacting with decentralized cryptocurrency. The threat is to centralized businesses like crypto exchanges, not crypto.

And there are always decentralized alternatives to what crypto exchanges can offer you. Like Bisq or Defi for example.

If anything, the over-regulation is going to kill off the centralized end-points and I consider this a good thing in the long term. We need a more decentralized ecosystem that cannot be touched by any single entity.

Also, you are confusing privacy for anonymity. A public ledger like a blockchain is not meant to be anonymous. It is meant to give everyone full transparency and control over their money.

As far as XMR and similar coins go, this kind of anonymity does not matter because fiat is far more anonymous and far easier to use for commiting financial crimes like money laundering.

OP, why do you have to create a topic and use your alts below to farm merits that is against the rules of the forum.

It is obvious and i hope others can see it.

It's worse than FIAT in banks.
I haven't paid attention to CBDC news/announcements, but I think they wanted to put a social / credit aspect as well on these coins.
Therefore they 'd make it impossible to use it if you have a debt, or if you are not credit-worthy based on their criteria.

CBDC is same to to fiat in banks, it's a currency to destroy privacy.

Yeah the true privacy in crypto is dead, even though the US didn't declare mixer as illegal, but they want to get logs from the mixer. So, this mean the government don't mind people to use mixer, but they want to know the address and the coins are associated, which they claim to make sure the coins not being used for "illegal thing" like funding for Hamas and North Korea.

While privacy coins have been banned in few countries like South Korea and Australia.

You said it... Monero offers privacy. They can put pressure on it all they want, it still works.

The young/new folks here might forget... the same people tried to suppress Bitcoin too.

It didn't work then, and it won't work with Monero now.

Are We Witnessing the Death of Privacy in Crypto? 🚨

Back in the early days, crypto was all about privacy, freedom, and decentralization. 
Now? It feels like we're heading toward full surveillance. 👀

Think about it: 
- KYC everywhere. 
- Government tracking tools are improving. 
- Even the biggest crypto companies are cooperating with regulators. 

Privacy coins like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) are under constant pressure. 
Meanwhile, CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) are being pushed by governments — which are basically surveillance tools in disguise.

So, the question is: 
❓ Is true privacy in crypto dead? 
❓ Or is there still hope for a decentralized, private future?

Let’s discuss: 
- What are the biggest threats to privacy in crypto today? 
- Which privacy tools/coins still have a chance to survive? 
- Will CBDCs completely destroy financial freedom?

Your thoughts? 🤔