Author

Topic: Bitcoin + Tor (Read 3384 times)

newbie
Activity: 31
Merit: 0
April 22, 2012, 10:35:32 AM
#20
Well, being assigned to the troll-proof-jail doesn't necessary means you're a total newb about everything...
newbie
Activity: 13
Merit: 0
April 21, 2012, 06:12:04 PM
#19

Watching.

Who knew the newbies were getting into nitty gritties? Its great.
newbie
Activity: 31
Merit: 0
April 21, 2012, 05:33:18 AM
#18
You need to chain 7 or more SOCKS proxies then use TOR
Hopefully your IP will be safe (and internet is slow).
I'm not sure to agree with you sir, the only interest to chain socks (v4a or v5, btw does the Bitcoin client sends DNS requets and  worse use UDP? I must admit I didn't sniff anything yet), would be to hide the fact you're using Tor, but it wouldn't hide anything in the case of a DPI. You can shout as much as you want "good luck I'm beyond 7 proxies", it will just make LOL pretty hard the ISPs, since all the packets are logged, the only interest of socks is to avoid IP filters.
full member
Activity: 140
Merit: 100
April 21, 2012, 02:31:08 AM
#17
You need to chain 7 or more SOCKS proxies then use TOR
Hopefully your IP will be safe (and internet is slow).
hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
BitLotto - best odds + best payouts + cheat-proof
April 20, 2012, 11:09:40 AM
#16
It could be possible to operate many nodes and monitor tx's from an address. Eventually you could figure out what node was sending the tx's first by looking at where it's coming from first all the time.

In this case of a global network monitoring, wouldn't Tor offer an efficient protection? Sorry to hijack the thread but I can't totally figure out how works the Bitcoins network.
Yes Tor would protect against this.
newbie
Activity: 31
Merit: 0
April 20, 2012, 05:41:10 AM
#15
It could be possible to operate many nodes and monitor tx's from an address. Eventually you could figure out what node was sending the tx's first by looking at where it's coming from first all the time.

In this case of a global network monitoring, wouldn't Tor offer an efficient protection? Sorry to hijack the thread but I can't totally figure out how works the Bitcoins network.
newbie
Activity: 18
Merit: 0
April 15, 2012, 01:03:00 PM
#14
Great information guys.
Thanks
hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
BitLotto - best odds + best payouts + cheat-proof
April 14, 2012, 02:01:10 PM
#13
Tracing transactions to IP addresses flat out doesn't work, since it only gives you the IP address of the node that relayed the transaction, not the node the issued it. For example, my most recent transaction was relayed by an IP address in Sverdlovsk, Russia which is almost, but not quite, on the other side of the world from my real location in Australia. I don't think there's any point in using Tor for Bitcoin. You can if you want, but I don't think it accomplishes anything.
It could be possible to operate many nodes and monitor tx's from an address. Eventually you could figure out what node was sending the tx's first by looking at where it's coming from first all the time.
legendary
Activity: 910
Merit: 1000
★YoBit.Net★ 350+ Coins Exchange & Dice
April 14, 2012, 02:57:14 AM
#12
That's pretty much exactly what happens. Has been a number of occurrences were the first few packages are let in so customs/police can build a case against you. They don't give a stuff if you paid with BTC or blocks of cheese....

*edit* and when police come knocking.. they will take your PC / anything electronic.. and in Aus (dunno about other countries) you will get into a lot of trouble for withholding passwords.

Second, they can ignore bitcoin completely and focus on the physical delivery of the goods you're buying/selling with bitcoin. Any number of things could attract attention to your deliveries, and once they track the package to your location, you're busted, and they won't really care where the money came from.
legendary
Activity: 4522
Merit: 3183
Vile Vixen and Miss Bitcointalk 2021-2023
April 13, 2012, 10:05:28 PM
#11
Tracing transactions to IP addresses flat out doesn't work, since it only gives you the IP address of the node that relayed the transaction, not the node the issued it. For example, my most recent transaction was relayed by an IP address in Sverdlovsk, Russia which is almost, but not quite, on the other side of the world from my real location in Australia. I don't think there's any point in using Tor for Bitcoin. You can if you want, but I don't think it accomplishes anything.

There are two ways transactions can be traced, and Tor will not protect you from either of them: first, investigators could try to put names to bitcoin addresses, which could be done fairly easily if you buy or sell bitcoins using a non-anonymous payment method. Second, they can ignore bitcoin completely and focus on the physical delivery of the goods you're buying/selling with bitcoin. Any number of things could attract attention to your deliveries, and once they track the package to your location, you're busted, and they won't really care where the money came from.
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
April 13, 2012, 05:08:58 PM
#10
If you need to remain anonymous that your even using Bitcoin I guess you have no choice but to download the whole blockchain through Tor. Otherwise you could download the whole chain normally then connect to Tor and then send your payments you want to send through Tor.

To keep anonymity while downloading, install Bitcoin, download the blockchain, and then copy over blkindex.dat and blk0001.dat to your anonymous system. Install the Bitcoin client there, and before starting it, copy the files to it's data directory.

the files  blkindex.dat and blk0001.dat should be the same across all bitcoin installations. just the rest of the datadir and ofcourseyour wallet will make you identifiable.
hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
BitLotto - best odds + best payouts + cheat-proof
March 23, 2012, 06:03:13 PM
#9
The latest version of Tor browser bundle will use random ports when connected. Just look at the message log to see what port the socks listener is on and use that number in Bitcoin settings.

If you need to remain anonymous that your even using Bitcoin I guess you have no choice but to download the whole blockchain through Tor. Otherwise you could download the whole chain normally then connect to Tor and then send your payments you want to send through Tor.

But as mentioned it's the addresses and how they are associated outside the network that is usually where the anonymity is lost.
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
Freedom is Free
March 22, 2012, 12:09:47 PM
#8
You will want to let your client download the full blockchain before connecting over tor.
After connecting over tor the client will just be able to barely keep up.

You'll be able to keep up, but  starting at 0 blocks and trying to get to the current one would take ages so you could download the most recent one
chain without tor then configure your client to use it and TOR
hero member
Activity: 533
Merit: 500
^Bitcoin Library of Congress.
March 22, 2012, 09:04:35 AM
#7
Connect through Tor before downloading the block chain. 
After connecting over tor the client will just be able to barely keep up.
I've never had this problem.  He probably just used a slow node.  You can configure Tor with the torrc file to only use fast nodes if speed ever does become a problem.
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
March 21, 2012, 07:07:46 PM
#6
You will want to let your client download the full blockchain before connecting over tor.
After connecting over tor the client will just be able to barely keep up.
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
Freedom is Free
March 21, 2012, 11:55:53 AM
#5
Tor creates a socks5 proxy on localhost(127.0.0.1) you can configure your bitcoin client receive/send data to other nodes through this proxy.

Right. Port 9050.

Tor alone won't protect you much, though. See:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Anonymity
Forgot to mention that, thanks.
administrator
Activity: 5222
Merit: 13032
March 20, 2012, 10:58:43 PM
#4
Tor creates a socks5 proxy on localhost(127.0.0.1) you can configure your bitcoin client receive/send data to other nodes through this proxy.

Right. Port 9050.

Tor alone won't protect you much, though. See:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Anonymity
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
Freedom is Free
March 16, 2012, 08:01:14 PM
#3
Tor creates a socks5 proxy on localhost(127.0.0.1) you can configure your bitcoin client receive/send data to other nodes through this proxy.
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
March 16, 2012, 08:06:01 AM
#2
There has been a major study done showing how Bitcoin transactions, if not carried our properly, can unmask a buyers and sellers.  The study is in German.  But the key is--always use anonymous email accounts and always use IP anonymizers. 
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
March 12, 2012, 07:13:40 PM
#1
How do we use Tor with Bitcoin?

This article: http://www.dailytech.com/Cracking+the+Bitcoin+Digging+Into+a+131M+USD+Virtual+Currency/article21878.htm, states that it is best to use Tor with bitcoins as transactions can still be used to locate you via IP address.
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