how to get bitcoin or (whatever crypto usenet services will take) anonymously (or where to find out)? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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i'm wanting to get on usenet but remain compeltely anon (vpn, anon purchase, etc).

i know this ins't stricly a piracy question and is maybe more of a crypto question but figure there ain't nobody who knows privacy and anoniminitry like you guys do.

so if i want to some amounts of bitcoin/whatever anonymously, how tf do i get it? liek not large amount, just small shit like to buy subs for a few for usenet indexes and whatnot?i know the bitcoin atm's and banks do "know your customer" stuff (basically they id you first) and are not anon. have hear d that you can mine it anon but not sure if apps track hw specs and whatnot that could be used to id you. is there another ways that dont require you to have sepcial sms accounts or burner phones pr whaetver first? or maybe you guys can recommend me some foss mining apps which are safe that i could check out?

i'm on linux ifg it matters for good mining aps. i can write some bash scripts but im not a super hacker or anthing so ones that dont require a degree are appreciated.

edit: i don't specifically care about bitcoin. i just don't know jack about crypto and assumed that was what the usenet service providers would accept. if there's something else they'd take that is still anonymous, that's fine with me as long as you guys can help my dumb noob ass understand what to do.

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[+] FredericChopin_@feddit.uk 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

[deleted]

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

ok, XMR then. sorry, very new to crypto stuff. how do you get it anon? do you use site the other guy recommended? mine it? something else?

i heard somewhere that mining is hard unless you spend lot of money on hw but wasn't sure if i could do something like that for smaller amounts like $100 every 6 months or something.

[-] jvrava9@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

Localmonero

[-] PandoraBox@monero.town 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Reason people recommend monero is because crypto like bitcoin has a public ledger, so if you send your bitcoin to a usernet service then the usenet service and along with the exchange used to get the bitcoin will know what you spent the bitcoin on. So you end up having to use mixers to try and hide the transaction.

Monero is just easier where the wallet receiving the Monero should theoretically not know what address it came from because the ledger is private. So once you sent your monero into your own wallet the exchange and anyone you send the monero too would not know the address of your wallet or balance. At least in theory.

You are welcomed to visit !monero@monero.town if you'd like more help. I don't know much myself, but there's others there who do.

[-] jet@hackertalks.com 12 points 1 year ago

https://www.getmonero.org/

https://kycnot.me/

https://localmonero.co/

If you're only getting a little money, then you can use local monero to trade something for monero. And then use that monero to pay for your services.

If you're going to spend a lot or do this recurring I would recommend just sitting up a central exchange with kraken. Yes they would know you purchased Monero, but once you sent it out of the exchange to your own wallet. They can't trace it anymore. And now becomes your money. The guarantees of Monero/XMR mean that is not traceable.

Now if you don't believe those guarantees that's fine, then you use localmonero.co to get some.

[-] alvvayson@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

This, I would just buy Monero (XMR) on an exchange with KYC. Once you start using it, it's impossible to link it back to you.

If you are really paranoid, use a throwaway temporary wallet. Transfer from the exchange to that wallet and then from that wallet to your main wallet and throw away the wallet you used to interact with the exchange. You can then honestly claim you lost the keys to that wallet.

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago

thanks guys, i think i am finally starting to get how it works a little

[-] thisusernameistaken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

BTC you would "probably" be okay but if you are going full anon i think Monero is the only true anon. im not really into crypto so i dont know how true that is, I just see that mentioned a lot that Monero / XMR is a privacy coin. Cash is king though. Maybe the most annon? frugal usenet and Blocknews actually have a cash payment option on the website at checkout, if you are worried maybe ask them the track record for receiving it. If you are doing VPN to, Mullvad takes cash but you do not need vpn for usenet.

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

im not really into crypto ... Monero / XMR is a privacy coin

thanks... same here. so much so that until you phrased it exactly that way, I hadn't even put together that "Monero" == "XMR" and thought people were talking about 2 separate coins 😅

frugal usenet and Blocknews actually have a cash payment option on the website at checkout, if you are worried maybe ask them the track record for receiving it.

good to know, thanks

If you are doing VPN to, Mullvad takes cash but you do not need vpn for usenet.

already have a paid, no-log VPN that I torrent with. Mullvad looks awesome but probably won't check it out til mine expires. my current one says my payment and connection info is separate. no way to verify that but at this point, i've been with them over a year and if they were lying, i would be well and truly fucked anyway lol

[+] somedaysoon@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

[deleted]

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

sorry, i'm a total noob at this stuff. so from here https://agoradesk.com/how-to-buy-or-sell-cryptocurrency-anonymously-with-cash

does that mean i can only trade other crypto for it? like i have a credit card and cash but no crypto, no wallet, etc currently...

so still kind of confused. i know it says they take paypal, zello, etc but assume that all of those would leave a papertrail.

Pay by cash

so that only leaves cash and it sounds like you are supposed to put actual paper cash monies in an envelope and physically mail it out? doesn't that mean if you mailed like $50 or $100 or whatever, that it could get lost in the mail and you're just fucked and have to eat it?

Also, doesn't post office requiere a return address? i thought they refuse to mail without that cz of bombs/hatemail/etc? Am I wrong about that?

[+] somedaysoon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

[deleted]

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks man, really appreciate you helping my dumb ass here.

Alternatively you could use a known account like paypal or zelle or cashapp to fund an initial wallet but then you have to make sure to send it to another XMR wallet so it’s anonymous.

That actually sounds pretty awesome in terms of not having big risk and being easy enough that someone like me can pull it off. But does just moving it to another wallet make it anon?

If you did something like:

(non-anon wallet) => transfer A => (anon wallet)

then would transfer A be trackable from the first wallet so you would need to do something like:

(non-anon wallet) => transfer A => (anon wallet 1) => transfer B => (anon wallet 2)

or is this just paranoid overkill thinking?

Also... maybe a dumb question and I know this is completely different but i'm used to having tools like ipleak.net to check for dns leaks and stuff like that. Is there a way to check if your current wallet is anonymous or can be traced back to you?

[-] tuff_wizard@aussie.zone 5 points 1 year ago

Not sure where you’re based but in my country you can buy a prepaid Visa cards that work the same as a normal debit card. Just get someone else to buy it for you using cash, use it to buy crypto.

[-] shawnshitshow@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You aren't going to be able to mine more than a few cents of Bitcoin a month without specialized hardware.

As mentioned, Monero is best for privacy.

If you must use Bitcoin specifically, one option is to "wash" whatever you buy by using an exchange that allows anonymous account creation, then converting it to XMR and back before using it. You can also find someone to trade with in person for cash. There at least used to be localbitcoin to help facilitate that, if that's even still a thing.

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago

thanks for the reply

If you must use Bitcoin specifically

i don't care about bitcoin specifically, just don't know crypto stuff - just updated title. whatever usenet services will accept is fine by me, whether that's bitcoin, monero, xmr or whatever other ones you guys suggest.

You aren’t going to be able to mine more than a few cents of Bitcoin a month without specialized hardware.

ugh, that sucks. had been hoping to run a old gaming rig and maybe get 50 or 100 USD of some kind of anon crypto after 3-6 months. Guess that idea is out.

one option is to “wash” whatever you buy by using an exchange that allows anonymous account creation, then converting it to XMR and back before using it.

So even if I bought the KYC-style bitcoin from a bank or atm or whatever, if I convert to XMR then that hides me? Any clue how it hides it?

There at least used to be localbitcoin to help facilitate that, if that’s even still a thing.

Thanks, when I searched I see 2 of them: localbitcoin.com and localbitcoin.net ? Does it matter?

[-] shawnshitshow@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I haven't dealt with crypto in years, so I'm not really the best source for some of those specifics.

As I understand it, the Monero protocol doesn't maintain history between transactions, so it's very much like electronic cash. if I were to go the exchange route, I would convert to XMR, send it to another exchange, then back to BTC. it doesn't really matter where you buy it if you go that route. those transactions do have a cost however.

as I've said it's been years and the crypto world is loaded with scams so I have no idea which if any of those are legit, sorry.

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

ok thanks man. at least given me some more to go on. i don't mind reading... i just get confused on a lot of this stuff

[-] brickfrog@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

i know the bitcoin atm’s and banks do “know your customer” stuff (basically they id you first)

Depends on your area so make sure to double-check. Many (most?) BTMs only require KYC for larger amounts. e.g. buying $800+ might require KYC, buying less than $800 may only require text message verification. For text messages you can buy a temporary burner phone with cash, or if you're lucky you can find a SMS service that works with the BTM - just be aware most BTMs don't work with virtual SMS phone numbers.

Or your other option is maybe buy bitcoin via cash by mail, some crypto trading websites/platforms offer that.

Or going non crypto you could technically just purchase a pre-paid credit card with cash, you'd just need to make sure the card would work with whatever services you are subscribing to.

Cash is still more anonymous than cryptocurrency, I suppose you can ask the services you're subscribing to if they accept cash by mail (I don't know of any offhand).

PS - Not sure if your post is breaking rules here, this Lemmy instance is anti-cryptocurrency and does have a rule forbidding crypto shill topics. But it might be okay if you're just asking a general question.

[-] max2078@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

^this

I buy BTC on ATMs without KYC (1000 bucks is the KYC limit). Scan your wallet, $$$ in, that's it. Fees are around 8%.

[-] drunkensailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

For text messages you can buy a temporary burner phone with cash, or if you’re lucky you can find a SMS service that works with the BTM - just be aware most BTMs don’t work with virtual SMS phone numbers.

yeah, learned already that most verification systems (not just BTMs) don't work with virtual SMS. I have no clue how to tell if a service works or not so unless someone can specifically recommend one they know works, then will probably pass on that option. for the cash money burner phone, good idea. never tried it cz it cost extra money and figured they would locked that options down already

Or going non crypto you could technically just purchase a pre-paid credit card with cash, you’d just need to make sure the card would work with whatever services you are subscribing to.

that is an awesome idea. didn't think of that at all. might be something to try and at least if it doesn't work (like they require registration or some shit - i remember i got a prepaid card once that did require that kind of crap), i should be able to still spend the money on groceries or something.

PS - Not sure if your post is breaking rules here, this Lemmy instance is anti-cryptocurrency and does have a rule forbidding crypto shill topics. But it might be okay if you’re just asking a general question.

The way I read it was no spam / advertising / promoting for cryptocurrency, blockchain or NFTs.. so I think I'm ok especially since is more asking about how to stay anon while purchasing services related to piracy than about any specific crypto but if any mods/admin reading this disagree, please let me know. def wasn't trying to break any rules and happy to delete or revise if needed.

[-] ancient_song@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Anyone would mind explaining to a noob how can usenet be used for piracy? Only heard of it, but haven't used so far... Also, is it only accessible after payment?

[-] macgyver@federation.red 1 points 1 year ago

You need an indexer and provider. Providers cost money to use for set amounts of connections/data.

Indexers are typically private/pay for access and basically go from there.

[-] Nomecks@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Find someone who will take cash for Bitcoin

[-] sider222@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

I'm assuming you are concerned about UTXOs and how the crypto analytics companies can trace your BTC. I highly recommend looking up on YouTube, check out Matt Crater from Bitcoin University (has a course on that) and Sparrow wallet mixing service.

Essentially, you can purchase everything normally like everyone else does but use a mixer to anonymize your BTC on Blockchain before moving safely into your hardware wallet.

Definitely get a cold storage wallet.