<p>The only difference between IPv4 and IPv6 from a privacy perspective is that IPv6 will allow an external observer to distinguish between two Bitcoin nodes operating on the same network. However, if they're different versions of Bitcoin, that's already possible.</p>

<p>There's a second angle, which is not really Bitcoin-specific. Most SOHO routers will not allow inbound IPv4 unless a device has specifically signaled using UPnP that the router should forward a port. However, they're typically set up to allow all inbound IPv6 traffic, which would allow your Bitcoin peers to port scan you in a way that wouldn't be possible with IPv4. You can test what they would discover using <a href="http://www.ipv6scanner.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this tool</a>, or nmap.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-13T11:18:57.477Z
Yes Im seeing that since my ISP enabled IPv6, I can now have multiple listening nodes behind my NAT router.  I dont use UPNP so on IPv4 I could only port forward to 1 IPv4 node, whereas now I can have multiple IPv6 nodes all listening with inbound connections.
Scalextrix
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-12T20:11:43.190Z
2017-03-12T20:11:43.190Z
Nick ODell
<p>Im not great with networking, especially IPv6, but my ISP must have enabled IPv6 as Im starting to see peers both in and out with IPv6 addresses.</p>

<p>I dont have a static IPv4 address, and releasing/renewing it is as simple as restarting my gateway, but IPv6 comes from the host, so is that going to tie transactions to a specific device?</p>

<p>Im not personally very concerned, Im just trying to understand more about how the network operates.</p>

<network>
IPv6 and Bitcoin, privacy risk?
Scalextrix
# IPv6 and Bitcoin, privacy risk?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-12)

Im not great with networking, especially IPv6, but my ISP must have enabled IPv6 as Im starting to see peers both in and out with IPv6 addresses.

I dont have a static IPv4 address, and releasing/renewing it is as simple as restarting my gateway, but IPv6 comes from the host, so is that going to tie transactions to a specific device?

Im not personally very concerned, Im just trying to understand more about how the network operates.

**Tags:** network


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-03-12. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The only difference between IPv4 and IPv6 from a privacy perspective is that IPv6 will allow an external observer to distinguish between two Bitcoin nodes operating on the same network. However, if they're different versions of Bitcoin, that's already possible.

There's a second angle, which is not really Bitcoin-specific. Most SOHO routers will not allow inbound IPv4 unless a device has specifically signaled using UPnP that the router should forward a port. However, they're typically set up to allow all inbound IPv6 traffic, which would allow your Bitcoin peers to port scan you in a way that wouldn't be possible with IPv4. You can test what they would discover using [this tool](http://www.ipv6scanner.com/), or nmap.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes Im seeing that since my ISP enabled IPv6, I can now have multiple listening nodes behind my NAT router.  I dont use UPNP so on IPv4 I could only port forward to 1 IPv4 node, whereas now I can have multiple IPv6 nodes all listening with inbound connections.  

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