<p>If all transactions are public knowledge and coins are identifiable and thus traceable. With the power of subpoena can't a government uncover who bought the coin(s) from an exchange. It might be unlikely but this appears to be a big hole in claim that bitcoins are an anonymous currency. Or do I misunderstand the technology?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-03T23:56:44.830Z
@Lohoris There's good info there but everyone is focusing on securing a single transaction not the coin history and more broadly exchanging coins to other currencies. Example: If a government sees a coin go to a known "bad" address then to an exchange. They can then subpoena the exchange and the "bad" person is caught.
David
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-04T08:09:47.713Z
yes, that is a known fact.
o0'.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-04T18:14:56.757Z
This is true, but likely criminals would find ways of laundering like they do with conventional fiat currencies - something like shared send (https://blockchain.info/wallet/send-shared) comes to mind.
George Pearce
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-04T23:45:20.670Z
@GeorgePearce Great link, I'm frustrated that kind of anonymity isn't built in but glad to know about that
David
<blockchain><privacy><government>
Are we anonymous against governments?
David
# Are we anonymous against governments?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-05-03)

If all transactions are public knowledge and coins are identifiable and thus traceable. With the power of subpoena can't a government uncover who bought the coin(s) from an exchange. It might be unlikely but this appears to be a big hole in claim that bitcoins are an anonymous currency. Or do I misunderstand the technology?

**Tags:** blockchain, privacy, government

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @Lohoris There's good info there but everyone is focusing on securing a single transaction not the coin history and more broadly exchanging coins to other currencies. Example: If a government sees a coin go to a known "bad" address then to an exchange. They can then subpoena the exchange and the "bad" person is caught.  
> **username_1**: yes, that is a known fact.  
> **username_2**: This is true, but likely criminals would find ways of laundering like they do with conventional fiat currencies - something like shared send (https://blockchain.info/wallet/send-shared) comes to mind.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Great link, I'm frustrated that kind of anonymity isn't built in but glad to know about that  

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## 0 answers

