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Comment by avar | Hacker News Reader

Or, buying BTC via a credit card from an exchange in a legal jurisdiction local police isn't going to bother with, so the money->BTC trace is lost. Tracing transactions in a local currency is a lot easier than having to issue warrants over international borders.

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No, don't do that. You don't want any data about the transfer, period. Even if no one can see it now, you should assume (given you want to hide what you're doing) that any trace you leave, wherever, will eventually become public or seen by the one you're trying to hide from.

The only way to make yourself untracable is to leave no trace

How does one acquire BTC without any trace? Around here there's BTC ATMs that will accept cash in exchange for coins, but I assume those have cameras on them to record in the event of a theft.

> How does one acquire BTC without any trace?

You mine the coin yourself. That minimizes the info you have to provide.

It's one of the reasons why China became such a hotspot of Bitcoin mining.

local.bitcoin.com . It's non-custodial and does not rely on a trusted third party. So it's impossible to regulate. You buy peer-to-peer directly from a dealer. You technically get BCH, not BTC, but you can convert after. This is the most anonymous way to get it.

Sure, my point is that without BTC the options most people have are cash, which requires a physical meetup, cash in the mail (risk & can be/easily traced), or a bank transfer in their native country.

I'm pointing out that even if it's traced, getting to pick who traces you can add a layer of practical anonymity.

If you can find an exchange that doesn't require Personal Identifiers (PID) before purchasing, you'd be in luck. Even localbitcoins.com sellers require enormous amount of info about the buyers before they even consider the transaction.

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