[Cthulhu_]

Traceable yes, but also anonymous since a BTC address is just a number without any personally identifiable information attached to it. It's at the edges - e.g. exchanges - where it becomes traceable.

[adrianN]

Good luck using bitcoin in a way where you can't connect the BTC address to a real person after a small number of transactions. Anonymizing data is very hard, pseudonyms are almost never anonymous.

[dkersten]

I know people who have exchanged bitcoins and cash anonymously on the street. Sounds pretty risky to me and I certainly don’t think it’s feasible for large volumes of either currency, but it’s possible and has happened, at least.

[ceejayoz]

> I know people who have exchanged bitcoins and cash anonymously on the street.

If I were a narcotics undercover agent, I'd be working to become The Guy locally to trade Bitcoins with in this manner.

Have a partner snap a photo or follow them home to compile a list of people transacting like this.

Chances are good this is already happening in some cities.

[dkersten]

Sure, as I said it sounds pretty risky (for many reasons), I’m just saying that it does happen and st least has a possibility of anonymity.

[briatx]

And vendors. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608716/bitcoin-transactio...

And if your id is leaked in one transaction, it links your id to all other transactions done with that wallet.

[celticninja]

Pseudonymus