[pornel]

Bitcoin blockchain is public and can be partially de-anonymized.

Everybody will see addresses where you spend your donated bitcoins:

http://blockchain.info/address/1NkM7WekyZe6KoHYoyWX8s2YZXZjU...

Similarly anybody who receives bitcoins spent by IT Itch will be able to see addresses where they got bitcoins from, and that may include bitcoin address of the person you bought bitcoins from.

I guess that mass blockchain de-anonimization may be a big business (or NSA side-project) in the future, so I suggest "laundering" bitcoins for anonymity too (find somebody who will swap wallets with you, so you get coins with completely irrelevant history and no trace of that swap in the blockchain).

[tfinniga]

I don't think bitcoin is a good choice for anonymity when you're only paying $15. The anonymity comes from the in-person cash transaction, hoping that they don't remember you if pressed.

You could just buy a prepaid visa in cash at the grocery store, for a similar amount of anonymity. Wear a hat and a scarf.

[Ihmahr]

Not true. That purchase will lead back to the store you bought it from. Which could be a problem.

[vitalique]

>find somebody who will swap wallets with you, so you get coins with completely irrelevant history and no trace of that swap in the blockchain

Or use a BTC mixer.

[leobelle]

True, but allowing people to use BTC mixers is probably illegal. Even using one is probably illegal.

[vdaniuk]

Yeah, exactly what jurisdiction you are talking about?

[leobelle]

As he said in the post he got his bitcoins face to face. Unless the person he met knew him, knowing the blockchain is useless.

[dllthomas]

You are never leaking less than you think. There is information in the bitcoin chain. It is not likely to be useful without pairing it with other information (and there are ways to make that harder), but I'd be more than hesitant to say "useless" - and certainly leery of betting my freedom or significant amounts of my privacy on it. That said, it is clearly better against at least some threats than other available payment systems, in terms of anonymity.

[zwily]

For that side of the transaction, sure. But one day he'll probably move those coins around, and he'll have to be careful not to be traced there too.

[Renaud]

What stops him from selling his bitcoins for cash the same way he got them, face-to-face?