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Not So Anonymous: Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Tightens Identity Requirement

Mt. Gox chief executive Mark Karpeles

Since the crypto-currency Bitcoin hit the limelight, many libertarians and privacy advocates have heralded it as anonymous, digital cash. But the world’s biggest Bitcoin exchange–and the U.S. regulators breathing down its neck–see things differently.

On Thursday Mt. Gox announced that it would begin requiring “verification” for all accounts seeking to deposit or withdraw currencies other than Bitcoin, a measure that means users would need to submit government identification and a utility bill or information about the company they work for to trade Bitcoins for traditional money, in effect ending anonymous use of the service.

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“The Bitcoin market continues to evolve, as do regulations and conditions of compliance for Mt. Gox to continue bringing secure services to our customers,” reads a statement on Mt. Gox’s site. “It['s] our responsibility to provide a trusted and legal exchange, and that includes making sure that we are operating within strict anti-money laundering rules and preventing other malicious activity.”

The new restrictions from Mt. Gox–which controls well over half of all Bitcoin trades–comes on the heels of an online currency crackdown. An indictment unsealed earlier in the week against Liberty Reserve, another digital currency service, alleged that it engaged in $6 billion worth of money laundering through its anonymity-friendly payment system.

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Mt. Gox itself has faced new legal problems, too. Earlier this month Mt. Gox’s American intermediary for trading dollars and Bitcoins known as Mutum Sigullum had its accounts seized by Homeland Security Investigations for failing to register as a money transmitter. That move cut off one of the main paths to buying Bitcoins with dollars through the American payment service Dwolla, rather than by using cumbersome bank transfers.

Bitcoin has attracted many users with its privacy properties: Although every Bitcoin transaction can be traced and verified in the payment records that the distributed currency system uses to prevent fraudulent transactions and forgery, Bitcoins can theoretically be used without a bank account or any online registration, potentially allowing total anonymity. That’s led to Bitcoin becoming the currency of choice for sites like Silk Road and Black Market Reloaded. online underground markets that sell drugs and other contraband.

Until now, Mt. Gox has tried to strike a careful balance between anonymity and money laundering laws, allowing anyone making trades under $1,000 to do so without a verified account and only demanding identification for larger trades. But when I spoke with the company’s Tokyo-based chief executive Mark Karpeles earlier this year, he emphasized that his first priority is to legitimize Bitcoin as a mature currency, not to preserve its anonymity. “If you try to enforce Bitcoin as an anonymous currency, it’s only going to bring more issues,” he said at the time. “I believe Bitcoin can be anonymous. But it’s too early to go this way. Government entities aren’t ready, and we’re working with banks that want everything to be done correctly.”

Even so, Bitcoin users have anonymity options: One service known as LocalBitcoins helps users find someone near them that will swap their Bitcoins for cash, or vice versa. Even if users continue to stick with Mt. Gox, they can always use a so-called “laundry service” like Bitlaundry, Bitmix or Bitcoinlaundry to mix their Bitcoins with those of other users and prevent their transactions from being traced. A project launched by John Hopkins University known as Zerocoin is also seeking to add new code to Bitcoin that would allow users to swap out a Bitcoin for an anonymous “Zerocoin token” and vice versa at any time, essentially integrating that laundry service into Bitcoin itself. That means a drug seller on a site like Silk Road could, for instance, collect Bitcoins from the site in exchange for drugs and then launder them before cashing them out from Mt. Gox under his or her real name.

The Bitcoin market doesn’t seem particularly troubled by Mt. Gox’s move, at least. After the exchange’s announcement, the currency’s value crept up $2.90 from earlier in the day, to $131.90. It seems Bitcoin users would rather sacrifice a bit of their anonymity than risk the biggest hub for their currency being shut down by the long arm of U.S. law enforcement.

What's a Bitcoin?

It's the state-of-the-art in money. It's a new form of electronic money . It's already become "the gold standard" of digital currency.

Ya know how email changed old-fashioned mail forever? Well, Bitcoin is changing money forever.

Based on some old technologies, and some new technologies. Bitcoin is the result of combining. the very state of the art in cryptographic security + the idea of a limited quantity commodity similar to gold and silver (where there's only so much of it) and using it as money + the idea of massive numbers of computers connected by the internet. forming a strong, resilient, indestructible peer-to-peer network. It's called a cryptocurrency.

Since the invention of Bitcoin. Money will never be the same.

Why would I use Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is the world's first completely decentralized currency . This means it has no issuing entity . therefore, no single point of failure . In many ways Bitcoin is more secure than your bank. If your bank were to fail, your money could be gone forever. The Bitcoin network is made up of millions of computers all over the world, connected via the internet. The entire Internet would have to go away, in order for the Bitcoin network to fail.

As easy as sending an email . Just one click. Bitcoin payments are sent with one click - just like email. And transactions are always as free and as fast as email.

Zero transaction fees . In the United States, merchants pay 45 billion dollars per year in credit card transaction fees. And for what? So that the transactions can be reversed as "chargebacks" up to six months later? That doesn't seem fair at all. Bitcoin transactions are free. Whereas credit cards and other online payment systems typically cost 3-5% or more per transaction, plus various other exorbitant fees. Bitcoin usage and transactions are always free. It doesn't matter if you send $0.01. or $1,000,000.00. the transaction cost is always the same: free *

No such thing as a chargeback . Payments are irreversable. No matter whether you accept Bitcoin payments for your business or otherwise, payments can not be reversed. There's no such thing as a "chargeback". No way to get a "bounced check". No "reversed transactions". Not with Bitcoin. Payments can only be "refunded" if and when the recipient, voluntarily, as a separate new transaction, decides to send the money back. This protects merchants from fraud. Credit cards and PayPal can, and often do, reverse transactions up to six months later.

As anonymous as you want it to be . Just like with cash, transactions can be totally anonymous. Transactions are only identified by your Bitcoin address, and you can have as many Bitcoin addresses as you want. You create another new Bitcoin address with one click any time you want to. Bitcoin transactions can be made to be: anonymous ***

Financial privacy . Gone are the days of "Identity theft". In the old days, credit cards required merchants to have proof positive of your identity in order to shop there. Because a Bitcoin address can only be used to receive money, and it cannot be used to extract money. with Bitcoin, the merchant only needs to know two things: Did you pay? and, Where do you want your stuff sent to? Isn't that the way it should be? Does your banker really need to know what you buy online?

Your account cannot be frozen . No one can freeze your account and keep your money. (as long as you keep control of your bitcoins yourself and don't keep your bitcoins in an online bank or wallet service. See the Security tab for recommendations)

No big brother . Third parties can’t prevent or control your transactions. Transfer money easily through the internet, without having to trust middlemen; no central bank, nor central authority.

No censorship of who you're allowed to send money to . No more blocking who you can make payments or donations to. just because someone doesn't agree.

It's not a bank. It's not a paypal . What may be the best feature of all? "Bye bye, PayPal." "Bye bye, Bank."

More secure than online banking existing in the world today. Traditional banks use encryption when you log on to your online banking. The cryptography technology used in Bitcoin is even more secure. In other words, if it were to ever become possible to hack in to it. Then ALL the world's banking would be compromised. With today's known technology, experts all agree. It is absolutely un-hackable and un-breakable: secure Ŧ

Bitcoin is transparent and verified . Bitcoin is a free open source software (FOSS) project, which means it has total transparency. Millions of programmers all over the world see every bit of the program's source code. They constantly monitor it, study it, and report on it. to verify that there are no flaws or irregularities.

Send payments to anyone worldwide . Bitcoin has no artificial national boudaries or limitations on where money can be sent, or on how much, or how little, can be sent. You can now use Bitcoin to shop online for millions of items, or make a donation to a charity or organization, and you can even make purchases at physical stores. shops, and restaurants that now accept Bitcoin. using a free app or any device with a web browser.

No central bank . No privately-owned Federal Reserve central bank can print more money for themselves. not Bitcoin anyway. The value of each Bitcoin does not go down when the privately owned corporation known as "The Fed" decides to print more dollars. In fact, it might even go up in value. as it triggers more people to seek out alternatives to storing their money in the world's fiat currencies.

There will never be more than 21 million Bitcoins . The number of Bitcoins is limited by the design of the network. This number can never be increased. Also.

Bitcoins are virtually infinitely divisible . Currently, Bitcoins are divisible up to 8 decimal places. For example, you can send someone 0.00000001 of a Bitcoin. In the future, as the value of Bitcoin goes up, you might be sending your favorite coffee shop 0.00000003 Bitcoin for that cafe latte. Also, in the future, Bitcoin could become even more divisible, if needed. as the value of one Bitcoin becomes larger and larger.

How much is a Bitcoin worth?

The value of a Bitcoin (as measured in US Dollars or any other currency) is determined by the automated online markets. These markets operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They match buyers and their "bid prices". with sellers and their "asking prices". automatically.

Normally, what we call the "value of a Bitcoin" is simply the last amount a Bitcoin sold for on one of the major markets (or an average of several).

See the Value tab for links to web sites that give real-time value information.