D.O. on Nostr: #monero #xmr The original YT link is here And transcript is below (the beefy part) ...

#monero #xmr

The original YT link is here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVf44KpHlC0

And transcript is below (the beefy part)

Something to think about...

# Introduction

Monero is traceable. There are real people - hackers, drug cartel owners - who were identified thanks to transactions in the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero. There are real court decisions that describe how it was possible to trace from Monero to a specific cryptocurrency exchange. These are not just people who made typical mistakes. These people used anonymity tools, such as cold wallets, to exchange Bitcoin for Monero, transfer further in Monero, and then back to Bitcoin. They were still tracked.

So don't deceive yourself. Watch the video to the end. I will explain how Monero is tracked, what actions need to be taken, and what recommendations exist to make tracking this anonymous cryptocurrency as difficult as possible. 

Hello, friends! My name is Alexei, and today we will talk about the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero, about anonymous money.

# Why anonymous money is needed

Anonymous payments, and everything related to it. In principle, for anonymity, we need to make some purchases, use anonymous Telegram, anonymous accounts, proxies, VPNs, and anonymous servers. All of these need to be paid for somehow, possibly so that we can receive money anonymously. For this purpose, there is the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero.

# The big misconception

I decided to make this video because all the bloggers you see on YouTube and all the articles you read will  say that Monero is some kind of ultimate super cryptocurrency. Yes, you sent it, and no one can trace it. You can do whatever you want, and nothing will happen to you. But in fact, even top bloggers who mention this cryptocurrency don't mention that you still need to follow some basic recommendations. They don't tell you how it's tracked and how to avoid getting caught. Take off your rose-colored glasses, and you will realize that Monero is not as anonymous as bloggers make it out to be. Yes, I will now give you a few specific examples where real hackers, drug cartel owners, and other individuals were arrested. When there is a need to investigate this cryptocurrency, they will do it and really trace from what point and how the transaction chain went, even if it was conversions from Bitcoin to Monero, from Monero to Litecoin, and back to Monero. Such chains can be traced. Watch the video. I will explain how it is traced, how it is tracked, and what needs to be done to make this tracing more difficult. 

# Proof of tracking

Here is the first case. As I said, a hacker in Finland demanded a ransom of 40 bitcoins. He demanded the ransom in bitcoin, but his wallet received 0.1 bitcoin. He exchanged this 0.1 bitcoin for XMR (Monero), then converted Monero to Bitcoin and sent it to the Binance exchange. Through this chain, he was tracked and identified. Many may think that he is not a hacker and that he was careless with his anonymity, but this particular hacker named Kivimäki worked for 7 years without being caught. This is actually a professional hacker, and you can read more about him. I will leave a link to the recent news. 

There is also an interesting article about the WannaCry investigation. Here, the hacker also demanded and received ransoms in Bitcoin, then exchanged these bitcoins through an exchanger to XMR and then converted to Bitcoin, which he sent to an exchange. Through a complicated method, an investigation was conducted, and the specific recipient was identified. As you can see, Monero can be tracked. Do not deceive yourself into thinking this token is 100% anonymous.

Also, in January of this year, an American court ruling was published regarding a drug cartel. The person created an online store, sold drugs, and accepted payments in Monero. Despite this, they were identified. The court decision mentions Monero multiple times, and it was tracked just like in the two previous cases with WannaCry and the hacker who demanded money.

I think everyone has drawn their own conclusions. The first way to track any cryptocurrency is through exchanges.

# How Monero is tracked

This is obvious, but it needs to be said. If you listened to bloggers who praise Monero, they somehow forget to mention obvious things: do not use hot wallets on exchanges. 

If you use Binance or another exchange and deposit Monero, it will not be anonymous. Exchanges quarterly upload lists of all their transactions, not just Monero but Bitcoin, Litecoin, and all coins. They upload these lists to companies that conduct. Be aware that the exchange has already identified you. Therefore, it will not be anonymous. This is obvious, but it needs to be said. Use cold wallets. The second way is transaction volumes and times, which can be used to build a statistical probability of transactions. For example, imagine a person uses Monero to receive $100 in their wallet. They receive the money in Monero and then exchange it for Bitcoin on BestChange and deposit it on Binance to withdraw it to a card. If this was a one-time case, where they received the money and immediately transferred it to Binance within two hours, tracking such a person would be almost impossible. But if over a month they receive 25 payments, and all these payments are deposited on Binance within two hours, the probability that this Monero wallet and the specific Binance account belong to the same person will be very high. 

In reality, it sounds impossible that no one would track like this, but actually this is how payments are tracked. This is possible with large amounts. For example, if it is $100, it is difficult, but if it is $100,000, such payments are very few. If a Monero wallet receives an amount equivalent to 12.5 Monero and within one or two days it is deposited on an exchange, a heuristic analysis will identify this transaction on all exchanges that upload their reports. There will not be many accounts that conducted a similar volume of transactions. Out of these 10-15 people, finding the specific person will be very easy.

They also track wallet owners through nodes. When we use a Monero wallet, It needs to synchronize with the blockchain. We have two options: download the blockchain to our computer, which takes about 80 GB, or use a node created by others. Corporations and governments massively install nodes that belong to them and are used to minimize anonymity. When you connect to  such a node, you leave meta-information, such as the IP address and time zone. When you synchronize the wallet, the node remembers where you were synchronized last time. The node can identify your previous session with the current one. Therefore, having your own node is necessary for confidentiality and anonymity. Nodes collect meta-information and also conduct active attacks, replacing fake addresses, which simplifies information analysis. Therefore, you need your own node that you will use for conducting transactions. The node should be created in advance and should work both before and after use. If the node works for a day or two and then shuts down, this can also be tracked. The node needs to be created in advance, used anonymously, and connected through a VPN and proxy.

# Recommendations for Monero anonymity

Now, specific recommendations for using Monero to maintain anonymity and complicate tracking: 
1. Do not use exchanges; use cold wallets, such as those that can be downloaded from the official Monero GUI Wallet website.
2. Use your own node, create it in advance, and use anonymity tools to connect.
3. The wallet should always be connected and constantly synchronized.
4. Also, do not buy Monero on BestChange in large volumes, as they may request passport details. 
5. After  receiving money on the cold wallet, make at least three or four transactions to other cold wallets. This will create fake outputs and complicate tracking. 
6. Let the money sit; spend it in parts; avoid centralized exchanges and exchangers. 
7. Regularly change wallets and do not use blockchain explorers.

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