Could someone kindly explain if I done fucked up?

F.U.D. WalletExplorer did NOT ID this wallet as an AB hot wallet. My dumb ass does not know how to use WalletExplorer.

After Circle's clumsy exit, I'm left with Coinbase for buying BTC. I do not want this account closed.

I found a press release by someone over at AlphaBay claiming that it would be impossible for an entity like WalletExplorer or Coinbase to "profile [AB's] hot wallet."

I relied on that boast and, after transferring my BTC from Coinbase to an external wallet, I deposited to my AB wallet address. After making a purchase, my coins moved to another address.

Sure enough, I found that address listed on WalletExplorer. But it's not explicitly tied to AlphaBay, it's simply identified by a random number.

So is AB lying about it being impossible to profile/ID their wallets? Why would that address be found on WalletExplorer?

Can anyone tell me what's going on?


Comments


[10 Points] DooshNozzzle:

Every bitcoin wallet address is public. The entire blockchain is public. You can look up any bitcoin wallet and see all of its transactions very easily.

All they probably meant was that alphabay wallets are not publicly associated with Alphabay. It would be very difficult (they used the word impossible) to tell if a wallet was an Alphabay wallet or not. They must use internal tumblers of great complexity to make such a claim.

I don't think that you done fucked up, but I don't understand why you would use this minimalistic approach to OPSEC. It seems to be gaining in popularity. Lately I see lots of people saying things like "what is the minimum security I can use and still be safe" instead of "How can I be as safe as possible to the point of overkill?"

For Alphabay to say that it is impossible to profile their wallets is not true. It might be very difficult though. You should ALWAYS wash your coins. Always. Every bitcoin transaction EVER is public record. It will be public forever. As computing power increases and people write algorithms to trace bitcoin transactions and play cat-and-mouse with tumblers, it could easily be possible in the future for someone to trace your bitcoins all the way from your Identity-tied coinbase account to alphabay to the vendor's wallet to his cashout method. We just don't know. So go ahead and roll the dice but I think you're being foolish.


[3 Points] drpnit:

Thanks for the frank assessment. My guess is that, because I found the address/wallet listed on WalletExplorer, if I kept looking I would find it linked to AlphaBay. It was pretty dumb of me to rely on their claim.


[1 Points] None:

Just use LBC in the future


[1 Points] Chilipowderinmybars:

Yeah alphabay only tumbles on withdrawals, not deposits.


[1 Points] zx88crackingforum:

100% understand this. The businesses that care KYC/AML laws and the law agency's involved on their faggoty war on drugs know exactly how to trace bitcoin transactions and have little problems isolating the wallets used by DNMs. Do not doubt this fact.


[0 Points] jarxlots:

If you're moving BTC, it's traceable. It might by computationally expensive, depending on how many transactions/how many wallets are involved, but at its most basic level, it is traceable.

Monero or bust.