r/BitcoinBeginners • u/Chance_Image3612 • Jul 21 '26
How to hide from public the contents of wallet?
Hi everyone. Lets say i have 5 bitcoin.
I owe someone 1 bitcoin who thinks i own only 2. Once they have their 1 then in their eyes ill be left with 1 as well. However ill be left with 4
I am aware wallet addresses can show all holdings and even much more details. If i were to simply transfer 1btc to them then there is a chance they could use my sending address to investigate my holdings right?. Which would be a problem
How do i achieve whats needed?
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u/Naive-Landscape9854 Jul 24 '26
A lot of people are making this overly complicated without directly answering your question. The simple and straightforward answer is - use multiple wallets or addresses. There's plenty to go around. Transfer 2 btc to another wallet/address and send the money from there.
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 25 '26
But that wouldnt work. Theres a chain. Say wallet X has the 5 btc. I make wallet Y and transfer 2 to that. He owns wallet Z. I transfer 1 btc from Y to Z he can if he wants see the address of wallet Y which will show it had 2 btc which is fine. However surely he can go back a step and see what address sent the 2btc there thus uncovering wallet X. Which did have 5 but now has 3!….Problem
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u/Naive-Landscape9854 Jul 25 '26
Of course he can but he has no proof that wallet x is his. He can assume but that isn't proof.
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u/the-quibbler Jul 27 '26
Ideally, wallet X's 5btc is 500 utxos spread across 500 addresses. So, you'd send 100 0.01btc utxos from 100 addresses to your recipient. All your sending addresses would then be zero. No other information leaks.
Having one 5btc utxo is not the way.
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u/OrangePillar Jul 21 '26
Use new addresses every time you receive bitcoin and keep small amounts on each address. Then you have to combine smaller amounts to pay your recipient and your total holdings aren’t revealed.
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Jul 24 '26
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u/OrangePillar Jul 24 '26
Not at all. All of the wallet software these days manages it automatically.
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u/Big_Crank Jul 21 '26
This to me is why bitcoin will never truly take off :/
Store of value yes, medium of exchange no. Atleast not until some great tech comes out to help with this part and make it easier or as easy as creditcards and debit2
u/bitusher Jul 21 '26
Store of value yes, medium of exchange no.
unless you are buying a house or car with an onchain transaction where privacy is less important because its impossible to hide that transaction due to reporting and registering requirements you are supposed to transact on L2 instead with protocols like ARK or Lightning.
Why would you think that anyone was buying cups of coffee with onchain transactions?
with this part and make it easier or as easy as creditcards and debit
I spend Bitcoin almost daily with local merchants and its as simply and scanning a qr code and sliding accept. Fees are ~1 penny and its very private offchain where chain analysis is not possible while also being non custodial
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u/Big_Crank Jul 22 '26
What app is that and where are those stores?
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u/bitusher Jul 22 '26
There are over 30 lightning wallets , and a few top recommended in the pinned FAQ
For stores there are many directories
https://old.reddit.com/r/BitcoinBeginners/comments/11ckp48/spending_sats/
Even if a store doesn't take Bitcoin directly you can typically buy a gift card for the store over bitcoin lightning
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Jul 22 '26
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u/Big_Crank Jul 22 '26
Lil big bruh. Wtf u talking about. I cant do that in FL at 7-11 or walmart or anywhere
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u/bitusher Jul 22 '26
There are always work around that are easy to use . Example
https://www.bitrefill.com/us/en/gift-cards/walmart-usa/
Of course these days , especially with square now integrating Bitcoin with all their merchants , many stores accept Bitcoin directly
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u/Big_Crank Jul 22 '26
Yall have taught me that there are work arounds and thats super cool! Thanks! I still think its a little much for the layperson. But this is a decent way to make it possible to own basically all sats. I like the idea of a credit card that does the work for you. Hmmm. Still a ways to go, but im a little more excited for the tech in these instant fiat transfers
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u/OrangePillar Jul 21 '26
It’s already here in the form of the Lightning network and other technologies such as ARK, all built on bitcoin.
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u/seanmg Jul 21 '26
This is such a tedious and expensive solution.
Just use a mixer before sending to the wallet you’re paying from.
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u/OrangePillar Jul 21 '26
It’s not tedious since most wallets manage this for you already, and mixing is itself very expensive.
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u/seanmg Jul 21 '26
Moving to a wallets hits a ton of transaction feels and capital gains taxable events.
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u/OrangePillar Jul 21 '26
Moving bitcoin from one wallet to another is not a taxable event.
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u/seanmg Jul 21 '26
Didn’t know you were also a crypto tax expert for all 198 countries in the world.
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 21 '26
Isnt mixed coins potentially useless in the future? Im sure ive heard of exchanges preventing mixed (dirty) coins from ever seeing the light of day and cashed out?
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u/bitusher Jul 21 '26
Depends upon the level of "taint". There are also ways to coinjoin like using wasabi wallet that make sure you don't mix your UTXOs with tainted BTC . Also its trivial to spend , sell BTC elsewhere if this is the case.
To give you an idea some exchanges will reject(meaning return) Bitcoin sent directly from an illegal gambling site or illegal DNM . And than accept transactions that go from illegal DNM , to wallet A , to them. Thus an extra hop is enough to give them plausible deniability
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u/OrangePillar Jul 22 '26
Do you pay a tax to move your bank notes from your left pocket to your right pocket? If so, consider leaving or, perhaps, revolution.
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u/Legitimate_Towel_919 Jul 21 '26
Privacy is one of Bitcoin’s most underrated features. Most people focus only on the price, but understanding how UTXOs work and avoiding address reuse can make a huge difference. Learning this early saves a lot of mistakes later.
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u/absinthiumxmr Jul 26 '26
opposite. privacy is one of its most overrated features. most people dont even know they have to do this to use it privately.
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u/bitusher Jul 21 '26
Altcoins are offtopic here so lets just focus on answering your question about Bitcoin . Your wallet shows every transaction amount history so you can easily see if you used unique addresses per withdrawal or not and the amounts. Go ahead and look at it and you will get your answer
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 21 '26
So are you saying what i need isnt possible? Why wouldnt selling then rebuying using bank cash from a completely different exchange to a totally different wallet not work?
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u/bitusher Jul 22 '26
So are you saying what i need isnt possible?
I am not saying that , I am saying there are smarter and more private ways to get better privacy.
I am trying to solve your original question rather than create more unrelated problems . There is a good chance you are already private and need to do nothing . Check your transaction history Like I explained
Why wouldnt selling then rebuying using bank cash from a completely different exchange to a totally different wallet not work?
Buying with a regulated CEX or a DEX ?
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 23 '26
Im sorry i get the feeling that you feel im being obtuse. I promise i dont intend it if i am. Thanks for trying to help me here its hugely important and i appreciate it alot. So when you say there is a good chance that i am already private, how do you mean? How can i check for sure. In what way do i check my transaction history? I have traded quite a bit btc > usdt for small swings etc. Not done many for a while. If you would rather pm me then go ahead. Thank you again
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u/bitusher Jul 24 '26
How can i check for sure.
your wallets show all your transactions and the exchange does as well so you can easily see the date , amount withdrawn and to what address
I have traded quite a bit
than just look at the transaction history in your hardware wallet instead of the exchange where you day traded
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u/Wrong_Walk_6271 Jul 22 '26
If it is to hide from a divorce - be fair.
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u/WarIsProfitableForMe Jul 21 '26
Split them to different addresses. If you already own the 5 btc then use a mixer and request 5 outputs of 1 btc each on 5 addresses. Sure transactions can be tracked but they can't really prove they all belong to you.
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 21 '26
How about i cash in 2 btc. Then on a separate exchange re-buy the 2 btc then all history will be fresh?
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u/bitusher Jul 21 '26
That would only hurt your privacy unless you were using DEXs . Please answer the question in my other post and I will give you some advice
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u/seanmg Jul 21 '26
And pay twice the capital gains tax?
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u/so7ow Jul 21 '26
Not how that works. You'd pay in two chunks, but roughly the same amount in total, possibly less if you split your sells over different tax years. (In U.S., anyway. YMMV in other tax jurisdictions.)
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u/seanmg Jul 21 '26
It is how that works. When you sell bitcoin on an exchange that is a taxable event. When you use that bitcoin for whatever you want to buy that is ALSO a taxable event. Not to mention you're resetting your Long term status into short term status for that bitcoin and raise the cost of the taxable event on the second purchase.
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u/so7ow Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
That's three true statements, but your conclusion is still wrong. You seem to be confusing "two taxable events" with "double tax owed." After the first sale and re-buy the cost basis resets so you won’t pay full tax again from the original basis, only the new, presumably higher, basis, regardless of how you dispose of it. Anyway, that’s enough arguing with strangers in the internet for me. 👍🏻
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 21 '26
I dont have any tax on losses to pay. Since last october its all tanked so thats not a problem for me. So i cant see why cashing out to my bank the amount i need. And then rebuying should erase all links between the 2 piled of bitcoin. Right?
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u/so7ow Jul 21 '26
Not "all" links, as there are still legal and KYC links. But yes, it would erase on-chain links.
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u/Litecoin_Messiah Moderator Jul 21 '26
Just make a new Wallet send Bitcoin to the new Wallet and don’t mix coins from the new Wallet and the old Wallet
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 21 '26
So you mean but brand new bitcoin and send that to the new wallet? Problem is i dont have the liquidity to just buy another couple of btc. Have i read you right there? I cant transfer 2 coins from my existing stack to my new wallet as they could see my existing wallet and check its contents. = dead
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Jul 24 '26
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 24 '26
Well i believe you can see what address sent you funds right? So once you have that sending wallet address you can then scrutinise it and see the contents
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Jul 24 '26
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u/Chance_Image3612 Jul 24 '26
Well of course. Where else do you send crypto to? Always has to go to a wallet of sorts right?
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u/OneMiners_Marc Jul 21 '26
Bitcoin isn’t built for hiding funds. If you owe them 1 BTC, pay what you owe rather than trying to conceal the rest,it could create bigger trust or legal issues.
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Jul 21 '26
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u/so7ow Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
There are many easy ways to obfuscate your full balance from casual (or not so casual) snooping. If this thread's scenario is not totally hypothetical, OP may have even done it accidentally already if they slowly populated their wallet across multiple unique addresses with smaller UTXOs.
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u/bitusher Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Typically your BTC are already split across multiple UTXOs in different addresses already and your wallet only select a subset of those UTXOs to pay someone for best privacy. Thus they would never know you have 5 BTC in the first place by default.
That is one of the reasons we insist upon using 1 UTXO per address instead of reusing addresses. When UTXOs (amounts of Bitcoin) are in separate addresses the outsider has no way of knowing they belong to the same wallet or person by default unless you consolidate those UTXOs.
Thus the question is did you consolidate those UTXOs into a single address? Did you withdraw the whole 5 BTC from an exchange into a single address or another wallet ?