You can’t possibly use the Internet without using Incognito mode every now and again. You’re not using it to get better content; the web pages you’re accessing are still the same, regardless of how you’re reaching them. You’re mainly doing it because you don’t want certain searches to remain in your browser history. More importantly, you’re doing it because you value your privacy.
Maybe you aren’t applying the same strict protection measures when you’re checking your Facebook feed, but you do mind if someone is deliberately trying to peep over your shoulder. But, again, even if it bothers you, you won’t close the Facebook app just because there’s someone else there. You’ll let them be because you don’t see those Facebook posts, even if they are personal to your account, as sensitive information.
How about checking your bank statement? Are you easily opening your banking app in public, letting everyone see your monthly salary that just came in? The answer is most likely no. You would do everything possible to keep your financial transactions confidential. And I’m not talking about security here; security-wise, you are already trusting (more or less) the underlying banking system. I’m talking about the transaction history, the data itself. Even if nobody would be able to access your account or do anything with this data, you are still doing everything possible to keep it secret. In fact, studies have shown that 48% of millennial couples are keeping their finances private from each other.
The same principle applies to cryptocurrency. You have trust in the underlying system, the blockchain, to keep your funds secure. Anyway, when it comes to transaction privacy, you are simply reusing the same wallet address that you created in 2017 when you bought your first BTC.
But by doing this you are not only hurting your privacy, you’re affecting the privacy of everyone who’s receiving funds from you. By definition, “Address reuse […] is an unintended practice, abusing the privacy and security of the participants of the transactions as well as future holders of their value.”
If you think nobody has the time to track down your transactions, think again. Software solutions have been built specifically to track cryptocurrency addresses, and, at this stage, they are either available publicly for anyone to use or used by certain companies and governments for undisclosed reasons. Just by reading about the advancement of the transaction surveillance companies and it makes you not want to move your coins anymore.
Luckily, there are solutions available to manage your cryptocurrencies confidentially. In the search of replacing my ordinary wallet, I found many services claiming complete anonymity. However, after trying them, most wallets have very bad usability or even outright glaring security flaws. It was a struggle, but I narrowed my list down to four wallets. I consider them all up to 2020 standards while offering several confidentiality features. But as always, it’s up to you to choose the one that fits your needs.
1. Going Incognito
Not the browser mode but the Incognito wallet - a cryptocurrency wallet that offers privacy in transactions for multiple popular currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and DAI. Also, all ERC20 tokens are supported plus privacy coins like Monero
At the user level, the Incognito wallet is not so different from other wallets with multi-currency, multi-activity functionality. You can deposit, store, and send your coins. You hold your own keys and sign transactions locally. And you can even access DeFi platforms like Kyber and swap coins across blockchains within the wallet. Imagine exchanging Bitcoin to Monero with the click of a button. That’s possible with Incognito.
The extra privacy features work behind the scenes to protect your information and identity. The magic happens under the hood where zero-knowledge proof technology has been implemented to obfuscate your transactions as well as your blockchain-powered financial history. Maybe you’ve heard of zero-knowledge proofs in the context of Zcash or other privacy-oriented coins. The solution developed by the Incognito team is rewritten from scratch, optimized for mobile, and combined with other technologies such as ring signatures and stealth addresses, also utilized by Monero. What more can I say about this? As of today, there are no proven ways to track transactions coming from this wallet. If you are the type who handles many coins at the same time and wants a wallet that does more than just HODL, this may be the one for you.
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