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Privacy practices for BTC trades

Bitcoin is the most-analyzed chain in the world. Every transaction is public; every address can be tracked over time. The privacy practices below dramatically reduce how easily a third party can profile your trades — without requiring you to leave BTC.

Use a fresh address every trade

This chain uses transparent addresses with no native stealth. The standard practice: use a Hierarchical Deterministic (BIP-32) wallet that derives a new receive address per request. Most modern wallets do this automatically. The cost of address reuse is severe — every trade you accept at the same address builds a public record of your activity.

Opt-in privacy technologies

Standards that wallets in this ecosystem may implement. Vigilante Trading does NOT recommend specific wallet software — even reputable wallets have been compromised. Search for a wallet that supports these standards and review its trust posture yourself.

  • CoinJoin

    A family of protocols where multiple participants pool inputs and outputs into a single transaction, breaking the common-input-ownership heuristic that links coins to one owner. Multiple implementations exist with different trust models — choose carefully and read the implementation's threat model.

  • PayJoin (BIP-78)

    A two-party cooperative transaction protocol. Sender and receiver both contribute inputs, so chain observers cannot apply the standard "all inputs come from the same wallet" heuristic. Vigilante Trading's address-share modal includes an optional PayJoin endpoint field — if both wallets support BIP-78, the trade automatically uses PayJoin.

Universal practices

**Use a fresh receive address for every trade.** Your wallet should support this; if it doesn't, look for one that does. Address reuse is the single biggest leak.

**Practice coin control when spending.** When sending coins later, avoid combining the trade output with coins from another source — that combines their address histories permanently.

**Broadcast through Tor or your wallet's privacy mode.** Your home IP address sees the transaction first; nodes near your IP can correlate it to you. A Tor-aware wallet broadcasts through Tor by default.

**Avoid sending trade coins to or from KYC exchanges.** Once trade coins touch a KYC exchange, the trade becomes legally identifiable by combining exchange records with chain data. If you need to bridge to fiat, route through a self-custodied intermediate step.

What to avoid

  • Do not paste your same receive address into multiple trades.
  • Do not send the exact amount listed on the order — Vigilante Trading's amount-randomizer toggle (the "🔐 Randomize amount" checkbox in the address-share modal) breaks this; leave it ON.
  • Do not combine the trade output with coins from a different source when you later spend it.
  • Do not broadcast from your home IP via a non-private wallet — use Tor.

Vigilante Trading does NOT recommend specific wallet software. Even reputable wallets have been compromised or have had hidden flaws. The privacy techniques here are protocol standards, not endorsements — your wallet, your responsibility.