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Privacy practices for ETH trades

Ethereum (ETH) launched in 2015 as a smart-contract platform. In September 2022 the chain transitioned from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus ("The Merge") — validators stake ETH and process blocks in rotation, with no central freeze authority controlling the chain. The chain is transparent at the base layer — sender, recipient, and amount are visible on chain like Bitcoin. Ethereum has no native protocol-level mixing protocol. Tornado Cash was a notable smart-contract mixer but has been sanctioned in many jurisdictions; Vigilante Trading does not recommend or rely on it. Users wanting transaction-level privacy rely on wallet-side address rotation (deriving a fresh address per trade from their HD seed) and off-chain coordination — the practices below cover what you can control.

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.

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.

⚠ Caveats specific to this asset

Ethereum is transparent at the base layer with no native mixing protocol. - **Share fresh addresses per trade.** Using the same Ethereum address across multiple Vigilante Trading listings lets observers correlate your orders on a fully transparent chain. Generate a fresh receive address per trade — modern Ethereum wallets (MetaMask, Rabby, Rainbow) derive these from your HD seed and let you create new accounts in seconds. - **Send native ETH, not wrapped ETH.** Wrapped ETH (WETH) is an ERC-20 token used for DEX interoperability. Vigilante Trading trades use NATIVE ETH transfers — sending WETH to an ETH receive address requires the recipient to unwrap, which may not happen. - **Watch for contract destinations.** Ethereum addresses can be externally-owned accounts (EOAs, controlled by a private key) OR smart contracts. Sending ETH to a contract without a `payable receive()` or `fallback()` function reverts; the funds aren't lost but the transaction fails and you pay gas. Most wallets warn before sending to contracts; pay attention. - **Same address shape as every EVM token-account.** An Ethereum 0x-address could be a native ETH EOA, a USDT-ERC20 token-account, a USDC-Base token-account, a DAI-Polygon token-account, or any EVM contract. The format is identical. Vigilante Trading's order asset field (plus the network field for multi-network assets) tells you which one to send; double-check before signing the transaction in your wallet. - **ENS names are not resolved.** Pasting `alice.eth` will fail Vigilante Trading's address validator — paste the raw 0x address. Resolving ENS would require a centralized RPC dependency that violates Morphit's distributed-no-SPOF design. - **Network-layer privacy still matters.** Broadcasting through Tor or your wallet's privacy mode keeps your home IP off the chain's view of you. - **Ethereum RPC providers can correlate.** Your wallet talks to an RPC endpoint (Infura, Alchemy, QuickNode, public mainnet) — that provider sees every transaction you sign. Self-hosting an Ethereum node, or rotating between providers, reduces the surface area. - **Gas fees can leak timing.** Ethereum gas prices vary by congestion. Submitting a transaction during a high-gas window with a higher tip can correlate the tx to a specific time window. Standard wallet defaults (medium priority) blend with the broader mempool.

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.