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Seth For Privacy
Privacy is a human right and is necessary for freedom. Privacy advocate and host of @optoutpod, a privacy-focused podcast. Donate: https://t.co/0RxEAddKxr
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Jun 29 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Such an honor to be able to go on @WhatBitcoinDid for this one and be able to cover the immensely important topic of digital privacy with @PeterMcCormack.

#Monero is such a valuable tool for freedom, I hope more people will take the time to see how it can fit into their toolkit. Many of the most common issues or worries people have with #Monero are broken down in detail (with *tons* of linked resources) here:

sethforprivacy.com/posts/dispelli…
May 31 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Attempted to make a semi-exhaustive list here, please read through and let me know if I missed something, misspoke, or need to add more detail to any of the proposals:

sethforprivacy.com/posts/proposed…

Hoping to make this a useful and up-to-date list of proposals both WIP and DOA. Posted on @stacker_news as well, per the usual 🙂

stacker.news/items/33089
May 19 • 28 tweets • 12 min read
1/ Time to share some of my thoughts and experiences from getting this self-sovereign #LightningNetwork stack up and running.

tl;dr - not for the faint of heart/non-tech-savvy, but once configured and up and running it seems to be working quite well for me! 2/ For the Bitcoin node, I simply exposed the Dojo bitcoind node's RPC that I already had up, and was able to easily access it across my home's network:

code.samourai.io/dojo/samourai-…

Be sure to write down the ports used here if using a Dojo node externally, as they're non-standard.
May 7 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Oof.

Anyone with a more #LightningNetwork-focused following want to run the same poll and see what you get?

In some ways I'm glad I'm not alone but that's... Not exactly the UX normies will put up with.

Do you all think this is why custodial LN is so commonly used? If you voted in my poll don't vote here, but will add polls by others that are similar here to compare among follower sets.

Thanks for kicking it off @L0laL33tz!

May 5 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
It's *very* early, but I've started collecting resources, open questions, and proposed efforts to explore how trustless zk-SNARKs could be useful for a potential future #Monero protocol update:

github.com/monero-project…

If you have useful resources or questions, please reach out! The goal here is to build a go-to resource that marries the promise of trustless zk-SNARKs with the specifics of Monero's payment protocol to ease potential research and interest by Monero developers and researchers, not to push for implementing zk-SNARKs ASAP.
Apr 21 • 19 tweets • 6 min read
1/ I'm really tired of responding to lots of comments from DERO people claiming they've solved the worlds problems and scamming people with false marketing, so here's a thread breaking down all of their grandiose claims 👇 2/ DERO claims to be using "fully-homomorphic encryption" to prevent nodes from being able to see transaction information.

Not only is this nonsensical (zk-proofs allow verification without revealing data simply) FHE is absolutely unusably inefficient:

anandtech.com/show/16533/int…
Apr 21 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
1/ As always, ransomware and DNM trends are a good litmus test for the usefulness of a technology, and especially the usefulness of a cryptocurrency.

Let's dive into some interesting info in the latest CipherTrace ransomware report 👇 2/ First off, no mentions of tracing Monero or tracking it's usage, despite Ciphertrace having used social-engineering to collect XMR addresses from known ransomware entities.
Apr 17 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
1/ Get ready for the #Monerorun tomorrow by reading up and taking control of your $XMR:

localmonero.co/knowledge/hold…

Here are some excellent wallets depending on your preference to start using today 👇 2/ First off, no matter what wallet you use *save your seed*!!!

Always do so in multiple locations, in ways that you can find and recover, and inform your family or loved ones of how to recover funds as well, just in case.
Apr 15 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
While this is "just" the front-end, this continues the trend of "privacy tools" preempting regulatory pressure to kiss the boot of our benevolent overlords.

#Monero cannot do this by design, and that's what makes it such a powerful tool.

Permission-less or GTFO. P.S. -- "privacy tools" like @wasabiwallet and @TornadoCash using your fees to pay @chainalysis is the irony of ironies.

Quit giving these people your funds and just use Monero.

It's that easy.
Apr 14 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
Glad to see some more nuanced discussion of privacy issues in #Lightning at #Bitcoin2022!

The keys are:

1) Receive privacy is poor
2) Routing cross-network makes privacy of channels poor
3) L1 privacy issues cascade onto L2 to great detrimental effect

invidious.sethforprivacy.com/watch?app=desk… One of the biggest paradoxes of Lightning is that cross-network routing *requires* public knowledge of nodes, channels, and channel UTXOs/balances, but LN is being relied upon to "fix" all of the privacy issues of L1.

These problems are not easy to solve, maybe impossible.
Apr 14 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Looking more and more like exchanges are paper trading #Monero and lying about how much they have to customers.

Opt out, get those keys off exchanges and actually own your $XMR:

localmonero.co/knowledge/hold… To be clear here, there is no reason multiple exchanges would need to maintenance their wallets at the same time.

No network outage, no bugs, nothing.

This is happening with @binance and several others.
Apr 13 • 23 tweets • 6 min read
1/ I have thoroughly been enjoying WBD lately, but the #Monero mentions here are absolutely not based in reality.

That is on @jimmysong and not on @PeterMcCormack, Jimmy misuses his authority in the space and is either intentionally misleading or woefully lacking technicals. 2/ First off, Jimmy mentions that Monero's anon set is small because of large transactions.

Anon sets are not a very useful single way to measure real-world privacy, but if he wants to use that number, let's.
Mar 31 • 12 tweets • 6 min read
1/ So you're finally startling to wrestle with #Bitcoin's lack of fungibility, but aren't sure what that means for you.

What can you do to protect yourself from becoming another entry in the fungibility graveyard?

A thread on steps you can take below.

sethforprivacy.com/posts/fungibil… 2/ The first - and often most important - step is avoiding know-your-customer (KYC) exchanges whenever buying or selling Bitcoin to ensure you don't provide a trivial link between your ID and on-chain transactions:

Feb 17 • 9 tweets • 8 min read
1/ This is only the beginning, and it's time you start preparing for the inevitable adversarial environment many of us have been preaching about for years.

This will be much more broad than just cryptocurrency privacy, so here are some resources to get you started 👇 2/ - Personal privacy -

sethforprivacy.com/posts/privacy-…
techlore.tech (@techloreistaken)
peertube.thenewoil.xyz/video-channels… (@TheNewOil1)
Feb 15 • 12 tweets • 6 min read
This is one of the strongest use-cases for cryptocurrencies, and specifically, #Monero.

Crowdfunding while retaining the privacy of the donor and recipient is as easy as sharing a static address.

Cut out the middlemen and remove their ability to surveil and censor.t The speed with which tyranny is spreading, "laws" are changing, and our financial freedom and privacy is being taken with us is absolutely mind-blowing.

Wake up and start opting out *now*.
Feb 1 • 15 tweets • 6 min read
1/ Apparently this has been making the rounds, but I have *a lot* of problems with the article, unfortunately.

Let's dive into some of the things said here and how I think they are either false or misleading. 2/ First, the one thing I do agree on -- price has not reflected the growing adoption and usage of Monero, and has tended to lag other cryptocurrencies in the space.

However, this isn't due to it's privacy-preserving nature, it's likely due to it's "do one thing well" realism.
Jan 29 • 20 tweets • 10 min read
1/ The @citadeldispatch episode focused on the debate around know-your-customer (KYC) exchanges, their risks, and the importance of avoiding KYC, is one of the most important pieces of content to come out in the #Bitcoin space for a long time:

citadeldispatch.com/cd51/ 2/ I know it's a long ep, but this debate will likely have a ripple effect on the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem (for better or worse) in the coming months and years.

Give it a listen ASAP and come back to this thread after.
Jan 18 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
If you see someone pushing KYC (know your customer) for acquiring cryptocurrency (ANY cryptocurrency!), run the other way as fast as you can.

Avoid KYC and the inherent dangers (and little to no benefit) it brings:

kycnot.me More *excellent* tips here for buying Bitcoin without KYC:

Jan 17 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Pretty sure Intel just killed MobileCoin by deprecating Intel SGX across the board and removing it from recent and future Intel CPUs.

Reason #37 that you shouldn't make a cryptocurrency/software reliant on a black-box hardware feature entirely at the whim of one manufacturer. More details here:

bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/…

Their focus is on the desktop market, but AFAIK this will break any and all software that relies on SGX.

This also seems to apply more broadly to Signal itself:

medium.com/@maniacbolts/s…
Jan 15 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Yet another horrifying and yet totally expected outcome from the rise in tyranny associated with COVID "prevention measures", preying on citizens fears the same governments are stoking.

Becoming more and more important to explore anonymous SIM card options by the day. The unfortunate thing here is the government is using “aggregated indicators derived from cell-tower/operator location data" to surveil their citizens, something that cannot be prevented even with a privacy-preserving OS like @CalyxOS.

I recommend exploring @silentlink1 for this
Jan 4 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
1/ Thankful for the opportunity to get a sneak peak at what really does look like a much-needed leap forward in social media platforms.

I've never really been excited about any of the Twitter alts -- until now. 2/ The first thing that thoroughly blew my mind was a simple one -- you as the user get *complete* control over your timeline.

You curate your timeline, not secret algorithms or advertising agencies, who/what you see is entirely up to you and easily customizable.