The ledger being public doesn’t necessarily mean anyone knows who “13LPtD4GG1XX7fgrze6xMR5V284rRQg9jv” is. But yeah, you can of course track the movement of funds, and make educated guesses on which addresses belong to who.
edit: In this context, “pseudonymous” is a portmanteau (or malamanteau, depending on your opinions) of “pseudo” or “seeming like” and “anonymous”, meaning “seems like anonymity (but isn’t)”. Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrency networks claim to be anonymous, but the pseudonym they provide you does not change, and so can be used to identify network participants over time.
In a pseudonymous system, it might be hard to confirm identity, but it’s possible (edit: because your pseudonym doesn’t change, it can be used to identify you). In an anonymous system, it’s impossible to confirm identity.
edited for clarity, 'cause darohan@lemmy.zip is right - pseudonymous does have another definition that predates this one.
Had to go check this because I thought I was having a TIL but, while your point is basically correct, the word isn’t a portmanteau but rather means “baring or using a fake name (pseudonym)”
Additionally, you can use a coin tumbler (I think that’s the term) where a bunch of strangers pool their coins for various transactions into one wallet that then distributes the coins to their end destinations, adding a layer of obscurity for which starting wallets are associated with which ending wallets.
The ledger being public doesn’t necessarily mean anyone knows who “13LPtD4GG1XX7fgrze6xMR5V284rRQg9jv” is. But yeah, you can of course track the movement of funds, and make educated guesses on which addresses belong to who.
Which is pseudonymous, and not anonymous. Unless we are talking about monero of course.
Okay, that’s probably a fair distinction. Don’t know enough about anonymous vs pseudonymous to disagree.
edit: In this context, “pseudonymous” is a portmanteau (or malamanteau, depending on your opinions) of “pseudo” or “seeming like” and “anonymous”, meaning “seems like anonymity (but isn’t)”. Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrency networks claim to be anonymous, but the pseudonym they provide you does not change, and so can be used to identify network participants over time.
In a pseudonymous system, it might be hard to confirm identity, but it’s possible (edit: because your pseudonym doesn’t change, it can be used to identify you). In an anonymous system, it’s impossible to confirm identity.
edited for clarity, 'cause darohan@lemmy.zip is right - pseudonymous does have another definition that predates this one.
Had to go check this because I thought I was having a TIL but, while your point is basically correct, the word isn’t a portmanteau but rather means “baring or using a fake name (pseudonym)”
Additionally, you can use a coin tumbler (I think that’s the term) where a bunch of strangers pool their coins for various transactions into one wallet that then distributes the coins to their end destinations, adding a layer of obscurity for which starting wallets are associated with which ending wallets.