Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: blindshark on August 26, 2013, 09:25 pm

Title: have read the FAQs and Wiki . . . further questions on safest way to begin
Post by: blindshark on August 26, 2013, 09:25 pm
I hope you'll all bear with me.  I have done a good deal of the reading up front, and have set up and tested a handful of the technologies required to use this site, but I'd like to describe what I've done so far, as concisely as I can, and end with a few questions.  So without further ado.

To begin with an overview of where I feel I may have made some mistakes.  These will reveal a high degree of paranoia, and some naivete, but this is a newbie forum, so pardon me if I err on the side of overkill.

1)  Although I have never set up any accounts or searched for information on most of the core technologies using anything but the TOR browser.  I did do a bit of searching for info on PGP and Bitcoins using a regular browser and a handful of times, my phone.  Yes, that is a high level of paranoia, but if I were an analyst with access to the type of metadata the NSA has been exposed to be collecting, I would certainly start looking for occurrences of certain types of searches in close temporal proximity to one another, among other things.

2) Like many people, I have several email accounts, and when it was necessary (say to create a bitcoin wallet) I have used my 'junk' account address.  I don't do much with this account, aside from register for things that I am curious about, but also have suspicions as to their legitimacy (I had to clean out about a thousand messages just to get it viable to look through).  This is not connected to my real name, but again, it would take minimal effort on the part of anyone who knew what they were doing to figure that out.

So, on to the meat of all this:

I have my silk road account set up, a bitcoin wallet located somewhere else, and an account at what I have been given to believe is a reputable bitcoin exchange (bitstamp).  The latter two required email addresses and I used the one I refer to in point 2) above.

With respect to the bitcoin exchange account:  Is it necessary to provide my real name when registering?  And does the answer to that question change depending on whether I intend to deposit bitcoins using an online exchange, or if I intend to make a connection through something like localbitcoins?  At the moment, this is the real sticking point for me.  It seems to me that once I get bitcoins into the bitstamp wallet, I should be able to transfer them to the SR wallet and thereby disassociate them from the original account/wallet.  But I am seriously unclear on this point.  As I mentioned, I have done a good deal of reading around this particular point, but because it will necessarily involve some level of interaction with the banking system, I am very curious as to how to best minimize exposure and prevent any transaction from being flagged anywhere along the line.

Because it has bearing on these question, I will mention that I live in the continental US.

I would be much obliged to any and all would could provide a two-tiered response to these questions, the first being an absolute best practice, and the second a fallback strategy should any of the "perfect" technique be impractical.  My impulse in such a case would be to figure out how to remove the obstacles which inhibit following the "perfect" technique, but an articulation of fallback strategies would no double also be illuminating.

I should also say I intend to make my first transaction quite small and from a commerce perspective completely legal, just to make sure the machinery is all in working order.  I am curious what people have to say as well about the issue of what receiving address to use.  I have read DPR's advice in the "Buyers Guide" section of the wiki, and considering that I do not want to ask anyone else to get involved, a portion of that seems impractical. 

Finally, although it seems like fewer vendors are requesting FE of first time buyers -- which  I will be -- it also seems like many (understandably) require a certain validated transaction history before they will conduct business with you.  I get that, even if it is a bit of a catch 22.  But how would you suggest first time buyers go about establishing a good reputation?

Thanks for listening.  I hope these questions do not make it seem like I have not done my homework.  I have.  But up until now it has just been me reading an awful lot of different articles by myself, and sifting the legitimate from the bogus or ill-informed by instinct and analysis.  Considering that I am now thinking of actually transacting into the system, I thought it would be a prudent time to reach out to other voices and dialogue.

I know it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway:  The responsibility of sifting scams, bad advice, and nonsense from any responses I may receive falls to me, and I happily accept it.

I hope that has been brief and clear enough. 

Respectfully awaiting a reply . . .

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Title: Re: have read the FAQs and Wiki . . . further questions on safest way to begin
Post by: wishihada2JZ on August 26, 2013, 10:58 pm
I'd recommend using localbitcoins, you can use throwaway emails, a fake name, and find vendors willing to trade cash for maximum anonymity. Also look into bitcoin fog, make a series of transactions to basically wash your coins and make them harder to follow. On moving coins from your wallet to SR, no, it does not dissociate them from the original wallet. Blockchain shows transactions, another reason fog is a good idea.

As far as FE, never. Just don't do it. There are plenty of vendors that will work with you and not require it.

Hope that helps, more than happy to answer any other questions.
Title: Re: have read the FAQs and Wiki . . . further questions on safest way to begin
Post by: VicFontaine on September 19, 2013, 05:06 am
"I hope that has been brief..."

Yeah, about that.
Title: Re: have read the FAQs and Wiki . . . further questions on safest way to begin
Post by: arurian on September 19, 2013, 06:18 am
Seconding the suggestion for localbitcoins. You get the bitcoin sent to your account on the site and you can send it anywhere from there. As long as you live somewhere near a city (even a smaller one), localbitcoins is the easiest way.

I have never had to FE. Just buy from trusted vendors and start with smaller transactions.