Silk Road forums

Discussion => Security => Topic started by: zoomer on February 17, 2012, 05:18 am

Title: Bitcoin Network and IP Addresses
Post by: zoomer on February 17, 2012, 05:18 am
I was wondering if anyone could answer a question for me.

If I send bitcoins to a wallet on my local computer, is there some way anyone could know that transaction is coming from SR to my local box?

How would someone know that the originating wallet that sent the transaction to my local box was coming from SR?  Is this information publicly available?  Further, is there anyway to know that the wallet which is receiving the money is tied to my local IP? 

For example, if I simply have my local client running, is there anyway to tell what IP is hosting that wallet?

Basically what I'm curious about here is the linkage of wallet addresses to IP addresses.  I know the exchanges record the IP addresses of the people who log into them, but I'm more concerned if IP addresses can be tied to transactions that aren't going to exchanges.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Network and IP Addresses
Post by: supersecretsquirrel on February 17, 2012, 07:22 am
If I send bitcoins to a wallet on my local computer, is there some way anyone could know that transaction is coming from SR to my local box?

How would someone know that the originating wallet that sent the transaction to my local box was coming from SR?  Is this information publicly available?  Further, is there anyway to know that the wallet which is receiving the money is tied to my local IP? 

For example, if I simply have my local client running, is there anyway to tell what IP is hosting that wallet?

Basically what I'm curious about here is the linkage of wallet addresses to IP addresses.  I know the exchanges record the IP addresses of the people who log into them, but I'm more concerned if IP addresses can be tied to transactions that aren't going to exchanges.

Bitcoin was not designed with anonymity in mind, so I'd say that anything is possible. I suggest you check out the Bitcoin Block Explorer (https://blockexplorer.com/) and try to read up on Bitcoin, pros and cons of hosting your own wallet, and so on.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Network and IP Addresses
Post by: wxevkexi on February 17, 2012, 02:35 pm
If I send bitcoins to a wallet on my local computer, is there some way anyone could know that transaction is coming from SR to my local box?

How would someone know that the originating wallet that sent the transaction to my local box was coming from SR?  Is this information publicly available?  Further, is there anyway to know that the wallet which is receiving the money is tied to my local IP? 

Bitcoin addresses themselves are quite anonymous. LE can only try to prove a link between any address and you by possible evidence. A possible scenario would be the SR servers are compromised, and the addresses they store are recovered (unencrypted), and then they trace the transactions to another address that is somehow linked to you (etc. MtGox).

Your IP address is decoupled from SR because you are accessing it over TOR.

Your wallet is a Bitcoin P2P client, so it does leak your IP address IF YOU HAVEN"T configured it to use TOR.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Network and IP Addresses
Post by: midas on February 18, 2012, 03:28 am
Your wallet is a Bitcoin P2P client, so it does leak your IP address IF YOU HAVEN"T configured it to use TOR.
So let's say I open my bitcoin application and send directly some bitcoins to a LE. It is possible for him to get my location if I funded my account anonymously?

How do I configure Bitcoin application to use TOR?
Title: Re: Bitcoin Network and IP Addresses
Post by: wxevkexi on February 18, 2012, 04:15 am
So let's say I open my bitcoin application and send directly some bitcoins to a LE. It is possible for him to get my location if I funded my account anonymously?

There are a couple of things. If they are watching the network, then they can relate the transaction to your IP address. Also, if any of the servers is keeping logs, they may be able to relate the transaction to your IP address. But keep in mind that even that does not mean much. Because your ISP assigns the IP address to other people too (unless it is static). So, really, they would have to catch you in the act.

How do I configure Bitcoin application to use TOR?

Options -> Main -> Check "Connect through SOCKS4 proxy: 127.0.0.1 9050"

You will need to bring TOR up for the client to work.