What are The Best Cryptocurrencies for Anonymous Transactions?

There is a widespread notion among the public that all transactions in all sorts of cryptocurrencies
are anonymous and can’t be traced. This idea is strengthen by the media and the establishment
when they insinuate that cryptocurrencies is something that’s mostly used by criminals.

But most cryptocurrency transactions, Bitcoin included, are not anonymous. Someone that want to
achieve total privacy do have a few options and we will take a look at them here.

Before we begin let’s make one thing clear, this article is not in any way an endorsement of illegal
behavior. There are many legitimate reasons to protect your privacy.

Here are three cryptocurrencies that actually can offer anonymous transactions. Let’s have a look at
them:

Monero

With Monero you will achieve complete privacy. The transactions that takes place on the blockchain
are concealed. The public will never know who made the payment or who received it. This anonymity
is built into the system and works by default.

Monero clearly have a utility problem. The mining algorithm is very complicated and the
consequence is that the users have problem to safely secure their coins. To my knowledge there is
still no hardware wallet on the market with the ability to store Monero. As the situation is today you
will have to store the coins on your computer.

There are rumors that Monero already is the most popular cryptocurrency in organized crime. Maybe
they will get the same role in the underground economy as the D-mark once had?

Zcash

With Zcash transactions are not private by default like they are with Monero. Here you have the
option to choose whether or not a transaction should be private. Users can also choose to selectively
disclose information about their transactions. We are talking about an optional transparency.

There are question marks surrounding the technological aspects of Zcash. There has not really been
much of a peer review here with cryptography experts.

Another potential problem is the requirement of a so-called trusted setup. Currency users must trust
the Zcash team and their ability to set up the system properly.

Dash

This cryptocurrency is known for its fast transaction speed and also offers private transactions. It is a
fork of the Bitcoin software.
For a small fee Dash offers a function called PrivateSend. This function will increase privacy. But there
is a risk that you can see the receiver of the coins even if you use PrivateSend. Because the whole
network isn’t private and both parties must use PrivateSend to obtain complete privacy.

And The Winner Is?

From an investment perspective Zcash and/or Dash might be the best options. There are some
technological question marks regarding Zcash and anyone buying this coin as an investment should
keep their eyes open to see how things develop.

The supply of Zcash is limited to 21 million (like Bitcoin) while the supply of Dash is limited to 18.9
million.

From a transaction perspective the criminals might be right – Monero is probably best for
anonymous transactions. But I would not recommend Monero as an investment or an instrument to
store value. Besides the storage problems there is also a small inflation rate in the coin, the supply is
not limited.

Hans Norén