People often get confused about anonymity. Is bitcoin pseudonymous or anonymous?
It is pseudonymous. This means you interact using a “pseudonym” (a fake name), rather than your real identity. In Bitcoin, your pseudonym is your wallet address (a long string of random characters like bc1qxy…).
No one knows bc1qxy… is you, unless you tell them.
But transactions are public.
Like writing a book under a pen name, your works are visible to the world, but your true identity remains hidden.
This balance is critical. It provides privacy for users, but it allows for public verification of the system’s integrity. You can verify that the money moved without needing to know who moved it.
This bitcoin pseudonymous design is a breakthrough in privacy technology, offering a perfect middle ground between total secrecy (cash) and total surveillance (banks).