A lot of people pooh-pooh the idea that their online privacy is important. "I have nothing to hide" is the common refrain. This can especially be true when it comes to buying crypto.
"I intend to pay my taxes and I'm not using illegally gained funds, so I have nothing to hide."
Well I'm sure the first part of that is a true statement for you. It's that last clause you may be mistaken to believe.
Do you recall the story of the Chinese Cultural Revolution?
The government promoted this idea called roughly "1000 blooming flowers." The idea was that they wanted to encourage dissenting voices to speak freely. Not only would there be no negative consequences, but their was great praise given to those who expressed disagreement with government policies.
This was allowed to go on for several years. Then the reaping.
All those "blooming flowers" of dissent were cut down. They were imprisoned and sometimes executed. All the articles they had written or speeches they had given during the period of openness were used as evidence to convict them.
You see, the time you need privacy is when there is no negative consequence for openness. Because by the time there are consequences, you may alter your behavior to protect yourself, but by then it will be too late.
Who Knows You Have Crypto?
Well, for those of us on this site, if your real name can be traced to your profile, there is a public record that you have crypto. At the very least you have STEEM. Likely you've also bought some other traceable crypto at some point, possibly even linking a bank account or credit card to some exchange, or doing KYC to participate in some ICO. So that's done.
But when speaking to others about crypto, remind them how important it is to keep that involvement as confidential as possible.
Use exchanges that don't require any identifying information. Use decentralized exchanges whenever possible.
As for fiat onramps, where it can be hardest to get one's first crypto without giving out one's true identity, consider local meetups where you exchange with individuals. Here's an article with some other options as well.
Take your privacy seriously when you have nothing to hide!
We never know what is coming around the bend in the road.
