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Your Privacy Checklist

Use this checklist to track your Bitcoin privacy journey. Start with the basics and work your way up as you gain knowledge and confidence.

Beginner: The Essentials

These are the absolute minimum steps everyone should take.

  • Control Your Keys

    Move your bitcoin into a wallet where you control the seed phrase. If you do not control the keys, you do not control the bitcoin.

  • Never Reuse Addresses

    Always use a fresh address for each receive. Address reuse is the number one privacy killer.

  • Label Your UTXOs

    Know where each UTXO came from: KYC, non-KYC, CoinJoin, dust, etc.

  • Never Mix KYC and Non-KYC

    Keep your KYC and non-KYC bitcoin completely separate. Never spend them together.

  • Freeze Dust UTXOs

    Any UTXO under 1000 sats should be frozen. It might be a surveillance attack.

  • Do Not Look Up Addresses on Public Explorers

    Searching your own addresses from your home IP leaks your interest and links you to those addresses.

Intermediate: Building Privacy

Once you have the basics, add these layers.

  • Run Your Own Node

    Connect your wallet to your own node so queries do not leak to third-party servers.

  • Use a Hardware Wallet

    Store your seed phrase on a dedicated hardware device that never touches the internet directly.

  • Use CoinJoin

    Break the transaction graph by mixing your bitcoin with others.

  • Use Tor

    Route all Bitcoin traffic through Tor to hide your IP address.

  • Practice Coin Control

    Choose which UTXOs to spend. Do not let your wallet pick them automatically.

  • Use Secure Messaging

    Use Signal or similar for Bitcoin discussions. Never share seed phrases over any digital channel.

Advanced: Maximum Privacy

For users who want the strongest possible privacy.

  • Use Multisig

    Require multiple signatures to spend. This increases security and privacy.

  • Use PayJoin

    Poison the Common Input Ownership Heuristic by having the recipient contribute an input.

  • Use GrapheneOS

    A hardened Android build that provides strong isolation and privacy.

  • Self-Host Infrastructure

    Run your own node, explorer, Electrum server, and Lightning node.

  • Audit Your Privacy

    Learn about privacy with tools like am-i.exposed.

  • Use BIP47 or Silent Payments

    Reusable payment codes that generate a fresh address for each sender.

How to Use This Checklist

  1. Start at the top - Complete all Beginner items first
  2. Move to Intermediate - Once comfortable, add Intermediate layers
  3. Advance gradually - Do not rush into Advanced without understanding the basics
  4. Test your privacy - Use tools like am-i.exposed to verify your progress
  5. Keep learning - Privacy is not a destination, it is a journey

You do not need to implement every single item to have good privacy. Even doing the Beginner items puts you ahead of most Bitcoin users.

Focus on the items that fit your threat model and technical ability. Build your privacy stack one layer at a time.