Guide / Money
Money

Choose a private payment path

Different situations need different payment privacy. Match the method to the recipient and the risk.

Goal

Pay someone without unnecessary exposure of your balance, habits, or identity.

Best first move

Ask what the recipient accepts, then pick the most private option they can handle.

Recommended path

Best first move: Ask what the recipient accepts, then pick the most private option they can handle.

  1. 1

    Rank your options

    Cash > privacy coin > coinjoined Bitcoin > normal crypto > card/bank.

  2. 2

    Consider the recipient

    A privacy coin only helps if the other side can receive it.

  3. 3

    Minimize change and reuse

    Use fresh addresses and avoid spending from the same address repeatedly.

  4. 4

    Record what you must

    Keep receipts for tax/accounting, but not in public view.

Best tools for this

Monero

medium

Private payments with strong default privacy.

Hides sender, receiver, and amount on the public ledger.

Zcash

medium

Optional shielded transactions.

Use shielded pools and shielded addresses for privacy.

Wasabi Wallet

medium

Bitcoin privacy with built-in coinjoin.

Open-source desktop wallet with WabiSabi coinjoin coordinator.

Samourai Wallet

advanced

Mobile Bitcoin privacy tooling.

CoinJoin, PayNym, and Stonewall features for Bitcoin.

Warnings

Merchants may log your address

Even privacy coins are not magic if the shop keeps your order details.

KYC exits de-anonymize

Converting back to fiat through an exchange often requires identity.

Limitations

Not every merchant accepts privacy coins

You may need to swap, which adds risk and cost.

Transaction fees fluctuate

Privacy paths can be more expensive during network congestion.

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