How To Buy Bitcoin in the USA Anonymously
In our previously released Ultimate Guide to Buying Bitcoin Anonymously we outlined the best ways to buy with security and privacy, and also mentioned that these considerations can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Here we’re going to zoom in on United States Bitcoin purchasing.
In general, the USA has regulations broadly in line with the rest of the world when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is treated as a commodity, taxed as a property, and a Federal judge said recently that “Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term”. What does this mean? They aren’t illegal and they aren’t different to other financial product for tax purposes. This means that you can obtain them without much restriction. When cashing out back to fiat, you must declare any gains and if you buy more than a certain amount (which depends on the state) you must give your identity so that the seller complies with KYC/AML regulation.
In effect, this means that you are free to buy Bitcoin anonymously depending on the amount, but tax is a different topic entirely.
So what are the best ways to buy Bitcoin in the US anonymously? Following on from our main guide, here are the best practices:
- ATMs
Bitcoin ATMs work in a straightforward manner; find an ATM in your locality, follow the instructions and insert cash into the ATM which then sends the purchased amount of Bitcoin to an address you have specified.
While the process is in principle anonymous, there are a few considerations. Firstly, your physical presence at the location obviously leaves the possibility of you being identified, especially since many ATMs have a security camera. If this is not a concern or you can protect your identity by nondescript appearance, this resolves the issue for the most part.
There are two main ATM providers in the USA; Coinsource and CoinBTM. For the purposes of buying Bitcoin anonymously, we recommend CoinBTM for a few reasons. Firstly, the anonymous limits for buying BTC are lower at CoinBTM in general. Secondly, there have been reports of Coinsource actively monitoring their ATM security cameras – while this is probably not a big deal, it seems less anonymous, Finally, the exchange rate at CoinBTM is usually better than at Coinsource.
Pros:
Anonymity
Convenience
Cons:
High purchase rate
Physical presence needed
Read the rest of the guide here: http://buybitcoinanonymous.ly/index.php/buy-bitcoin-anonymously-united-states/