Hi guys,
Zcash is pretty awesome in terms of privacy. But one thing that I keep thinking about is: how can you buy zcash truly anonymous?
All exchange platforms have identity confirmation and if you just make a deposit with a bank account there is a trace as well.
If you mine it, then you can remain anonymous. Some mining pools don’t require registration.
You can also buy bitcoin from someone with cash, and then use shapeshift to anonymously turn it into zcash.
At present it’s possible to create a poloniex.com account using a mailbox.org email. You can set this all up using Tor Browser without spending a satoshi.
Cash in mail and gift cards are also worth mentioning.
Commissions should be mentioned as all three can range from 30-50%!
coinatmradar is a good resource for locating ATMs within your area, with fees starting from 5 to 10% tops.
For the most cost effective solution, buying from an exchange with your bank account would be fine, seeing as the shifting process if executed correctly will mask the link between the two.
In truth, it is almost impossible to buy anything ‘truly’ anonymously, especially on the internet.
Probably, the most anonymous way to acquire Zcash would be to use a mining pool that only runs over Tor, as a hidden_service .onion - always connecting your mining software to the pool though Tor (of course) and only ever connecting your Zcash wallet via the Tor network.
Encryption, arguably, can only ever buy you more time! Consider that to be truly anonymous you must hide all of the following knowledge forever : Who? What? When? Where? Which? Why? and How!
I don’t know why you’re so concerned about getting Zcash anonymously. Even if you buy it openly, once you convert a t-adr to a z-adr the connection to the original purchase is broken and no future use can be identified without your private key. Actually a single transaction can be identified with the other party’s key, but not connected to any other transaction you make. So if you don’t provide any personally identifying information to the other party, even that is anonymous. This is the great advantage zec has over btc, complete anonymity.