How To Privately Use Bitcoin

Shehzan Maredia

Most people use bitcoin without thinking about privacy. If you care about staying private, here’s what you can do.

Receive to a new public key

Always generate a fresh address when receiving bitcoin. Reusing addresses links your transactions together and exposes your financial history. Good self-custody apps like Lava automatically create a new address every time you receive.

Spend using coin control

When you send bitcoin, most wallets auto-select which coins (UTXOs) to spend. If you aren't careful, they might combine coins you own into a single transaction, linking them publicly on the blockchain.

Say you received bitcoin to two different addresses at different times. If you spend both coins in one transaction, anyone looking at the blockchain can see they belong to the same person.

Coin control lets you manually choose which coins to spend. It helps you isolate histories, avoid linking identities, and keep your balance and transaction graph private. If you're interested in using coin control within Lava, reach out to concierge@lava.xyz for help.

Search carefully

If you search Bitcoin addresses, wallet info, or anything related to your transactions online, websites can log your IP address and track your activity. Even blockchain explorers can save your search history.

If that data ever leaks, it can tie you back to specific bitcoin addresses. Always use a VPN and incognito mode to protect your IP and browsing habits. Learn more about how to secure your digital life here.

Buy bitcoin privately

It’s much easier to stay private from the start. Use peer-to-peer marketplaces, Bitcoin ATMs without ID requirements, or mine bitcoin yourself.

Make your KYC’d bitcoin private

If you already bought bitcoin through KYC, it’s not over. You can reclaim privacy by using Lightning Network, PayJoin, or mixing tools to break the link between your identity and your coins.