Glossary · deep dive

Pseudonymity

Acting under an identifier (like a Bitcoin address) that is not your name, but can be linked to you.

Bitcoin addresses are not names, but every transaction is public on the blockchain. That is pseudonymity, not anonymity: once an address is linked to you (for example through an exchange with kyc), your history can be traced.

The white paper's advice: keep public keys unlinked to your identity and use a new key pair for each transaction.