I am a huge advocate for privacy, even more so in recent years when our data is being sold without us getting anything out of the deal.

With my background in IT-sec, I would like to share how you can stay 100% anonymous online.
Let’s start!

Step 1: Monero

You might have heard that cryptocurrencies are anonymous, but that is completly false. It is actually the opposite, extremely trackable. In fact, that is the definition of a blockchain, to be able to trace transactions back to the beginning of the chain. If you ever sold or bought using a centralized exchange, your entire chain of transactions are linked to your identity. That is not the case about Monero though. Monero is the longest lived privacy coin that has yet to be cracked, thanks to its awesome community that keeps developing it to become more private. It is such a headache for US tax collection agency IRS that they are willing to pay $650k to anyone that can help them track transactions.

1.1: Register at a fiat to crypto on ramp. I highly recommend Kraken.com, their very long track record is flawless, and they actively contribute to the Monero project.

1.2: Deposit funds and buy Monero (XMR).

1.3: Get a Monero wallet. I recommend the Monero GUI Wallet, it is easy to use. You do need to sync the blockchain though, and that is about 30GB. It can also take a while.

1.4: Withdraw the Monero to your Wallet address.

1.5: When the funds have arrived in your wallet, create a new address within the same wallet and sent the Monero there. This breaks the chain of identity from the exchange, since monero transactions cannot be traced.

Now you have untracable money! Lets get the VPN!

Step 2: VPN

Since this guide is to be totally anonymous without ANY trace of your identity left anywhere, we are going to take some extra steps to make sure of that.

2.1: Get a free ProtonMail account. After you've done that, you can sign in to ProtonVPN with the same account. Its a free VPN. Not the one we are going to use, but we use this VPN to hide our identity when purchasing the real VPN. Download and install the ProtonVPN software, and run the VPN. Make sure your IP has changed by googling "Whats my ip".

2.2: Head over to IVPN.net, this is the real VPN that we are going to use.

I recommend that you read around on the website, to know what you are using your money on. This VPN is highly recommended in the infosec community. It is located on Iceland.

2.3: Click on "Generate IVPN account", select the time period you would like to buy. I recommend around a year, since we went through all this hassle to get here.

2.4: You get assigned a "Account ID". This is a very important string, since we dont use email. You cant recover a lost ID. You use the ID to sign in to the VPN. Dont lose it.

2.5: Click on the Monero button. (I URGE YOU AGAIN TO HAVE WRITTEN DOWN YOUR ACCOUNT ID BY THIS POINT).

2.6: An address and an amount appears on screen. Pay the specified amount to the specified address. After you've sent the transaction, it takes a couple of minutes for IVPN to confirm payment recieved.

Now you have an anonymous account! Download the IVPN client, remove ProtonVPN from your computer and sign in to IVPN with you account ID.

Congratulations, you are now anonymous on the internet. Use this power wisely.

IMPORTANT SIDENOTE: A VPN is only as secure as you let it be. If you connect to your VPN, and log in to your anonymous twitter account, but at the same time you open a new tab and log in to your normal Youtube account, you effectivly burn the twitter account. This might be a little bit of paranoia, but that is useful on the internet. A person/state with a large amount of resources can piece together your identity from this slip up. Is it likely? No, but it is POSSIBLE.

If you found this guide helpful, please use the Kraken.com link in the text. I have partnered with Kraken, because i am convinced that it is best choice by a magnitude for a fiat on-ramp / off-ramp. Wont cost you anything, and you help support me doing more of these.

You can also follow me on Twitter, that makes me happy as well.