56 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
56 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
# Identities
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Bisq 2 allows you to use the application with more than one identity. This enables levels of privacy that would have been difficult to obtain in Bisq 1. Read more to understand why and how you can leverage this feature.
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_Note: the contents of this page are strongly adjusted to Bisq Easy, the only trade protocol available in Bisq 2 at launch. Identity management is strongly related with the details of the different trade protocols, so not everything that appears here will be applicable or smart in future protocols. Come back in the future to see updated information._
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# What is an identity
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Bisq is a network of people running the software and connecting to each other. The software you run in your laptop exposes a pseudonymous identity towards others when you trade, use the private chats, discuss in the forums, etc. Bisq 2 allows you to have multiple identities that you can switch to at any time. To you, it will be a few clicks. To the rest of the network, it will be as if you were a completely different person, totally unrelated from your previously used identity.
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You can always check what is the identity you are currently in the top right corner of the application.
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# Why bother having more than one identity
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Bisq is a much more privacy-friendly option when compared to alternatives like Centralized Exchanges. Nevertheless, trading with partners means that you will be revealing some information when sharing payment details. This could be because you pay your partner with a bank account, and thus he can see the details of the payer. Or because you need to receive a payment from him, which requires you sharing the details of your accounts.
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Trading repeatedly with a single identity will give opportunities for other users in Bisq to tie different information points to you. For example, if you use two different bank accounts with the same identity, other peers could deduce that the account holders of both are somehow related.
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Using multiple identities allows you to break such connections. Starting fresh with a new identity prevents other users from accumulating information around a single identity, making it harder for them to build a full picture.
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# Pros and cons of using multiple identities
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You are free to manage your identities in Bisq 2 as you please, going all the way from always using the same one to starting a new identity every time you start the application. However, you should be aware of the implications of doing so.
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The main con of reusing your identity is reduced privacy, as we discussed earlier in this page. On the other hand, reusing your identity is more convenient and less of a headache, since it doesn't really require you to take any special action. Reusing your identity is actually beneficial if you want to act as a seller in Bisq Easy: you are going to have to invest in building up a reputation, so using a different identity means not benefiting from your existing reputation that took some effort to obtain.
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On the other hand, the great benefit of using many identities is that you will experience the best privacy possible. The main disadvantages are the proactive management from your side (you will need to track your different identities, which might be specially cumbersome if you have multiple open trades across them) and that any reputation you have in one identity won't transfer to the other ones.
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Summing up:
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- If you are planninng on only selling in Bisq Easy, you probably want to have just one identity.
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- If you are planning on only buying in Bisq Easy, you can benefit from having multiple identities if you appreciate the privacy improvement.
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- If you are planning on both buying and selling, the smartest option is to have one identity dedicated to selling where you build your reputation, and one or more additional identities for the trades where you act as a buyer.
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# Managing multiple identities
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When you use Bisq 2 for the first time, you will create an identity. It is not possible to use Bisq 2 without one. You can always see your active identity in the top right corner of the application.
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To create a new identity, #TODO.
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To switch between different identities, #TODO
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# Reputation and identities
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Building up reputation is key to being a successful seller in Bisq Easy. Reputation is associated to a single identity, so any reputation you have in your current identity won't be usable. Be mindful about this: as a seller, it makes much more sense to accumulate all your reputation in a single identity.
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You can read more about reputation here: link to https://bisq.wiki/Reputation.
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# Technical details
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Your identity is, strictly speaking, a private key. It looks like this #TODO
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Since that is not very friendly for us humans, you also have a short handle, a nickname, and a robot. You can choose your nickname, but not the other elements.
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If your nick ever collides with another user in chats, both of you will also show your short-handle under the nick so that the rest of the network can clearly tell apart who is who.
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