Can You Trace Monero? 'It's Hard - But Not Impossible,' Says Nick Bax 👨‍💻

Plus: Can a privacy network exist? Is Zcash better than Monero?

In this Premium interview, Laura talks with Nick Bax, who reached out after the episode with Andy Greenberg, where Andy discussed all things traceability in blockchain.

Nick is the Head of Research at Convex Labs. He has consulted on cryptocurrency fraud detection and mitigation, SIM swapping, and on-chain and off-chain forensics for individuals, private companies, and top crypto VCs. Nick has a Ph.D. in structural biology from Stanford University and studied Chemistry at Princeton.

Here are some of the topics discussed:

• how Monero has become harder to trace over time

• whether it's possible for common people to trace transactions in a blockchain

• what is the Monero payment ID and why it is so important

• how easy it is to make mistakes on crypto networks

• what would it take for Zcash to become truly anonymous

• what developments are necessary for privacy to come to fruition in blockchain transactions

• the concept of privacy pools and the comparison with Tornado Cash