Tumbling Every time someone sends bitcoins from one address/wallet to another, EVERYONE knows about it. Yes, everyone knows every transaction in and out of everyone else's wallets. The trick to being anonymous is to get bitcoins from a wallet that is linked to you (the one you funded on circle or coinbase) into a wallet that no one can associate with you. To do this, we're going to use a tumbling service. A tumbling service obscures who sent bitcoin to where, and typically charges a 1-3% fee.

I really would not recommend a Tumbling service.

Firstly some initial points:

• Assume: Tumblers exist mainly for criminal purposes (from the benign, like getting gear, to the more malevolent)
• Assume: Your initial wallet is traceable to you
• Understand: All bitcoin transactions and "tumbles", if you like, are easily traceable through the blockchain - all the way back to the initial wallet.
• Understand: A tumbler works by trading your coins for other coins

Here is the problem - two scenarios:

1. Your coins eventually end up in the hands of a serious criminal enterprise. Upon investigation by LEO, the coins they have used are traced back to the initial wallet - yours. Explanation time?
2. The coins you are using are from a previous criminal enterprise. Same issue as above through a different series of events.

Here are other possible scenarios:

• An enterprise dealing with criminals is far more likely and capable of running a scam since it's users would not as readily report it to LEO. (OP has mentioned this in his post).

Now if you really want TOTALLY anonymous bitcoins you can run the OPs process but skip the tumbler and TOR. Go to localbitcoins.com and buy them from a dealer at a premium. Look for someone who will meet in person and accepts cash without ID (most of them will, at a slight cost premium). In my country, most of them accept cash deposit at the bank (they give you an account, you go to the bank and make a cash deposit, no ID needed). The site has inbuilt trust and review system, so you can stick with dealers who have done 1000s of transactions, and you can also make use of Escrow to ensure further safety of your purchase. You can make a new wallet using TOR or a public VPN or an internet cafe, but nothing is really traceable at that point. The start and the end are anonymised with this process.