2026-01-30 –, Machankura
Bitcoin is a public ledger. That transparency enables self-custody and auditability, but it also creates real privacy pitfalls once you reuse addresses, merge coins, or interact with custodians.
In this talk I’ll explain what “blockchain analytics” can and cannot infer from on-chain data, why common heuristics produce false positives, and what practical habits reduce unnecessary data leakage. I’ll also explain how Sixpence structures full-node data into accounting-grade reporting.
Goal: help Bitcoiners protect themselves, and help businesses/regulators avoid decisions based on bad data.
Sixpence builds infrastructure that turns raw blockchain data into structured, queryable records for real-world use cases: audits, proof-of-reserves style checks, incident response after theft/scams, and financial reporting.
Because this conference is full of people who care deeply about privacy, I’ll be direct about trade-offs:
• What on-chain data actually reveals (and what it doesn’t)
• Why clustering and change-detection are probabilistic, and where they fail
• Where “identity attribution” really comes from (usually off-chain)
• How poor analytics leads to poor policy and collateral damage
I’ll then share practical, non-evasion privacy hygiene for Bitcoin users (data minimisation, wallet practices, avoiding common linkage mistakes).
If you’re a Bitcoiner: you’ll leave with a clearer threat model. If you’re building with Bitcoin: you’ll see what “accounting-grade” transaction data looks like and why it matters.
Carel de Jager is an engineer with a passion for Bitcoin, Cryptography, and Energy. Since 2016, he has trained developers, corporates, and governments globally on the benefits and use cases of Bitcoin. In 2019, he shifted his focus to product development, leading to his current role as CEO of SilverSixpence, where he spearheads the development of innovative blockchain accounting solutions. He also serves as CTO of Bitmach, a leading commercial Bitcoin mining company in South Africa.
Twitter: @sovereignCarel
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