Monero becomes ever more important. Monero is like a super currencyânot beholden to surveillance or restrictions.
How are they going to enforce this? Like any VPN ban, you have to impose significant restrictions and keep up with it on a national level and become like China, Russia, Iran, or NK.
I donât think Turkey is going to go that far because that would disrupt commerce, life, trade, etc.
Do you think government cares about it? Paypal, Apple Pay and Google Pay are still blocked for example. They are already censoring the internet, watching every tweet, social media post and then putting people into jail if they find something against them, and since last year they donât even need any kind evidence to put people into the jail.
I donât care what the government cares about. If I were in Turkey, Iâd care about how I can get past such blocks. I suspect so would many or most people who are at-least a little tech savvy and knowledgeable.
So, unless it is going to go how those other countries are gone, there will always be a way.
Ruling party is having their own bubble and doesnât care about the opposition party and their voters. They are turning the state slowly into an islamic state. See Iran for example, how do they treat their own citizens? âIfâ they win next elections, then you can consider Turkey is lost to modern civilization.
Itâs not that difficult to enforce this at all. Same with encryption. Thereâs ways around it, of course. But that will no doubt come with hefty penalties acting as a significant deterrent.
Turkey has always been a âno goâ from me, and this solidifies that. But, given how so many (supposedly) âprogressiveâ countries are going this way, can we single out Turkey and paint them in such a negative light when the likes of, for example, the U.K. are doing it behind closed doors and telling such blatant lies to its own citizens and those around the world?
Iâm conflicted.
Mullvadâs response regarding this.
Just losing the Turkish servers doesnât seem like a big deal, hopefully it wonât go beyond that.
Please post a screenshot if you can. Reddit doesnât open for me when on VPN.
Funny, just as I was talking about Monero, people mentioned the payments problem in the reddit thread you linked. (translated using braveâs built-in transaltor, not original text.)
Some interesting comments in that thread, coming from people living under that internet. For example someone said
I preferred proton because it was also e-mail or something. Their applications are removed from app stores and their access is made difficult for ordinary people. Other than that, there will be no problems.
This highlights the importance of android over iOS, even though iOS is 99% of the time more private, it is less free.
Try using libredirect with redlib.catsarch.com it works beautifully.
Alas: having read the article again, my apologies. I take it back:
Officials describe the measures as part of a package aimed at protecting children
Oh, I wonder where Iâve seen this hogwash before 
.
It would be far easier to take if the government (any government) just came out and said âlook: we want to take surveillance up a notchâ than to lie to its citizens and expect them to lap it up. Thankfully, not everyone is a sheep and the very reason why this very forum is of critical importance.
And remember the very same government did cover up 50 million Turkish ID credentials leak. Turkish Citizenship Database Leaked | Hacker News. That should give you an idea about how competent their IT staff is.
Their official statement is to âprotectâ children safety but in reality they just want to control the internet in Turkey.
In my country they blocked access to Mullvadâs websites. So one would need another VPN to access Mullvadâs VPN. ProtonVPN is also blocked⊠so thatâs out. Perhaps Tor is the only option in this case right?
If the laws is to ban vpn then yeah unfortunately you should use tor (with a bridge is an ideal)
if not then go ahead to their repo on github, you can install from there.
Proton:
Reports indicate that TĂŒrkiye may soon only allow âauthorisedâ VPNs in the country; the kind that log usage and hand it over to Turkish authorities, something which weâll never do.
Now weâre observing a surge in signups originating in the region, double over the normal rate.
Could you explain how Monero works? Iâm unfamiliar with it and would like to know how easy it is to use. Also, is it genuinely private and secure?
I can give you resources to learn more that will explain Monero far better than I can.
Slightly outdated ebook that explains it the best. Underlying principles havenât changed. My rec for learning:
Privacyguidesâ analysis:
âhttps://www.privacyguides.org/en/advanced/payments/#cryptocurrencyâ
âhttps://www.privacyguides.org/en/cryptocurrency/â
Official website is getmonero.org. I am just giving you the new, nice looking, soon to be updated to version here:
âhttps://beta.monerodevs.org/â
Yes, it is easy to use. To pay someone, input their wallet address and select how much you wish to pay. To be paid, share your address.
It is secure, private, and untraceable. No software is perfectly secure.
Wallets:
I recommend CakeWallet
To use:
âmonerica.comâ, âkycnot.meâ, âhttps://monero.ecoâ, âhttps://xmrbazaar.comâ
To buy:
To buy:
KYC[1] methods are the easiest and what I recommend for everyone. I will only go into detail with KYC methods in this post.
A. Determine where you are. Are you in a jurisdiction that has CEXs[2] that allow you to purchase Monero with Fiat? If so, Continue to B; otheriwse, continue to C.
B. If you are in the USA/Country where you can buy Monero directly:
1. Open a Kraken[3] account. You will need to prove your identity through a service like Persona.
2. Send money into Kraken from your bank or credit card.
3. Purchase Monero on Kraken with your deposited funds.
4. 7-day hold and then you will be able to withdraw to your self-custody wallet.
Conclusion: You now own Monero. You have payed minimal fees. The government and entire financial system knows you have purchased Monero.
This may or may not be a concern depending on your threat model[4]. Many people overstate this threatâMonero is the 14th largest Cryptocurrency by market cap, it is not particularly suspicious to purchase it. It does not compromise your future Monero transactionsâit is just like withdrawing cash from an ATM, the financial system and government know that you now hold cash, but what it is used for is opaque.
C. If you are not in the USA/are in a jurisdiction where you canât buy Monero directly:
1. Open an account on any KYC CEX, I recommend Kraken. You will need to prove your identity through a service like Persona.
2. Purchase any coin. I recommend Litecoin[5], but Bitcoin or anything works.
3. Create a self-custody wallet for Litecoin, I recommend CakeWallet.
4. Withdraw your Litecoin to CakeWallet.
5. Go to Trocador[6].
6. Create a swap from Litecoin to Monero.
7. Give Trocador one of your Monero addresses to send the converted Monero to.
8. Choose the exchange with the best fees/privacy to your liking (these change throughout the day).
9. Send your Litecoin from CakeWallet to the Litecoin address provided.
10. You will shortly receive Monero to the address you gave Trocador.
Conclusion: You now own Monero. You have payed a small amount of fees. Depending on the pervasiveness and intelligence of blockchain surveillance, the financial system and the government knows that you have purchased Monero, or has the ability to figure out that you have purchased Monero.
All your future transactions are anonymous. Remember, Monero is just patching one hole in making an anonymous transaction. It does not magically make you anonymous if any of these other things are not anonymous: OS, browser, IP address, identities, etc.
[1] Know-your-customer â they say itâs to stop crime.
[2] Centralized Exchange
[3] As respected of a CEX as you will get. They support Monero while most other CEXs have removed it.
[4] https://www.privacyguides.org/en/basics/threat-modeling/
[5] Low fee POW (proof of work) crypto. The second crypto to be created after Bitcoin. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HDyfsemWoAAOLVM.jpg
[6] [https://trocador.app Highly reputable instant exchange aggregator. They do not touch your funds, they just aggregate other instant exchanges and provide a guarantee for no-KYC. Excellent customer support. You will pay about a 1% fee converting your crypto through an instant exchange. Instant exchanges are CEXs, but since they deal only in Crypto and not Fiat, they can afford to easily be no-KYC.