Running a Full Node Behind Tor for Privacy

Been running a full node on Bitcoin Core as a Tor hidden service for a bit now. It's set up on a virtual linux server. Looking to create watch-only wallets on my laptop using this full node to generate unsigned transactions and send signed ones back. Just trying to keep my real IP hidden from the Bitcoin network, gonna use a VPN too but don’t wanna rely on that alone.

Maybe try running an electrum server alongside bitcoind. Then you can use Electrum on your laptop.

Even if you're only using the full node on your virtual server, there’s still a risk. It might expose your IP through addr messages or if it gets a getaddr request from its peers. Not sure how your config affects that though.

You could set up Bitcoin Core on your laptop to only use Tor. That way you’re not putting too much trust in your VPN provider.

Nice, I set my full node to work with the Tor network. My bitcoin.conf is all set up for it. Now it listens only locally. I’ll use SSH port forwarding on my laptop. Like forwarding 28333 to 8333 on my full node. Hope that’s good. Just worried my home IP could leak via DNS or something... might stick with a VPN with a kill switch for safety.

Looks solid, but really need to connect via TOR. If you wanna keep your IP safe and avoid tracking by ISPs, it’s better to use Bitcoin Core with Tor on your watch-only laptop. VPNs and stuff might not cut it if you want full privacy.

Question: why not use -addnode instead of -connect? If your server goes down, you might wanna add additional nodes, like Tor onion ones. This helps keep your IP hidden from the network.

Good point! But yeah, just remember a bad VPN or misconfig can lead to leaks, be it IPv4, IPv6, or DNS.

Definitely avoid regular VPNs. Unless you’re running your own, like with OpenVPN or Wireguard, trust is a big issue. And for Bitcoin Core, using a VPN feels like overkill anyway.

Started testing it out this way now. Might switch things up later. Appreciate the advice!

Using connect makes sure Bitcoin Core talks only with specified nodes, while addnode tries to connect to any others if those fail. I think both can leak your IP through addr messages, but addnode doesn't really help with privacy.

Thanks for all the input! Set it up successfully. The VPN was lifesaver since I accidentally connected straight to the Bitcoin network at one point. But I think the simple setup doesn’t really need a VPN.

Here’s my current client-side config and SSH setup for connecting and the server-side setup too. Just replace the necessary strings.