I saw a good question on a crypto forum. A person stated that their keys are safe and that their seed phrase is hidden, so their Bitcoin is secure. However, does it really matter if people can see how much BTC they own or if they can track their transactions?

Of course it does. Security and privacy are entirely separate matters.

Your seed phrase protects you from hackers stealing your coins over the internet, but it doesn't prevent someone in the real world from finding out that you are rich. If it becomes known that you hold a large amount of BTC and that you know your address, then that does present a real threat. All you need to do is search 'crypto owner kidnapped' and you'll see that this has happened many times; no hacking is required, merely the fact that you are a target.

A few tips that came up in the discussion:

- Do not use the same address again. If you do, then anyone will be able to keep watching it forever and see all the payments you receive.

- Whenever possible, avoid using KYC exchanges. As soon as you verify your ID with them, the exchange will know that the address is yours, and companies such as Chainalysis will also be able to trace the funds from that point.

- Never put your balance or address online, whether on social media or on forums.

- Spread your coins among various addresses rather than putting them all in one pile.

Bitcoin provides only pseudo-anonymity, not complete anonymity; although your balance is public if someone has your address, your name remains hidden unless you connect it yourself, typically by doing so through an exchange.

In short, you should keep your keys safe and at the same time keep quiet about how many you have. That is what actually ensures your safety.