Topic: [2019-05-22] Dutch Authorities Shut Down Bestmixer (Read 417 times)
Since that mixing bitcoins is not yet illegal in any country in the world, I wonder if this is a worrying precedent and what will happen to those who have used this mixer for privacy reasons, to test it or for any other legitimate reason. surely many transactions transited on bestmixer were also legitimate. That message left at the bottom of the site (YOU ARE NOT ANONYMOUS) seems almost a sort of threat. They must clearly say what they are going to do with the data or if they intend to prosecute all the users who have used it. Privacy is still a right or am I wrong?
technically any coin mixing service can be accused of money laundering and shut down
I can't believe bestmixer hosted their servers in the country that can easily comply with the european court's decisions
this is a bad precedent , bitcoin is not that anonymous to start with and if many mixers are taken down , those who want to preserve their anonymity will have not so many options left
and even worse , there will be (if not are already) special services controlled mixers - as non anonymous as it can get
I can't believe bestmixer hosted their servers in the country that can easily comply with the european court's decisions
this is a bad precedent , bitcoin is not that anonymous to start with and if many mixers are taken down , those who want to preserve their anonymity will have not so many options left
and even worse , there will be (if not are already) special services controlled mixers - as non anonymous as it can get
How much d u estimate is the potential to get tainted coins out of it?
Who has highest interest to use it?
Meh
do you mean mixers in general or the supposedly government controlled mixers?
since its a mixer its highly likely to get all sort of coins from it
I don't think the service itself is tracing the coins that are coming to it , it is not their concern
but now they might as well do so , since you do not want to be shut down because some Al-Auqeda leader decided to send you 100 bitcoins to mix
either that or open services in the countries that spit on the EU and US laws and sanctions
I knew this was going to happen and you guys should not be upset because mixer sites does not really helps us at all but only makes crypto looks bad. It's the go to for money launderers obviously and only a small percentage of it are legal transactions of people who only wants anonymity. I know I have no evidence about the laundering accusation but it's very obvious and if I'm one of these mafia or syndicate, mixer sites are a big help.
it's not even clear what law was being violated. europol stated they are unsure to what extent laundering was taking place on bestmixer!
you may not realize it, but the bitcoin protocol is not very private. leaking IP addresses, having a permanently available ledger history to cluster addresses, the transfer of taint from input to output. between this and all the PII we are leaking through our browsers, we can be deanonymized. anyone who values their privacy will do something about it through mixing, coinjoin, or something else. it can be as simple as not wanting to be linked to porn or gambling. some exchanges will ban your account for links to bitcoin casinos or sportsbooks.
I knew this was going to happen and you guys should not be upset because mixer sites does not really helps us at all but only makes crypto looks bad. It's the go to for money launderers obviously and only a small percentage of it are legal transactions of people who only wants anonymity. I know I have no evidence about the laundering accusation but it's very obvious and if I'm one of these mafia or syndicate, mixer sites are a big help.
technically any coin mixing service can be accused of money laundering and shut down
I can't believe bestmixer hosted their servers in the country that can easily comply with the european court's decisions
this is a bad precedent , bitcoin is not that anonymous to start with and if many mixers are taken down , those who want to preserve their anonymity will have not so many options left
and even worse , there will be (if not are already) special services controlled mixers - as non anonymous as it can get
I can't believe bestmixer hosted their servers in the country that can easily comply with the european court's decisions
this is a bad precedent , bitcoin is not that anonymous to start with and if many mixers are taken down , those who want to preserve their anonymity will have not so many options left
and even worse , there will be (if not are already) special services controlled mixers - as non anonymous as it can get
How much d u estimate is the potential to get tainted coins out of it?
Who has highest interest to use it?
Meh
technically any coin mixing service can be accused of money laundering and shut down
I can't believe bestmixer hosted their servers in the country that can easily comply with the european court's decisions
this is a bad precedent , bitcoin is not that anonymous to start with and if many mixers are taken down , those who want to preserve their anonymity will have not so many options left
and even worse , there will be (if not are already) special services controlled mixers - as non anonymous as it can get
I can't believe bestmixer hosted their servers in the country that can easily comply with the european court's decisions
this is a bad precedent , bitcoin is not that anonymous to start with and if many mixers are taken down , those who want to preserve their anonymity will have not so many options left
and even worse , there will be (if not are already) special services controlled mixers - as non anonymous as it can get
I read the same news from a different bitcoin news website. However it was very funny because I did not know if it was the news of Bestmixer's shutdown or the promotion of Bitcoin SV hehehehe.
[snip]
Source coingeek.com/crypto-mixing-servic....
You should stop reading and heeding articles published on congeek, all of them are fraud.[snip]
Source coingeek.com/crypto-mixing-servic....
so there may be a relationship and thus disappear after the first was on sized.
Or just a matter of being cautious? We know bitblender run for how many years, bitmixer closed but they just ignore it and still operate the service, after then, Bestmixer shutdown then now they just announced for such news.Though I have a guess that one of the governments' agencies are trying to investigate or even trying to shut chipmixer but still a matter of when, or there's new processing of mixing method already trying to build or still in the experimental process, who knows.
Enabling mixing is fraud, binance is fraud and telling ppl not to read critical stuff is a red flag that u might want to help hide fraud.
Na.
I read the same news from a different bitcoin news website. However it was very funny because I did not know if it was the news of Bestmixer's shutdown or the promotion of Bitcoin SV hehehehe.
[snip]
Source coingeek.com/crypto-mixing-servic....
You should stop reading and heeding articles published on congeek, all of them are fraud.[snip]
Source coingeek.com/crypto-mixing-servic....
so there may be a relationship and thus disappear after the first was on sized.
Or just a matter of being cautious? We know bitblender run for how many years, bitmixer closed but they just ignore it and still operate the service, after then, Bestmixer shutdown then now they just announced for such news.Though I have a guess that one of the governments' agencies are trying to investigate or even trying to shut chipmixer but still a matter of when, or there's new processing of mixing method already trying to build or still in the experimental process, who knows.
Such things and even protocol changes that are on purpose for criminal use will kill any crypto btw
As far as I know, only 1 mixer has been shut down by a government (Bestmixer). All others closed of their own decision (Bitmixer, Coinmixer, BitBlender,...), correct me if I'm wrong.
As long there is demand we will always have Bitcoin mixers. Now it's also up to them to be proactive
Perhaps the common denominator among all these Mixers is suspicion of money laundering, where Bitmixer disappeared after btc-e sized for money laundering. Same happens with Bestmixer &BitBlender so there may be a relationship and thus disappear after the first was on sized.As long there is demand we will always have Bitcoin mixers. Now it's also up to them to be proactive
Many platforms in EU countries are subject to regulatory regulations so we may see more of these in the future.
As far as I know, only 1 mixer has been shut down by a government (Bestmixer). All others closed of their own decision (Bitmixer, Coinmixer, BitBlender,...), correct me if I'm wrong.
As long there is demand we will always have Bitcoin mixers. Now it's also up to them to be proactive
As long there is demand we will always have Bitcoin mixers. Now it's also up to them to be proactive
In connection to this news, Bitblender has shutdown its website and mixing service voluntarily. This might be the time for other mixers to improve their set up.
What countries are mixing services welcome? How should mixing services' servers be set up so it would be impossible to shutdown?
However, the number of Bitcoin mixers has dwindled in recent years. Some services pulled an exit scam, whereas others were shut down by the government. One such service was recently targeted by a group of European law enforcement agencies. In the case of Bitcoin Blender, its early demise has a very different reason. It appears the team running the show decided it would be best to end on a high.
This decision is rather unusual, as very few service providers effectively get to shut down on their own accord. For Bitcoin Blender, the news came as a surprise to its users. No further explanation other than a brief message on the project’s website was provided. This leaves a lot of room for speculation as to what went down exactly. However, users are advised to withdraw their funds as soon as possible to avoid any issues.
For a service which has been around for roughly five years, Bitcoin Blender has never gotten into any legal issues as far as users are aware. However, the swift change of direction by the team seems to indicate they may have come under some scrutiny or simply didn’t want to end up like other mixing services. It is possible this is an impulse decision which may be reverted once the dust settles, but for now, things will remain as they are.
Read in full https://nulltx.com/bitcoin-mixing-service-bitcoin-blender-throws-in-the-towel/
What countries are mixing services welcome? How should mixing services' servers be set up so it would be impossible to shutdown?
However, the number of Bitcoin mixers has dwindled in recent years. Some services pulled an exit scam, whereas others were shut down by the government. One such service was recently targeted by a group of European law enforcement agencies. In the case of Bitcoin Blender, its early demise has a very different reason. It appears the team running the show decided it would be best to end on a high.
This decision is rather unusual, as very few service providers effectively get to shut down on their own accord. For Bitcoin Blender, the news came as a surprise to its users. No further explanation other than a brief message on the project’s website was provided. This leaves a lot of room for speculation as to what went down exactly. However, users are advised to withdraw their funds as soon as possible to avoid any issues.
For a service which has been around for roughly five years, Bitcoin Blender has never gotten into any legal issues as far as users are aware. However, the swift change of direction by the team seems to indicate they may have come under some scrutiny or simply didn’t want to end up like other mixing services. It is possible this is an impulse decision which may be reverted once the dust settles, but for now, things will remain as they are.
Read in full https://nulltx.com/bitcoin-mixing-service-bitcoin-blender-throws-in-the-towel/
It was always a very shady project and since it was operating within the EU, the authorities moved in quickly and liquidated the mixer. Feels bad for the promoters. They were also running a very active signature campaign here in Bitcointalk. Now all that is gone. Hopefully Chipmixer and the other sits will be able to fill in the gap and serve the users.
@joniboini. I googled who owns coingeek to see what I get. Well, Coingeek's parent company is the Ayre Group which is owned by Calvin Ayre, who is also a Craig is Satoshi supporter and Bitcoin SV pumper whale hehehe.
Bitcoin sv would eventually be a totally centralized project. This type of news show that they want to transform Bitcoin sv in some kind of controlled corporation that could operate in any country.
About Bestmixer, the Dutch Authorities need to make it clear what they will do with the information they collect. Not everyone that used the service was doing something ilegal. And they do not have the right to save information from people they will not investigate
@joniboini. I googled who owns coingeek to see what I get. Well, Coingeek's parent company is the Ayre Group which is owned by Calvin Ayre, who is also a Craig is Satoshi supporter and Bitcoin SV pumper whale hehehe.
How the hell they narrate this story to promote BSV?
Too many claims without solid background here. For example, how the hell company would feel safe if BSV and his brother are so full of drama, didn't have any problem doing a chain re-org or attacking other chains just to show off.
The journalist or that site is clearly a paid shill.
Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of Bitcoin Association, is a former 21+year digital technology lawyer in the U.S., and he emphasizes: “It’s time for Bitcoin to grow up, which includes getting out of the wild wilderness of cryptocurrency’s adolescent years and mature into a lawfully compliant ecosystem.
Does this equal no to privacy then?
I read the same news from a different bitcoin news website. However it was very funny because I did not know if it was the news of Bestmixer's shutdown or the promotion of Bitcoin SV hehehehe.
How much might that journalist be paid for? It must be good.
The clampdown on Bestmixer is a clear case of why it’s not advisable to promote a crypto ecosystem that it lawless, especially with government oversight is coming. It’s also why Bitcoin SV (BSV) is building a regulation-friendly environment for Bitcoin to work within the existing legal systems. Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of Bitcoin Association, is a former 21+year digital technology lawyer in the U.S., and he emphasizes: “It’s time for Bitcoin to grow up, which includes getting out of the wild wilderness of cryptocurrency’s adolescent years and mature into a lawfully compliant ecosystem. Expect more government agency crackdowns such as this one against BestMixer. This also reinforces why Bitcoin SV is leading the way to create a safe ecosystem that big businesses and consumers will feel comfortable using.”
Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) is today the only Bitcoin project that follows the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper, and that follows the original Satoshi protocol and design. BSV is the only public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin and will massively scale to become the world’s new money and enterprise blockchain.
Source https://coingeek.com/crypto-mixing-service-bestmixer-seized-over-money-laundering-claims/
How much might that journalist be paid for? It must be good.
The clampdown on Bestmixer is a clear case of why it’s not advisable to promote a crypto ecosystem that it lawless, especially with government oversight is coming. It’s also why Bitcoin SV (BSV) is building a regulation-friendly environment for Bitcoin to work within the existing legal systems. Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of Bitcoin Association, is a former 21+year digital technology lawyer in the U.S., and he emphasizes: “It’s time for Bitcoin to grow up, which includes getting out of the wild wilderness of cryptocurrency’s adolescent years and mature into a lawfully compliant ecosystem. Expect more government agency crackdowns such as this one against BestMixer. This also reinforces why Bitcoin SV is leading the way to create a safe ecosystem that big businesses and consumers will feel comfortable using.”
Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) is today the only Bitcoin project that follows the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper, and that follows the original Satoshi protocol and design. BSV is the only public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin and will massively scale to become the world’s new money and enterprise blockchain.
Source https://coingeek.com/crypto-mixing-service-bestmixer-seized-over-money-laundering-claims/
The reason for the investigation was a report from cyber security company McAfee.
But they do not talk why hell the McAfee cyber security company has made this report. Is a very vague news and without any relevant data of the real reason to involve: DIGIT; Europol; FACT and the authorities of Luxembourg, France and Latvia ... in an investigation against a mixer. Something very serious must have happened for this mixer service to have been investigated and seized
It wasn't necessary as it will only make things harder to trace. Hackers will simply convert their stolen funds into monero and other privacy coins and it will be impossible to follow what happens next after that
Coinjoin type of features will eventually completely replace centralized mixers, and I think that's a good thing for all involved parties chasing the highest obtainable degree of privacy. I'm not sure how long it will take, especially with how this will bump the main-chain fees further, but it's only a matter of time in the end.
Sidechains employing Confidential Transactions and other obfuscating techniques like Dandelion routing could also provide another avenue to superior privacy -- assuming there is enough traffic on the sidechain network. I'm not sure what type of consensus change would be required to add CT to Bitcoin -- plus transactions are still 3x the size of standard -- so I'm not sure we'll ever see it integrated into Bitcoin.
Blockstream's Liquid is a start, but I'm not that comfortable with the federated consensus model and we're obviously not seeing huge transaction volumes yet, either.
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