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Topic: eXch - instant exchange BTC / LN / XMR / LTC / ETH / ERC20 - page 57. (Read 32442 times)

legendary
Activity: 1134
Merit: 1127
Wheel of Whales 🐳
I am not saying that every trx should be monitored or logged, they can see if a crypto is coming from illegal source like hacked exchange assets or ponzi scheme address and if such crypto enter eXCH platform, least eXCH can do is refuse to process the trade and send the crypto to where it came from (-% fee). Or better to just donate the assets for a good cause.
To know if a tx is from an illicit source, you have to be spying on all tx's. Imagine if every custodial privacy tool like mixers and no-kyc instant exchanges start confiscating funds and attacking BTC's fungibility in this way, people who care about their privacy would stay away from such services, and it does not mean they use stolen funds, but because there is a possibility that their funds can be confiscated for any reason.

As a privacy tool, you shouldn't be spying on people's utxo's or rejecting their funds for mixing, or swapping if it is an instant swap exchange, the moment you start doing that you are no longer a privacy tool, but more like a centralized exchange or similar services.
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 1065
Crypto Swap Exchange
--snip--   Or better to just donate the assets for a good cause.

I don't agree. Stealing money from thiefs is still stealing.

Any scammer/hacker will always find someone to exchange his altcoins or BTC into Monero ; or will always find a place to mix his coins if needed. This fight is lost in advance.

If, for example, scammers bother you, the only way to combat them is to educate users -as much as possible- so they can avoid to get scammed. Treating the consequences but not the roots is useless.
newbie
Activity: 6
Merit: 0
I understand and respect the need for privacy of someone OWN HARD EARNED MONEY, but when/if you know that scammers and cybercriminals use your service it would be better to report their trades back to the police requests.

Scammers and Criminals bring no good to our world.
you don't want all the remaining privacy tools and services to become honeypots for the government, do you?
No, this service is the best of all.

I am not saying that every trx should be monitored or logged, they can see if a crypto is coming from illegal source like hacked exchange assets or ponzi scheme address and if such crypto enter eXCH platform, least eXCH can do is refuse to process the trade and send the crypto to where it came from (-% fee). Or better to just donate the assets for a good cause.
legendary
Activity: 1134
Merit: 1127
Wheel of Whales 🐳
I understand and respect the need for privacy of someone OWN HARD EARNED MONEY, but when/if you know that scammers and cybercriminals use your service it would be better to report their trades back to the police requests.

Scammers and Criminals bring no good to our world.
Obviously we all know scammers and criminals are no good, but if you call your service pro-privacy, then you cannot selectively offer privacy by hiring a blockchain analysis company to spy on people's utxo's and tell you if they should be allowed to swap their coins or not, eXch doesn't require kyc for a swap, you just swap your coins instantly after you make a deposit, they can't know how and where the coins came from, because they don't spy on you.

eXch also doesn't log ip addresses and if you don't believe that, then they are also tor-friendly, so you can use their onion link and connect to their service over tor to ensure your privacy, in that case, there is no way they can report back to LE when they are retrospectively required to provide info about a certain tx. Op, there are already enough centralized exchanges and services doing what you ask, you don't want all the remaining privacy tools and services to become honeypots for the government, do you?
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 1065
Crypto Swap Exchange
I understand and respect the need for privacy of someone OWN HARD EARNED MONEY, but when/if you know that scammers and cybercriminals use your service it would be better to report their trades back to the police requests.

Scammers and Criminals bring no good to our world.

In my humble opinion, the principle of a service focused on respecting the privacy and data of its users, is precisely that it doesn't arbitrarily choose to whom it offers privacy or not.
newbie
Activity: 6
Merit: 0
I understand and respect the need for privacy of someone OWN HARD EARNED MONEY, but when/if you know that scammers and cybercriminals use your service it would be better to report their trades back to the police requests.

Scammers and Criminals bring no good to our world.
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 1065
Crypto Swap Exchange
200 BTC throughput mark surpassed in our aggregation wallet pool just in ~1 month after its launch!

https://mempool.space/address/bc1qu2dq8w8lv8v3l7lr2c5tvx3yltv22r3nhkx7w0

Add another 300 BTC monthly throughput in our mixed wallet pool (that can't be tracked publicly) making it ~500 BTC throughput in last 30 days. And this is without counting other currencies!

That's great, well done!  Cheesy



https://etherscan.io/tx/0x21f0da3982926d693c915b30a8a138db48f469989bff3e9e6434916fa2d3783f

Well done also on your donation to Simplex, I discovered this service recently thanks to a fellow bitcointalker and I'm very pleased!

However, I'm really surprised to see that the team behind Simplex uses Binance's services  Grin Grin Grin

full member
Activity: 124
Merit: 1129
200 BTC throughput mark surpassed in our aggregation wallet pool just in ~1 month after its launch!

https://mempool.space/address/bc1qu2dq8w8lv8v3l7lr2c5tvx3yltv22r3nhkx7w0

Add another 300 BTC monthly throughput in our mixed wallet pool (that can't be tracked publicly) making it ~500 BTC throughput in last 30 days. And this is without counting other currencies!
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 816
Top Crypto Casino
I must also mention that going to any court physically is out of question for us since our team is currently located on a desert island which was the closest habitable location after a boating accident

You are now like a modern Robinson Crusoe Smiley

That is also an amazing reason not to show up physically at any court, even if the terms were correct from the opposite side  Cheesy
legendary
Activity: 1680
Merit: 6524
Fully-fledged Merit Cycler|Spambuster'23|Pie Baker
That's correct. We have already requested clarifications from them but no reply was provided to us.

This is just one more example that bureaucracy is the same allover the world.

I must also mention that going to any court physically is out of question for us since our team is currently located on a desert island which was the closest habitable location after a boating accident

You are now like a modern Robinson Crusoe Smiley
full member
Activity: 124
Merit: 1129
Isn't this an incorrect, even carelessly drafted statement, and therefore it is possible not to give an official answer at all and not to go to court on completely legal grounds? I mean, if they were interested in this, they should have made it clear, whom exactly the addressed to.

That's correct. We have already requested clarifications from them but no reply was provided to us. I must also mention that going to any court physically is out of question for us since our team is currently located on a desert island which was the closest habitable location after a boating accident and there are currently no transportation options available for getting to the mainland. Thanks satellite broadband and autonomous energy sources we will be able to remain here for some time. It's a nice place after all.
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 816
Top Crypto Casino
At this time it's not even clear whether they addressed their request correctly, since our legal company name isn't specified in the request. They have addressed a court order to a string "exch.cx" which makes unclear whether it was addressed to a domain name, a website, a host or someone wearing a T-shirt with "exch.cx" written on it.

Isn't this an incorrect, even carelessly drafted statement, and therefore it is possible not to give an official answer at all and not to go to court on completely legal grounds? I mean, if they were interested in this, they should have made it clear, whom exactly the addressed to.
full member
Activity: 124
Merit: 1129
Oh -- I understand. Perhaps after November 16th you can share some more details about how things took course at the Court? (Obviously, only if the situation will allow you to do it).

In that particular case it should become available publicly after conclusion, but if we have anything earlier from our lawyer we'll share it. At this time it's not even clear whether they addressed their request correctly, since our legal company name isn't specified in the request. They have addressed a court order to a string "exch.cx" which makes unclear whether it was addressed to a domain name, a website, a host or someone wearing a T-shirt with "exch.cx" written on it.
legendary
Activity: 1680
Merit: 6524
Fully-fledged Merit Cycler|Spambuster'23|Pie Baker
Answering all your questions would reveal some business details containing information that should remain off-the-record at least till the current subpoena is cleared.

Oh -- I understand. Perhaps after November 16th you can share some more details about how things took course at the Court? (Obviously, only if the situation will allow you to do it).
full member
Activity: 124
Merit: 1129
What happened during previous Court orders? Did you present there? Did you come with a lawyer...? Did a lawyer go there in your name...? Care to share more details about what happened in the previous situations?
Similar, now... are you going to user a lawyer's services for this order?

Answering all your questions would reveal some business details containing information that should remain off-the-record at least till the current subpoena is cleared. However, I would gladly answer your questions via private E2EE communication channels.

I'm curious as to what's the motive behind adding RUNE? Are you planning to implement Thorchain for cross-chain trading for all pairs? or just RUNE ones? I also want to know, if you're going to use Thorchain directly, or simply use Thorswap?

We consider Thorchain's native token (RUNE) a reliable coin since its network brings a lot of benefits to the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Recently we have launched an experimental feature of ETH/BTC swaps via the Avalanche Bridge, since we had some requests from users who have volumetric ETH/BTC swap requirements that eXch couldn't satisfy and since the Avalanche's Bridge can only be used from a privacy-hostile app called 'Core', we have enabled this optional functionality for them to provide 'rails' that automate the whole process of swapping between native BTC and ETH via Avalanche Bridge. During the development of that feature, we have found out that the Avalanche Bridge is far from being decentralized and that their nodes responsible for bridging BTC and ETH are closed-source and are fully controlled by Ava Labs. We have found that Ava Labs have implemented AML screening (https://medium.com/@AvaLabsOfficial/updates-to-the-avalanche-bridge-dc0d33b1b475) in their BTC and ETH bridging mechanisms that are used to selectively stop certain coins from bridging in order to confiscate these funds (or traditionally speaking - to scam their users). We have also found that they have already confiscated 85 BTC from someone without returning it (https://forum.avax.network/t/why-i-use-core-bridge-has-been-sent-btc-but-i-didnt-received-my-btc-b/1157/3) and out of curiosity reached that victim and chatted with them about this, confirming that their 85 BTC are still being held by Ava Labs without any reason. After creating a disposable Discord account just for research purposes since such communities reside there, we have found that there are more victims who lost their funds to Ava Labs selective scamming. This made us wonder whether providing Avalanche Bridge on our service was a good decision and afterwards found out that their AML screening mechanisms do not affect amounts below 5 BTC, which we have implemented as a limit for these. However, later we have found that there is another network that provides native BTC/ETH swaps with considerable liquidity - Thorchain. After a rigorous research performed by us, we have concluded that it's truly decentralized and makes Avalanche Bridge obsolete, since Thorchain's native swap functionality makes part of the network consensus and its code is fully open-source. We have since decided to replace the Avalanche Bridge rails we provide with Thorchain which will be released this week. We have also found Thorchain useful to rebalance our own liquidity when needed without relying on unsafe and unreliable Web3 ecosystem and codebase that is constantly exposed to dependency supply chain attacks.

Please note that Thorswap doesn't make part of Thorchain at all and as it's just a privacy-hostile frontend for Thorchain, thus, eXch could be used as an alternative frontend to Thorswap (however, for now, limited only to the coins and tokens that we support).

Maybe, unless you have some weak link and leaks from inside your team Wink
I hope nearly impossible is good enough, since we know you are facing powers with unlimited financial sources on the other side.

Our opsec is much better than Bestmixer's, Chipmixer's or Whirlwind's altogether and we haven't made any mistakes in our opsec any close to such were made by them, apparently from the beginning of their existence, as some court data and other events revealed about some of them afterwards. eXch is run by people specializing in infosec since around 2000 that are also cypherpunk culture adepts that follow military-grade standards and guidance to protect their projects digitally and physically, therefore, it's very unlikely that our platform will be smashed due to rookie mistakes similar happened to the platforms I mentioned and some others I didn't. There is always a lot to learn from every privacy-oriented service shutdown (including darknet markets) and we are certainly not next.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
The worst of what potentially can happen is our clearnet domain name seized, in which case we will just switch to some other domain without interruption of operations.
I don't see this a big problem since I already recommend using of onion link anyway.

...which in our case is a nearly impossible task as they will have to break various cryptography standards and decentralized systems in order to reach at least one of our physical ends.
Maybe, unless you have some weak link and leaks from inside your team Wink
I hope nearly impossible is good enough, since we know you are facing powers with unlimited financial sources on the other side.


staff
Activity: 3500
Merit: 6152
I'm curious as to what's the motive behind adding RUNE? Are you planning to implement Thorchain for cross-chain trading for all pairs? or just RUNE ones? I also want to know, if you're going to use Thorchain directly, or simply use Thorswap?
legendary
Activity: 1680
Merit: 6524
Fully-fledged Merit Cycler|Spambuster'23|Pie Baker
However it's not the first time we receive a court order and provide no data with a reference to our ToS, so I doubt anything will happen at all. Once the process is concluded, it should be publicly available at their .gov site, so we'll just grab some popcorn and read it.

What happened during previous Court orders? Did you present there? Did you come with a lawyer...? Did a lawyer go there in your name...? Care to share more details about what happened in the previous situations?
Similar, now... are you going to user a lawyer's services for this order?



We are very proud to be able to fight for the cryptocurrency neutrality and provide resilient services aiming to countermeasure censorship.

People like you are so rare... You are a rara avis, eXch!
legendary
Activity: 3542
Merit: 3625
Crypto Swap Exchange
eXch was not charged with anything up to this date. We got one subpoena from a court in Germany 3 months ago and another one from U.S. Secret Service delegated by a court 7 months ago. We weren't notified about any outcome. It indicates that the cases were either archived or are still being elaborated. In any case, these orders assume requesting data from us in a role of a service provider, not the heist originator, therefore it's doubtful they will come with any enforcement action addressed to our service at all since our service is not even USA/Germany based, nor we have any entities that could be exposed to extradition risks.

Apart from that, we had many other requests this year coming from different police departments around the world related to cybercrime investigations.

No data was disclosed from our end to any of these.

We are also working on creating a /transparency section at our website that should be live this month where we will publish each received LE request.

We are very proud to be able to fight for the cryptocurrency neutrality and provide resilient services aiming to countermeasure censorship.

Thanks for sharing this. Honestly, I am quite surprised that there is so much pressure and demand for data, and I am glad that there are still services that will take care of the privacy of their users.
Can you refer to GDPR compliance and care for the personal data of your users when not providing them in such cases?
full member
Activity: 124
Merit: 1129
Have some of the previous processes already been concluded or are they still open?
If they were linked for similar charges, can we know the epilogue? Guilty, innocent, some specific penalty or what?

eXch was not charged with anything up to this date. We got one subpoena from a court in Germany 3 months ago and another one from U.S. Secret Service delegated by a court 7 months ago. We weren't notified about any outcome. It indicates that the cases were either archived or are still being elaborated. In any case, these orders assume requesting data from us in a role of a service provider, not the heist originator, therefore it's doubtful they will come with any enforcement action addressed to our service at all since our service is not even USA/Germany based, nor we have any entities that could be exposed to extradition risks.

Apart from that, we had many other requests this year coming from different police departments around the world related to cybercrime investigations.

No data was disclosed from our end to any of these.

We are also working on creating a /transparency section at our website that should be live this month where we will publish each received LE request.

We are very proud to be able to fight for the cryptocurrency neutrality and provide resilient services aiming to countermeasure censorship.
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