Once received then I will take some time before leaving my review. Finally I am very close.
Let's get into the review.
Btc address: bc1qrkssk2nam39p3ltftcn9c9u7whzhvldndc4vc0
[I would not appreciate anything less than $100. If such that's what in mind than donate it to someone or something running for good cause instead of sending it to the above address. Post the transaction ID]
I consider myself a regular client for mixers. However, It took me several days to test the system before making the review. Even I had to
setup a bounty. It took me time and a good amount of barnstorming to bring a complete package. You are going to read only the truths. I have nothing to feel myself biased in the review.
The website feel and look:I have nothing to add and discuss about the website looks. Most of the reviewers above me has already talked about it form many ways. In my opinion, it's good, working fine, better than some other mixers exists so far, may be one of the bests. I saw people to face errors, but I never faced any error yet. I assume, I was doing the things correctly besides, my focus was not in front end validation but in actual mixing algorithm which matters the most for the type of service.
5 out of 5 website front end design and look.
Mixing:FAST option was set to a 48 hours delay to ensure the outcome of the mixed coins are hard to find. Sending the coins were as expected, smooth and easy. Once sent then it was the waiting time to receive the coins. I did not check the exact delay that used to send but it was more or less in time from my guess. Fees were set to 0.25% and output address was set to one address.
Sent BTC: 0.01690363
Received BTC: 0.01671138
Fees paid: 0.00019225
All BTC were going [instantly, leaving no hard work even for someone who has started using block explorer half an hour ago, you don't need a tool at all] to a known address,
the first BIG issue, at least for me. In fact with the FAST option, when you have one receiving address set to receive coins then it's useless. It serves nothing but taking your BTC from address A (The address that is given to you) to B (Mixing address which is knows to everyone) and then B to C (Bitcoin receiving address). In between, you are paying the fees which is a waste for you. With proper blockchain analysis tool, anyone can easily find a good pattern and discover the destination address.
I will give 👉
0.5 out of 5 for anonymity in this setup.
4 out of 5 for service fees.
0 out of 5 satisfaction for using the setup.
Not recommended, it's giving a false sense of mixing
The FAST option is only useful a bit when you will give more than one receiving addresses. The more addresses you have, to receive BTC the higher is your chance to hide the trace. But adding more addresses mean you are paying additional fees of 0.0001 BTC for each additional addresses where it starts becoming expensive. Plus you will need to send a good amount of BTC to split between the receiving addresses if you want to minimize your mixing cost.
I will give 👉
3 out of 5 for anonymity when using two or more receiving addresses.
4 or plus for anonymity when using three or more receiving addresses.
2.5 out of 5 for service fees when using two or more receiving addresses.
0.5 out of 5 for service fees when using three or more receiving addresses.
3 out of 5 satisfaction when using two or more receiving addresses.0.5 out of 5 satisfaction when using three or more receiving addresses.
A mixing setup, using more than two or more receiving address is
fairly recommended. More receiving addresses are better, but it comes with a higher cost.
NOTE option is the most useful option I found in Whirlwind. But it can cost you a greater risk. I am coming to the risk later. In my setup I sent BTC twice to create two NOTEs and then combined the NOTEs before withdrawing the BTC to my receiving wallet. I can not clearly remember since it was few days ago, If I am correct then both NOTEs were created on the same day in few hours delay. The next day they were combined and then I waited more 24 hours before withdrawing the BTC. All together 48+ hours if my time frames are correct. There were no problem from the website front end in the mix although the site went through constant update as I was reading information on the forum.
Note 1 sent: 0.00660254 BTC
Note 2 sent: 0.00474263 BTC
Total sent: 0.01134517 BTC
Note 1 balance: 0.00658604 BTC
Note 2 balance: 0.00473078 BTC
Combined note balance: 0.01131682 BTC
Received balance : 0.01121682 BTC
Fees paid : 0.00012835 BTC
As mentioned earlier, it's the most useful mixing on Whirlwind. You can have better anonymity since it become harder to find what possible options you went though. But the greater risk is in trusting the system/operator. BTC taught me to hold my own key and I do not trust anyone with my coins. I will take short risk, a very quick one, may be maximum 30 minutes and in between I want to see my coins are in my possession. I never trusted Chipmixer with their invoice (I guess I got the term correct) for the same reason. They had their years of shares in the service but whatever your reputation is, nothing matter for me if your option is to give you my BTC and hold it for longer time.
This is where I suspect things can go very wrong. When Whirlwind will become popular, they will have a lot of clients, every hours several hundred transactions, many BTC is in holding. Adding it for days, weeks (let's not go for months). The accumulation become bigger and bigger. One rug pull is more than enough. Everyone is going to lose the coins they left for NOTE options including those who were waiting to receive coins from the FAST option in that moment.
Setup for one receiving address and when combining more than one NOTEs, I will give 👉
4 out of 5 for anonymity in this setup.
4 out of 5 for service fees.
4 out of 5 satisfaction for using the service only when the mixer brand is less popular and small
Recommended, only
when the mixer brand is small and less popular.Not recommended when the brand is big enough that a rug pull is good to disappear with your coins. Setup for more than one receiving addresses and when combining more than one NOTEs, I will give 👉
5 out of 5 for anonymity in this setup.
2.5 out of 5 for service fees.
5 out of 5 satisfaction for using the service only when the mixer brand is less popular and small
Recommended, only
when the mixer brand is small and less popular.Not recommended when the brand is big enough that a rug pull is good to disappear with your coinsWithout combing NOTEs, it is just another form of FAST option.
Overall, nothing exiting although the NOTE option sounds exciting. There is another term I am reading around is, the Blind Certificates. I still need to study the concept. It's good to see the person from Whirlwind is active in the community. Actively asking questions, taking suggestions and applying it in the system to improve the service.
Let's finish with some pros and cons.
Pros:
The person behind the project is active and is trying his best to build a trust for the business.
The website look and feel is good.
Mixing steps are very easy to use.
Cons:
NOTE option requires a greater trust. Very risky when the business is large and popular. That's when a rug pull can take everything from you.
A known mixing address, I don't want everyone to know I am mixing my coins.
Authority blacklist the known mixing address, my addresses [receiving] are possibly blacklisted. I do not want the stone on my chest.
For a setup of more than two or more receiving addresses, the fees start becoming higher.
FAST option with one receiving address is giving a false sense of anonymity.
NOTE option with one receiving address is giving the same false sense of anonymity.
Thanks for reading.