[2023-03-16] Coin mixer ChipMixer taken down by global authorities

[Kakmakr]

ChipMixer, which was launched in 2017, was formally taken down on March 15 over its involvement in money laundering activities. German authorities seized four servers, around 1909.4 BTC and 7 terabytes of data.

Source : https://coingeek.com/coin-mixer-chipmixer-taken-down-by-global-authorities/

Now, this is my concern...and nobody is really talking about this... What data are stored by these Mixer services? I was under the impression that ZERO data are stored about the mixing of tokens/coins.... but yet ... 7 terabytes of data were seized.

Disclaimer : I am not concerned about this, because I do not use Mixer services for criminal activities.... but I do use them to break the chain between my main hoard and the other wallets that I use for my daily needs.  

[Lucius]

You could satisfy your "concerns" in one of at least 5 threads discussing this issue, and there you could find various speculations about what may or may not be found on those 7TB of data. The only options you have are to ask those who seized the data, or to wait for further developments.

[NotATether]

You could satisfy your "concerns" in one of at least 5 threads discussing this issue,
~

You mean, 15.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to my memeing machine at the moment, cause I would've showed you 16 whack-a-moles but with Chipmixer logos on them. You get the idea though.

Also CoinGeek is shadowbanned on the press board. /s

[Kakmakr]

Ok, guys.... don't bite my head off, there were nothing under the Press section and I think this is major news, so I decided to post it here for the people that will look for something under the news section of this forum.

I will do a search on the forum to see if I can find the other threads discussing this and then I will close this thread, if it is not adding value to the discussion. 

[Woodie]

Closing down one of the biggest bitcoin mixer is never the solution because once this is done..this0l opens the doors for new competition and its not one mixer coming ,its several of them which will make the authorities job even more difficult if they try to close down the new businesses on the block... BTW how different are mixers from coins like monero, i really dont get the fuzz of closing down tumblers

[Kakmakr]

Closing down one of the biggest bitcoin mixer is never the solution because once this is done..this0l opens the doors for new competition and its not one mixer coming ,its several of them which will make the authorities job even more difficult if they try to close down the new businesses on the block... BTW how different are mixers from coins like monero, i really dont get the fuzz of closing down tumblers

The fuzz is the "message" that are being send by the authorities to other people who wants to operate mixer services. So, if they take down the biggest mixer service, then they will send a strong message that they are coming after the smaller ones.... and they hope it will scare those people enough for them to close down their service by themselves.

They did not learn from what happened to "Piratebay" and all the other Peer-to-Peer services that they closed down. These guys just create several more sites and they pop up like mushrooms .... and it turns into a Whack a Mole game. 

[cr1776]

Closing down one of the biggest bitcoin mixer is never the solution because once this is done..this0l opens the doors for new competition and its not one mixer coming ,its several of them which will make the authorities job even more difficult if they try to close down the new businesses on the block... BTW how different are mixers from coins like monero, i really dont get the fuzz of closing down tumblers

Any centralized service, whether mixing or not, is prone to this.  Sure others will pop up, but there is no way to tell a priori whether they are legit, scams to steal coins or set up by the authorities themselves.   A protocol level privacy layer is one long term solution.  There are current solutions but none are as elegant as something at the protocol level.

[Kakmakr]

Closing down one of the biggest bitcoin mixer is never the solution because once this is done..this0l opens the doors for new competition and its not one mixer coming ,its several of them which will make the authorities job even more difficult if they try to close down the new businesses on the block... BTW how different are mixers from coins like monero, i really dont get the fuzz of closing down tumblers

Any centralized service, whether mixing or not, is prone to this.  Sure others will pop up, but there is no way to tell a priori whether they are legit, scams to steal coins or set up by the authorities themselves.   A protocol level privacy layer is one long term solution.  There are current solutions but none are as elegant as something at the protocol level.

No, I seriously doubt that ChipMixer were some kind of "Honey Trap" for the law enforcement authorities, but I know they do run Tor Exit nodes to gather information, so they do things like this.

ChipMixer painted a target on their own back, by being one of the largest coin mixers out there, so law enforcement zeroed in on them as a primary target. 

[cr1776]

Closing down one of the biggest bitcoin mixer is never the solution because once this is done..this0l opens the doors for new competition and its not one mixer coming ,its several of them which will make the authorities job even more difficult if they try to close down the new businesses on the block... BTW how different are mixers from coins like monero, i really dont get the fuzz of closing down tumblers

Any centralized service, whether mixing or not, is prone to this.  Sure others will pop up, but there is no way to tell a priori whether they are legit, scams to steal coins or set up by the authorities themselves.   A protocol level privacy layer is one long term solution.  There are current solutions but none are as elegant as something at the protocol level.

No, I seriously doubt that ChipMixer were some kind of "Honey Trap" for the law enforcement authorities, but I know they do run Tor Exit nodes to gather information, so they do things like this.

ChipMixer painted a target on their own back, by being one of the largest coin mixers out there, so law enforcement zeroed in on them as a primary target. 

Yeah, I didn't say ChipMixer was a honey trap, but that the ones that pop up to replace it could be.