Wholesale SharedCoin Mixing?

[OROBTC]

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I was looking at this block ("Total Sent: $14,000,000") and I noticed a lot of transactions that look like SharedCoin (BTC mixing) transactions all clustered in the lower half of this block:

https://blockchain.info/block/00000000000000000db8c1d19346c299ef07e919f7fa515e86e19c8f9892b750

Some of these total transactions total over $100,000 which is rare (at least as far I have seen).


EDIT: Hey, I see a block of $14,000,000 plus, without a huge number of little transactions, I check it out...

[GermanGiant]

So, people are using SharedCoin more than BitMixer ?

[OROBTC]

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GermanGiant

Great question, but I doubt that anyone could really answer that.

But, one thing to be looking for is whether or not SharedCoin use (say as a percentage of BTC transacted) goes up.

It looks like it would be close to impossible to assess how much bitmixer.io is being used.  I have no idea.

[GermanGiant]

I can not find the exact article, but somewhere I read that the daily earning of BitMixer is around 5 BTC. From back calculation, it turns out that they are mixing around 1000 BTC per day.

On the other hand, I think, SharedCoin does not mix coin properly. Looking at any specific Tx, you can say most of the times that which address is corresponding to which one. Though, for bitmixer, there is a way to find, whether a certain address belong to bitmixer. But, there is no way to match which address has sent coins to which one.

[AgentofCoin]

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On the other hand, I think, SharedCoin does not mix coin properly. Looking at any specific Tx, you can say most of the times that which address is corresponding to which one. Though, for bitmixer, there is a way to find, whether a certain address belong to bitmixer. But, there is no way to match which address has sent coins to which one.

If you just want to hide/mix your coins around so common users can't see your txs and holdings, then SharedCoin is used.
If you are trying to hide/mix your coins from governments or agencies, then bitmixer or such services is used.

If any user actually uses either type of service,
the user should always split the transaction input into multiple transaction outputs for better obfuscation.

[TrueBeliever]

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I noticed a lot of transactions that look like SharedCoin (BTC mixing) transactions

what do SharedCoin transactions look like? and how do they differ to other mixing service transactions?

[AgentofCoin]

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I noticed a lot of transactions that look like SharedCoin (BTC mixing) transactions

what do SharedCoin transactions look like? and how do they differ to other mixing service transactions?

This is what a SharedCoin transaction looks like:
https://blockchain.info/tx/23c40266f92bf3d1a5ed5410321f41d5784b17a7e8ef50fafc634cef1b10ada2

With other mixing services, you send your BTC to their address, goes into the pot,
and they send the same amount (minus fees) back to another address you control.
The BTC you get back, when reviewing its transaction history is broken from you,
but might go back and show to be associated with prior criminal activity (Mt.Gox hack, bitstamp hack, etc).

The major mixing services are really for people who need to cover tracks.
For the average BTC user, SharedCoin is fine.

[TrueBeliever]

...
I noticed a lot of transactions that look like SharedCoin (BTC mixing) transactions

what do SharedCoin transactions look like? and how do they differ to other mixing service transactions?

This is what a SharedCoin transaction looks like:
https://blockchain.info/tx/23c40266f92bf3d1a5ed5410321f41d5784b17a7e8ef50fafc634cef1b10ada2

With other mixing services, you send your BTC to their address, goes into the pot,
and they send the same amount (minus fees) back to another address you control.
The BTC you get back, when reviewing its transaction history is broken from you,
but might go back and show to be associated with prior criminal activity (Mt.Gox hack, bitstamp hack, etc).

The major mixing services are really for people who need to cover tracks.
For the average BTC user, SharedCoin is fine.

what I meant was what are the characteristics of the transaction that identify it unequivocally as a SharedCoin transaction?  Or is it just an educated guess that it is?

[RocketSingh]

...
I noticed a lot of transactions that look like SharedCoin (BTC mixing) transactions

what do SharedCoin transactions look like? and how do they differ to other mixing service transactions?

This is what a SharedCoin transaction looks like:
https://blockchain.info/tx/23c40266f92bf3d1a5ed5410321f41d5784b17a7e8ef50fafc634cef1b10ada2

With other mixing services, you send your BTC to their address, goes into the pot,
and they send the same amount (minus fees) back to another address you control.
The BTC you get back, when reviewing its transaction history is broken from you,
but might go back and show to be associated with prior criminal activity (Mt.Gox hack, bitstamp hack, etc).

The major mixing services are really for people who need to cover tracks.
For the average BTC user, SharedCoin is fine.

what I meant was what are the characteristics of the transaction that identify it unequivocally as a SharedCoin transaction?  Or is it just an educated guess that it is?

Yes. It is an educated guess. Theoretically, an individual may create similar Tx using multiple addresses and broadcast themselves as well.

I think, if someone is not involved in any illegal stuff and just want to mix coins for privacy purpose, then LocalBitcoins wallet does a pretty good job.

[OROBTC]

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TrueBeliever

Yes, as just pointed out, an educated guess.

But, look at some characteristics of these transactions, refer to link here:

https://blockchain.info/tx/dd604222ac9edb0b9b418dae22ff8b4aaca9db9b724fe5463e5d3323d4a0a994

-- Note some large amounts and some very small amounts (right-most)
-- Many inputs / many outputs
-- Note some very similar amounts (right-most), eg, $7334.00

Next time I mix via SharedCoin I will have to try and track my BTC all the way through and perhaps illustrate.


EDIT:

Note this transaction of over $100,000.  SharedCoin transactions of $100,000+ have been (until recently) rather rare.  The amounts (and number of transactions) seems to be getting larger:

https://blockchain.info/tx/6259af9e5c73891004596f9d52d0d01a0bd37de5aa5576f776e51a8af6996bb7

[OROBTC]

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A Bitcoin SharedCoin transaction of $190,000, largest amount I have seen in this type of transaction:

8089f4af1a792adf80eeb0138b35f7bd4b99a57f80986aa718a6764333936903

(Above is the transaction number, copy & paste it into blockchain.info's Search box)

[BrianM]

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GermanGiant

Great question, but I doubt that anyone could really answer that.

But, one thing to be looking for is whether or not SharedCoin use (say as a percentage of BTC transacted) goes up.

It looks like it would be close to impossible to assess how much bitmixer.io is being used.  I have no idea.

Perhaps SharedCoin is doing some serious testing.
The bitcoin is perhaps moved a little around to see if there new implementation work as it shoud.