The investigation started last year, I'm guessing like with some darknet markets, the Dutch police decided they'll run the service themselves for a while to glean some information from people using the service.
Does this mean that the campaign advertisers were paid by the government so they are entitled to free healthcare and other benefits?
Joking aside, the situation is pretty serious because innocent people who just wanted some privacy and hide their connection to a public address will get get in the same mess as some using it to really wash "dirty" coins.
And as Murphy's laws have told us so many times, I'm willing to bet that those who knew they were doing some totally wrong have taken enough measures to remain hidden while the innocents will get tracked in two seconds. The second bet is that the ones mixing a few mbits now and then have also used their direct internet connection and they have a static ip for months also:P
This is a real possibility - and makes you wonder if Chipmixer isn't already, or hasn't always been ran by some goverment agency.
This is also why some people recommend using multiple mixing services, one after another,
And what if all the mixers are run by government agencies that share their data? <insert mindblown meme here>
~
I don't want to play the "I told you so" card, as who knows, Chipmixer could be next (or might even be a honeypot by now.), but it has been fairly obvious that Bestmixer.io promised a lot - but failed to deliver on most things.
I wouldn't be surprised if they lied about keeping logs etcetera. (Why.. I don't know.., Gross incompetence?) Afterall, their servers were located in Europe- and seized.
Just as they claimed Chipmixer wasn't working (with some sheer bullshit evidence), Wasabiwallet wasn't working... Coinjoin wasn't working.. But their mixing method was "revolutionary"...
Well, guess what...
I tried to stay out of it because it was obvious since I am advertising CM my opinion would be a bit biased but TheNewAnon135246 questioned them a lot of times about all the (now we can really call it bs) they claimed and never got a real answer, just beating around the bush
And, most importantly, since our service is completely anonymous and we are answerable to no one but the client whom we serve, we will do whatever is necessary to keep the confidentiality of every transaction regardless of where in the world they originate from or what the government policies in those countries may be.
Ironic....