Chipmixer to Electrum private key import issue

[TryNinja]

It was a mistake to trust this service. Any service that shares private keys as a mechanism to transfer bitcoin can't be trusted. He should do what he can now to secure his coins and the way to do that is to sweep them to an address whose private keys only he knows.

OP clearly said that there isn't even a history of transactions, so how is this a trust issue from ChipMixer's part?

Also, what's the difference between trusting to send 0.5 BTC to a service and trusting to send and temporary hold a (shared) private-key with 0.5 BTC? In both cases, you must trust them enough to send your Bitcoins and expect them to send it back.

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[Abdussamad]

It was a mistake to trust this service. Any service that shares private keys as a mechanism to transfer bitcoin can't be trusted. He should do what he can now to secure his coins and the way to do that is to sweep them to an address whose private keys only he knows.

OP clearly said that there isn't even a history of transactions, so how is this a trust issue from ChipMixer's part?

That's probably related to the different wallet files issue that i talked about.

Also, what's the difference between trusting to send 0.5 BTC to a service and trusting to send and temporary hold a (shared) private-key with 0.5 BTC? In both cases, you must trust them enough to send your Bitcoins and expect them to send it back.

We all use exchanges to buy and sell bitcoin. We have to trust exchanges temporarily while they have our funds. Sometimes even that temporary risk bites us in the backsides when the exchange runs away with our money. Here you are asking the user to trust the service permanently i.e. even after you've "withdrawn" the funds.

The other thing is they are doing things the wrong way by sharing private keys. What else are they doing incorrectly? It is a basic mistake they are making and puts doubt on their entire service.

[TryNinja]

It is a basic mistake they are making and puts doubt on their entire service.

Then you clearly don't get what's the big difference between ChipMixer and every other mixer, and why they may be more efficient on breaking the link between the source of the coins and the output (the chips). It's all a trade-off between security and more privacy.

"If you trust us (as you already did when you sent coins into mixer) and spend chip when you need it, then you achive maximum privacy you can get. " - https://chipmixer.com/faq

[Abdussamad]

It is a basic mistake they are making and puts doubt on their entire service.

Then you clearly don't get what's the big difference between ChipMixer and every other mixer, and why they may be more efficient on breaking the link between the source of the coins and the output (the chips).

You know you can always ask the user to enter multiple addresses where the outputs will be sent? You don't have to resort to sharing private keys.

And BTW you talk about breaking the link. What about breaking the link with chipmixer? As long as they know your private keys they can steal from you. Today, tomorrow or 3 years from now!

[TryNinja]

You know you can always ask the user to enter multiple addresses where the outputs will be sent? You don't have to resort to sharing private keys.

That's not why ChipMixer uses the "chip model"; Your "vanilla mixing" can easily get caught with blockchain analysis. Using multiple addresses or not.

From their FAQ:

"After you've received private key, you can spend them right away without waiting for our transaction. But that's not all. Since your withdrawal is not visible on blockchain, it looks like your chip was moved a few days before your deposit. Time Travel! Third, less spectacular element this method gives you is that you decide when to move those coins next. Few days? Few seconds? Who knows, you are not encumbered with our solution. Fourth, when you are in a hurry, you can set higher fee to have your transaction included in first block. It's your money after all."
https://chipmixer.com/faq

[ChipMixer]

What about breaking the link with chipmixer?

As with every service - you need some trust. We are open about how our way of mixing work. There is no secret sauce. We break deposits into chips and redistribute them to other customers at random. We are breaking link on-chain and it is our offer. You are free to find a way to break a link with us ie. use another mixer.

As long as they know your private keys they can steal from you. Today, tomorrow or 3 years from now!

That is why chips are not to be long term storage. Spend them at random time, send them to hardware wallet.