Why not use Exchange instead of Mixer?

[aysg76]

So, Mixers provide service of shuffling bitcoins or provide addresses loaded with bitcoins along with private keys. In short, they provide service so to create anonymity between sender's and receiver's address so that no one can trace the transaction.
My question is why not use Exchanges? When we deposit funds on exchange, bitcoins get deposited on exchange's cold wallet. But when we withdraw funds, withdraw gets processed from exchange's hot wallet. So in short, it is very easy to do anonymous transfer by depositing funds on exchange and withdrawing to other addresses. Why to pay 1-3% fees on Mixers when it could be done for much less on Exchanges. Exchanges like Binance charge just 0.0005 BTC to process withdrawals.

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[mocacinno]

simple: mixers are created to provide you anonimity, exchanges are not...

Exchanges usually require KYC info, they keep logs of all addresses, ip's, timestamps,... Mixers promise to do none of these things. If a hacker hacks an exchange (this is pretty common, happens all the time), he'll be able to link all of your wallets together (sending, exchange wallet and receiving wallet) AND he'll be able to link this info to your KYC documents, ip's, browser signature, timestamps. Same goes for 3 letter agencies requesting all the exchange's data. Thus, by using an exchange as a mixer, you can actually end up DECREASING your privacy instead of increasing it.

Ofcourse, a mixer can actually be a honeypot setup by a 3 letter agency, but if you trust the mixer, it's much more anonymous than an exchange.

[Sancho18]

In my opinion, it does not matter if you use a mixer or a centralized exchange to ensure anonymity - this is not good enough, and the possible negative side effects from both solutions are rather unpleasant. The need in both cases to trust a third party is something that contradicts the central idea of bitcoin. But in the absence of something better, this can be used carefully, aware of the risk.

...but if you trust the mixer, it's much more anonymous than an exchange.

Yes, but there’s a higher risk of getting bitcoins from the mixer, which can be marked as “dirty”.

[aysg76]

simple: mixers are created to provide you anonimity, exchanges are not...

Exchanges usually require KYC info, they keep logs of all addresses, ip's, timestamps,... Mixers promise to do none of these things. If a hacker hacks an exchange (this is pretty common, happens all the time), he'll be able to link all of your wallets together (sending, exchange wallet and receiving wallet) AND he'll be able to link this info to your KYC documents, ip's, browser signature, timestamps. Same goes for 3 letter agencies requesting all the exchange's data. Thus, by using an exchange as a mixer, you can actually end up DECREASING your privacy instead of increasing it.

Ofcourse I am talking about using exchanges without KYC. Binance allow unverified accounts to make withdrawals upto 2BTC per day which is quite ok.
About timestamps, who knows mixers too maintain logs of every mixing performed on their site. It is not difficult task in PHP to maintain such logs.

[ethereumhunter]

I am sure we will choose what we feel comfortable. And if we feel that it is better to use exchange than the mixer, then we can choose the exchanges to send and receive bitcoin. But for some people who are not comfortable with that way, they will use a mixer because they care about their personal information. Besides that, they don't want to send any documents. Maybe they have their reason why they are comfortable with the mixer, and we have a different way of deposit and withdraw bitcoin.

[LeGaulois]

simple: mixers are created to provide you anonimity, exchanges are not...

Exchanges usually require KYC info, they keep logs of all addresses, ip's, timestamps,... Mixers promise to do none of these things. If a hacker hacks an exchange (this is pretty common, happens all the time), he'll be able to link all of your wallets together (sending, exchange wallet and receiving wallet) AND he'll be able to link this info to your KYC documents, ip's, browser signature, timestamps. Same goes for 3 letter agencies requesting all the exchange's data. Thus, by using an exchange as a mixer, you can actually end up DECREASING your privacy instead of increasing it.

Ofcourse I am talking about using exchanges without KYC. Binance allow unverified accounts to make withdrawals upto 2BTC per day which is quite ok.
About timestamps, who knows mixers too maintain logs of every mixing performed on their site. It is not difficult task in PHP to maintain such logs.

An exchange without KYC doesn't matter and doesn't really help. People think they're safe when there is no KYC but they're not. It can be easy to find which exchange your address belongs to and since they keep your IP, etc... It can be enough to identify you because they will have no problem to snitch and will be very happy to do it.

Logs are kept a minimum, few hours/days, exchanges store your information for years.

[GreatArkansas]

(..........)

Ofcourse I am talking about using exchanges without KYC. Binance allow unverified accounts to make withdrawals upto 2BTC per day which is quite ok.
About timestamps, who knows mixers too maintain logs of every mixing performed on their site. It is not difficult task in PHP to maintain such logs.

But there are some exchange that has some regulation or restricted countries. Like if you are from UNITED STATES, especially their recent announcement:

Binance to Stop Serving US Traders Following Announcement of US-Dedicated Platform.

So, there is still some disadvantage of using an exchange compare to mixers. There are also some exchange that has a lot of countries restricted, even if you will sign up using an IP from the restricted country you will automatically blocked by the exchange or not allowed to use their exchange.
And also, I remember before, I am using some exchange and at that time, I  am also using a VPN which the country I used on VPN is one of the countries that are restricted to use their exchange, that's why my account locked and forced me to withdraw my funds.

[dothebeats]

You might never know whether exchanges are already snooping on your activities and mind you, they are being mandated by law to divulge information if they help facilitate money laundering schemes and/or similar activities that fall within the same line. I'd rather get my coins mixed in a mixing service than rely on an exchange that would probably ask me tons of KYC documents before I get to withdraw my funds.

Ofcourse I am talking about using exchanges without KYC. Binance allow unverified accounts to make withdrawals upto 2BTC per day which is quite ok.

Which is being questioned by the US authority. Sooner or later, some countries they are still servicing would do the same, requiring them to get local license and conform to the laws and regulations of those countries until the 2 BTC withdrawal limit/day is removed.

About timestamps, who knows mixers too maintain logs of every mixing performed on their site. It is not difficult task in PHP to maintain such logs.

It could be, but the risk is less than having your coins tumbled in an exchange. I'm not saying that mixers would not do that in any way, it's just they have the lesser chance of doing it knowing that the moment people finds out, they will immediately run out of business.

[dentolas]

BTC is not made to be anonymous, and every service that envolves a third party is also not anonymous as you need to trust the third party (unless the third party can prove that there is absolutely no info retained about the service - not sure if this is feasible)
If you need privacy or anonimity, you need to look for privacy coins... not all of them provide a solid service, as there are also some coins like Dash that envolve third parties... I would check out monero, beam, veil, grin... and so on

[mersal]

Trust me nothing is completely anonymous,when you choose exchanges to mix coins rather than a mixer you are trusting more centralized and regulated thing,do you know that they will report your transactions to your government?

That is why mixers were designed for,but its still not ensure complete anonymity after mixing coins.

[ene1980]

So, Mixers provide service of shuffling bitcoins or provide addresses loaded with bitcoins along with private keys. In short, they provide service so to create anonymity between sender's and receiver's address so that no one can trace the transaction.
My question is why not use Exchanges?

If you are planning to use exchanges and other platforms to wash the coins then you might get your coins and account getting a ban, you cannot deposit money without trading and then withdraw doing nothing and if you are doing that with huge amounts your account will be restricted and you need to verify your identity, so if you are looking for privacy then mixers are the place to go which are dedicated services for privacy.

[AjithBtc]

The use of exchanges and mixers were entirely different. Exchanges were meant for the trading between different assets. Mixers were designed to perform the mixing service, which makes the transaction anonymous. What we do through exchanges weren't completely anonymous, because it isn't possible to trade on exchanges without proper KYC fulfillment.

[Bttzed03]

If you think centralized exchanges provides you anonymity, think again.

If you have problems with mixers expensive fees, here's a guide for cheaper methods [Guide] Decent mixing methods

[teosanru]

This is a visual representation of what a mixer does. I understand the fact that it could look easier and cheaper to do it with an exchange but this involves a huge manual work which includes manually sending transactions at an address from one exchange account. Now the thing is even if it looks safe but the amount involved sometimes become a problem. Let's see for example binance has a fees of 0.0005 btc per withdrawal now. Now in a mixer, taking example of chipmixer you can distribute your money into smallest unit which is 0.001 and one unit needs to be paid as fees. So spending 0.001 extra for almost 100 times more accuracy with mixing and all automatic work is worth it.

[aysg76]

~UNQUOTED

Ofcourse I am talking about using exchanges without KYC. Binance allow unverified accounts to make withdrawals upto 2BTC per day which is quite ok.
About timestamps, who knows mixers too maintain logs of every mixing performed on their site. It is not difficult task in PHP to maintain such logs.

An exchange without KYC doesn't matter and doesn't really help. It can be easy to find which exchange your address belong to and since they keep your IP, etc... It can be enough to identify you because they will have no problem to snitch and will be very happy to do it.

Logs are kept a minimum, few days, exchanges store your information for years.

As far as I remember, BestMixer provided most of the mixing data to Dutch Authorities once they were confiscated by Dutch law.
We cannot rely on mixers too. They are not as anonymous as we think. If big mixers like BestMixer can fall in the hands of authorities then just imagine how anonymous small mixers are.
So it can be easily assumed when interfered by authorities, both exchanges and mixers can't be trusted.

[betty11]

Exchanges make use of KYC for some daily volume of withdrawal, while an exchange like liquid in Japan, requires full KYC before one can even make withdrawals. Well, exchanges can always know customers that make withdrawals even without KYC as they do tie their deposit address to their account even without KYC. 

[elda34b]

As far as I remember, BestMixer provided most of the mixing data to Dutch Authorities once they were confiscated by Dutch law.
We cannot rely on mixers too. They are not as anonymous as we think. If big mixers like BestMixer can fall in the hands of authorities then just imagine how anonymous small mixers are.
So it can be easily assumed when interfered by authorities, both exchanges and mixers can't be trusted.

Nobody should rely on mixer or exchange, or whatever it is. You can't stay anonymous forever, so your best bet is to mix the available options to increase your privacy. Bestmixer or similar mixer which uses the same strategy mostly keeps logs to maintain the data, while other mixers use another technique, such as giving private key to several preloaded addresses, i.e. Chipmixer.

If you want a better alternative, then use Coinjoin, and combine it with Monero. Promoting exchange as an alternative to a mixer is just wrong imo. Even if you use non KYC exchange, they still require you to register and not to mention they have the logs of every withdrawal/deposit.

[Slow death]

So in short, it is very easy to do anonymous transfer by depositing funds on exchange and withdrawing to other addresses. Why to pay 1-3% fees on Mixers when it could be done for much less on Exchanges. Exchanges like Binance charge just 0.0005 BTC to process withdrawals.

You have a point in your argument, but exchanges require kyc which means that people can use exchanges only if they have funds from honest places. A criminal will not take stolen funds to exchange, he will take stolen funds to mixers, which is why I believe that in a few years governments will pursue the mixers more severely and I believe the punishment for executing a mixer may be as severe as possible. Note that most exchanges and even online casinos are asking people to do KYC and it won't be long before the wallets also make people do KYC

[aysg76]

Exchanges make use of KYC for some daily volume of withdrawal, while an exchange like liquid in Japan, requires full KYC before one can even make withdrawals. Well, exchanges can always know customers that make withdrawals even without KYC as they do tie their deposit address to their account even without KYC. 

Do you think it is hard to fool any site online? Without KYC, you can easily hide your correct location, real name and what not. Nobody can trace back to you.
For example, you can deposit funds on Yobit, then create YoBit token and then redeem that token on other YoBit account and make withdrawals from that account. There you go, you are fully anonymous!

[shield132]

So, Mixers provide service of shuffling bitcoins or provide addresses loaded with bitcoins along with private keys. In short, they provide service so to create anonymity between sender's and receiver's address so that no one can trace the transaction.
My question is why not use Exchanges? When we deposit funds on exchange, bitcoins get deposited on exchange's cold wallet. But when we withdraw funds, withdraw gets processed from exchange's hot wallet. So in short, it is very easy to do anonymous transfer by depositing funds on exchange and withdrawing to other addresses. Why to pay 1-3% fees on Mixers when it could be done for much less on Exchanges. Exchanges like Binance charge just 0.0005 BTC to process withdrawals.

Haven't you ever thought that exchanges require KYC and every transaction/log/activity that happens from your account is recorded and what's even worse is that it's done by a regulated service provider, something that has common with government.
While mixers require zero KYC, at least this is guaranteed, we can't 100% surely say that they don't keep any log but for example if we remind bitmixer, it was the greatest and biggest mixer ever, top with anonimity and very trustworthy. Also to add, you can use tor link for better anonimity, none mixer will ask you about fund sources and etc, all you do is deposit and get, without problems and traces.