Best Method: How to mix - the entire process

[Karartma1]

@Avery_39
If you go by using mixers I strongly advise you to use .onion addresses. Tor works in a way that if you request non-Tor websites you will have to trust the Tor exit node to give you the right (or wrong) site encrypted status.
Long story short: when using mixers (or anything on Tor really) make sure you always connect to .onion addresses. This way you can rest assured that your connection with whatever service is, at least, encrypted.

[o_e_l_e_o]

VPNs do very little to protect your privacy. All you are doing is moving your single point of failure from your ISP to your VPN provider. You should use Tor instead.

Light wallets such as Electrum rely on connecting to other users' full nodes to broadcast transactions, which will reveal your IP address. Either run your own Electrum server, or better, run your own full node over Tor. If you want to pair that with a Trezor device, follow the instructions here: https://wiki.trezor.io/Full-node_wallet

Make sure to use ChipMixer's .onion domain - http://chipmixerwzxtzbw.onion/

[Avery_39]

Thanks for posting.

Light wallets such as Electrum rely on connecting to other users' full nodes to broadcast transactions, which will reveal your IP address.

If I use a VPN, surely this will protect my IP, with only the VPN IP visible on the blockchain?
  
(I appreciate you prefer Tor compared with trusting a VPN company, I understand there is more risk with this)

Either run your own Electrum server, or better, run your own full node over Tor. If you want to pair that with a Trezor device, follow the instructions here: https://wiki.trezor.io/Full-node_wallet

Here  https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#minimum-requirements (a link from the Trezor page:  https://wiki.trezor.io/Full-node_wallet)  I see that running a "full node" requires 350 GB space on a hard drive. I currently don't have anywhere near enough space on my hard drives on any of my computers, although I do have more than enough RAM.

.. This option will require investing in an additional hard drive.

Make sure to use ChipMixer's .onion domain - http://chipmixerwzxtzbw.onion/

I have noted this. Thanks
 

[Avery_39]

Mixer (ChipMix)

Our service full name is ChipMixer. There is another service called "ChipMix" which impersonates our service.

Mixer (ChipMixer) - - - - - > Wasabi wallet (automatically on Tor) (use with ExpressVPN)

ChipMixer gives you private keys that should not be sweeped instantly for better privacy.
Wasabi wallet cannot import ChipMixer private keys.

If you want to use both - you should add another wallet (ie. Electrum) where you can import private keys before sending it to Wasabi.
Or use Wasabi first then ChipMixer.

Thank you. Ok, so I cannot sent my mixed coins from ChipMixer to Wasabi. How about these processes?

1. Trezor One (Hardware) - - - - - > Mixer (ChipMixer) - - - - - > Electrum (on Tails) - - - - - > Destination wallet

2. Electrum - - - - - > Mixer (ChipMixer) - - - - - > Electrum (on Tails) - - - - - > Destination wallet

[Update; I now have the solution for below]
The problem I'm currently experiencing with Tails is that I can't seem to install it on my Mac... The .img file seems to be corrupted.  
... I have asked Tails customer support for help. I'll post back here when (if)  they provide a solution.

(I have noted your onion address:  ChipMixerwzxtzbw.onion   Thank you)

[o_e_l_e_o]

If I use a VPN, surely this will protect my IP, with only the VPN IP visible on the blockchain?

IP addresses are not stored on the blockchain, but they are visible to the node or nodes to which your broadcast your transaction, and in the case of light wallets, the node or nodes you use to retrieve data about the balance of your addresses. They are also visible to any block explorer you use to look up addresses or transactions, and given the vast majority of people use these site to look up their own addresses or transactions, easily linked.

You are right in saying that the IP your traffic comes from will be the VPN's IP, but you still have to have full trust in your VPN provider since they can now see and link all your traffic. There are also other ways outside of an IP to de-anonymize you, such as browser fingerprinting. Using Tor browser and connecting your wallet/node via Tor is a better solution then using a VPN.

The problem I'm currently experiencing with Tails is that I can't seem to install it on my Mac... The .img file seems to be corrupted.

Do you have a program installed which is capable of writing image files? Tails recommends using Etcher. There are instructions here: https://tails.boum.org/install/mac/usb/index.en.html

[Avery_39]

If I use a VPN, surely this will protect my IP, with only the VPN IP visible on the blockchain?

IP addresses are not stored on the blockchain, but they are visible to the node or nodes to which your broadcast your transaction, and in the case of light wallets, the node or nodes you use to retrieve data about the balance of your addresses. They are also visible to any block explorer you use to look up addresses or transactions, and given the vast majority of people use these site to look up their own addresses or transactions, easily linked.

You are right in saying that the IP your traffic comes from will be the VPN's IP, but you still have to have full trust in your VPN provider since they can now see and link all your traffic. There are also other ways outside of an IP to de-anonymize you, such as browser fingerprinting. Using Tor browser and connecting your wallet/node via Tor is a better solution then using a VPN.

Understood. I will use Electrum on Tails for critical transactions. I only hope that using Persistent Volume will work when it comes to saving my bitcoin in Electrum (inside Tails), and I won't lose my coin if the computer shuts down between receiving coin and sending it on somewhere else.

The problem I'm currently experiencing with Tails is that I can't seem to install it on my Mac... The .img file seems to be corrupted.

Do you have a program installed which is capable of writing image files? Tails recommends using Etcher. There are instructions here: https://tails.boum.org/install/mac/usb/index.en.html

I actually found this page, but you replied before I could edit my previous post. Thank you anyway.


Also, I can now report that I have set up Tails (tails-amd64-4.9.img) on a Flash drive, along with a Persistent Volume, and it works great.

... Next, I will test Electrum on it.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Glad you got it working.

Even when using Electrum with Tails, you should absolutely still be backing up your seed phrase in the normal way by writing it down on paper and storing it somewhere safe. This is important not just in case the persistent volume doesn't work for some reason as you say, but in case you lose the flash drive or it becomes damaged or corrupted in some way.

[shield132]

VPNs do very little to protect your privacy. All you are doing is moving your single point of failure from your ISP to your VPN provider. You should use Tor instead.

Light wallets such as Electrum rely on connecting to other users' full nodes to broadcast transactions, which will reveal your IP address. Either run your own Electrum server, or better, run your own full node over Tor. If you want to pair that with a Trezor device, follow the instructions here: https://wiki.trezor.io/Full-node_wallet

Make sure to use ChipMixer's .onion domain - http://chipmixerwzxtzbw.onion/

Anything alone doesn't work to protect your privacy. VPN is needed when you use Tor for further security and at the same time not only using Tor is safe if you don't consider a little details, for example fullscreen Tor gives possibility to detect your screen size. At the same time there are Mac addresses that needs it's attention. Windows isn't safe for your anonimity, better to use Tails linux. Even this combination isn't that safe, when you need safety and anonymity on it's max, you have to turn other things too. It's just a very complex task and not some youtube tutorial or wikihow guide to go step by step and get the desired result.

[Avery_39]

Glad you got it working.

Even when using Electrum with Tails, you should absolutely still be backing up your seed phrase in the normal way by writing it down on paper and storing it somewhere safe. This is important not just in case the persistent volume doesn't work for some reason as you say, but in case you lose the flash drive or it becomes damaged or corrupted in some way.

Thanks guys,
I have now used Chipmixer with success. It's very very simple, I really didn't expect that.

Also, I use Electrum on Tails for discreet BTC transactions. This seems to work fine. 

But for anyone who is using this thread as a guide, don't forget to configure your Electrum (on Tails) to store / save bitcoin on the Persistent Volume before you send any coin to it.
.. Otherwise, you could lose it all if you shut down the Tails OS (or possibly even closing Electrum) if you don't transfer the BTC on to another wallet first! 

[o_e_l_e_o]

I have now used Chipmixer with success. It's very very simple, I really didn't expect that.

Yes. It also took me an embarrassingly long time to use the "Import" buttons on the page which displays the private keys, and to stop copy and pasting each one individually.

But for anyone who is using this thread as a guide, don't forget to configure your Electrum (on Tails) to store / save bitcoin on the Persistent Volume before you send any coin to it.

Definitely. I would suggest setting up Tails, setting up the persistent volume, setting up Electrum, creating a wallet and saving it in the persistent volume, noting down the first address, and then shutting down your computer, unplugging the flash drive, and then loading everything up again from scratch to ensure your wallet is still there before you send any coins to it. And as I said above, you should still be securely storing your seed phrase on paper as protection against loss or damage of your flash drive.