How wide reaching can the consequences of Chipmixer money laundering be?

[JollyGood]

That was an interesting statement about staff being told to stop advertising mixers but does anybody know if any discussions took place to consider banning mixer signatures from the forum?

All staff members refuse or have withdrawn from participation in the advertising mixing service. there is no official announcement about it, but there is a much clearer indication to read between the lines. written by a member who has a great reputation here

We (staff) were asked to stop advertising mixing services.

[Halab]

but does anybody know if any discussions took place to consider banning mixer signatures from the forum?

No, not really. Mixers are in a grey area that is likely to get darker and darker. If the US government decides to ban mixers, the debate will be very short and you will have to learn how to post in the Gambling section
This is just a protective measure for Theymos, for Bitcointalk and (by consequence) for the Staff. For regular users there is (so far) very little risk, but if you have any doubt, go see a lawyer.
Don't overthink my words, I don't see the future, I don't have any secret information and I don't know anything about laws.

[Hispo]

I have never participated in CM signature campaign, but I personally believe a scenario where members of this forum are targeted by intelligence agencies to be very unlikely.

In my opinion, the community rather performed a job of advertising and that itself is not illegal.
Even if they were to be targeted, why now? Why would those agencies wait to this day (after so many years) to do anything about the funds being paid for advertisement? Much of it is likely spent anyways.

I think future efforts will get directed towards the next services which would gain high volumes like those handled by CM, instead tracking down members of this community.

That is just my opinion, of course. I do not know anything about law in this matter.

[Lillominato89]

but does anybody know if any discussions took place to consider banning mixer signatures from the forum?

No, not really. Mixers are in a grey area that is likely to get darker and darker. If the US government decides to ban mixers, the debate will be very short and you will have to learn how to post in the Gambling section
This is just a protective measure for Theymos, for Bitcointalk and (by consequence) for the Staff. For regular users there is (so far) very little risk, but if you have any doubt, go see a lawyer.
Don't overthink my words, I don't see the future, I don't have any secret information and I don't know anything about laws.

I think there is no measure of protection for anyone, protect who and for what? as has been said, here the community performed only the task of advertising. I think it's more an ethical issue and shared by all the staff, as if to say "we don't want bitcoins deriving from illicit activities"

[JollyGood]

but does anybody know if any discussions took place to consider banning mixer signatures from the forum?

No, not really. Mixers are in a grey area that is likely to get darker and darker. If the US government decides to ban mixers, the debate will be very short and you will have to learn how to post in the Gambling section

That is one thing that has been noticed, at this time mixers have not been blanket banned but it will become a very interesting topic of discussion if matters ever head in that direction.

This is just a protective measure for Theymos, for Bitcointalk and (by consequence) for the Staff. For regular users there is (so far) very little risk, but if you have any doubt, go see a lawyer.

I am confused, you stated the was up to that point very little risk for regular users at the same time as you said there were protective measures for theymos and staff (and the forum by default). Can you elaborate on the differentiation you stated between them?

Don't overthink my words, I don't see the future, I don't have any secret information and I don't know anything about laws.

Join the club 

[Lucius]

I am confused, you stated the was up to that point very little risk for regular users at the same time as you said there were protective measures for theymos and staff (and the forum by default). Can you elaborate on the differentiation you stated between them?

I already wrote to you that you should be able to read between the lines so that some things would be clearer to you. The fact is that the administration decided to take that step for two reasons - the first is to protect themselves as individuals, and the second is to protect the forum from possible closure.

Each individual has always been responsible for his actions on the forum, and it will be so in the future, with the difference that now the forum administration completely separates itself from anyone who promotes mixers. In the event that someone decides to deal uncompromisingly with the mixers and those who advertise them, each individual will pay an individual price, and the forum will not be held responsible.

That's just my thinking though, I don't have any confidential information nor do I know what will happen in the future.

[Halab]

I am confused, you stated the was up to that point very little risk for regular users at the same time as you said there were protective measures for theymos and staff (and the forum by default). Can you elaborate on the differentiation you stated between them?

Let's make a comparison with drug traffic.
There is a whole network with many people involved at different levels.
At the top, there is the big boss.
There are those who make the drugs.
There are those who handle the logistic.
There are those who sell the drugs.
There are those who watch to warn drug dealers when the cops are coming.
There are also the nannies (sorry I don't know the english word for people who stash drugs at home to make little money).
And there are those who buy drugs (whether they are heavy drug addicts or occasional users).

When the justice wants to dismantle a drug business, they go after the head, the important people and the important elements of the network. They will not arrest all the consumers. But if the justice wants to be zealous, the nannies or the watchers can be sentenced (to minor sanctions).

There with mixers, we don't know with which violence the arm of the justice will strike. Because it will strike one day.
As with drugs, those who have used a mixer for a small amount of money or who have displayed a signature here should not be worried (*). But, again, if the justice wants to be zealous, Bitcointalk as an entity can be considered as part of the network and the forum can be closed. This is the kind of thing, I think, Theymos wants to protect against.  

(*) Not a legal advice

[JollyGood]

I am confused, you stated the was up to that point very little risk for regular users at the same time as you said there were protective measures for theymos and staff (and the forum by default). Can you elaborate on the differentiation you stated between them?

I already wrote to you that you should be able to read between the lines so that some things would be clearer to you.

No harm in seeking clarification because I was unable to read between the lines 

There with mixers, we don't know with which violence the arm of the justice will strike. Because it will strike one day.
As with drugs, those who have used a mixer for a small amount of money or who have displayed a signature here should not be worried (*). But, again, if the justice wants to be zealous, Bitcointalk as an entity can be considered as part of the network and the forum can be closed. This is the kind of thing, I think, Theymos wants to protect against.  

(*) Not a legal advice

I understand your opinion, thank you Halab for elaborating.

I think the general consensus here has to be that promoting mixers does not by default mean anything wrong is happening. Most people require some degree of privacy to to attempt to anonymise their BTC (such as signature campaign participants or lenders), however but some of the service providers could face having some of their services misused for criminal activity including money laundering.

The fact that all mixers are promising to provide an anonymous service means it could be targeted by criminals for nefarious purposes. Having said that, if any law enforcement agency stated they deemed mixers to be illegal it would change the equation very fast because the forum would ban their campaigns and probably their forum representative accounts too. On top of that forum members would not be wearing their brands in avatars or signatures.

[virasog]

There with mixers, we don't know with which violence the arm of the justice will strike. Because it will strike one day.
As with drugs, those who have used a mixer for a small amount of money or who have displayed a signature here should not be worried (*). But, again, if the justice wants to be zealous, Bitcointalk as an entity can be considered as part of the network and the forum can be closed. This is the kind of thing, I think, Theymos wants to protect against.  

(*) Not a legal advice

This is scary when i hear that the government officials can come up with an order to close the forum just because people are advertising mixers here. But then will they ban social media, facebook, twitter also if they see mixers being advertised their too?

If they really need to do the crackdown, the US government needs to ban the mixers and not the entities which are advertising it. By the way, they can only ban the mixers operating in or from the US. They can't ban the mixers worldwide just like they are unable to ban the cryptocurrencies.