I used a mixer and then got banned from exchange. Now what?

[FinneysTrueVision]

There is a limit to how many hops into your transaction history exchanges will look into. If there is enough distance between your current wallet the mixing service you used then a new exchange would be unlikely to ban you based on blockchain data not being enough to prove you were involved in illegal activity. It is not a good idea to use mixers if you intend to use centralized exchanges. You are probably not entirely out of options but you will have to look into that yourself since discussions around how to remove taint from your coins might go against the forum's new rules.

[Publictalk792]

It is not good that you got banned from your main exchange especially if you need it to convert cryptocurrency to regular money.
It is hard to know for sure if anything related to your wallet is now considering bad. Using a mixer can make your transactions more private and secret but it can also make exchanges and regulators worried.The exchange thought your transaction was suspicious because it was connected to a mixer. Therefore they banned your account.
Now let's talk about what you can do next. You can try contacting the exchange where you usually trade to ask them about the ban and if there is any way to fix the problem.
And if you are an American citizen so I dont know what should I say because I am not American and don't know the rules and regulations of your country so if you are citizen so you follow the rules.

[God bless u]

The exchange is gemini.  I did .1e cause I wanted a wallet to pay people with that isnt connected to my main wallets.

Went like this.  CEX ---> wallet 1 ---> wallet 2 ----> wallet 3 ---> mixer
I havent sent from the CEX to wallet 1 in months.

Yes I contacted support.  They wont reverse it, my account is gone.  So hoping theres another CEX I can use to on/offramp 100s of thousands in USD.

Sorry to know that you lost your account.
Binance and Okex can be good options as alternative CEXs. you said you are American so you can use Binance US. Coinbase can be an option too. but I would not suggest to involve any mixers with any CEX.
But My advice to you for on/offramp purposes is that you should use a non-custodial wallet of your own (create another one if you don't want to use your personal wallet). you can transfer your funds from your exchange account to your wallet and then use a mixer to pay multiple people.

[Yogee]

The exchange is gemini.  I did .1e cause I wanted a wallet to pay people with that isnt connected to my main wallets.

Went like this.  CEX ---> wallet 1 ---> wallet 2 ----> wallet 3 ---> mixer
I havent sent from the CEX to wallet 1 in months.

Yes I contacted support.  They wont reverse it, my account is gone.  So hoping theres another CEX I can use to on/offramp 100s of thousands in USD.

It doesn't matter if wallet 1 was "inactive" for a long period as long as it can be linked to mixers. I can't really suggest which alternative to Gemini you could use but at least do more effort in breaking wallet links. I am guessing you were also a verified user there so I don't know if there's a shared data among US-based CEX and if they could also ban you based solely on Gemini's action. P2P could be your best option now.

[....]
Sorry to know that you lost your account.
Binance and Okex can be good options as alternative CEXs. you said you are American so you can use Binance US.

Binance US will exit the US market as part of the settlement with the regulators.

[yazher]

You shouldn't use any mixers nowadays because even if you managed to get away the first time, the next time you send some altcoins to their exchanges they will gonna banned your account, and hopefully that's only a small amount because if it was big, then prepare your long and solid statements to get back your altcoins. This once happened to me but my mind was only local exchanges and I never thought they were also aware of making it illegal to use mixers last year, thankfully it wasn't difficult to ask them to get my coins from their exchanges since it was just a low amount for them. We just need to be careful next time and read the rules if they have an update to their terms and regulations.

[Sunderland]

Kinda weird, normally after the user withdraws the coins from any exchange = the exchange doesnt need to check where it goes? what for? its not their resposibility anymore.
I dont think that is the reason why they banned you, there must be another reason.

Any exchange with policies like that will close their service soon, nobody will use it again.
For example, I withdraw 0.1 ETH from Gemini then I sent it to my friend or to buy something online and he/the merchant sent it again to the Mixer.
So my account will be banned in Gemini because of that?  Has that made sense at all for you guys here?

[el kaka22]

Try another exchange, as simple as that. If there are any problems like that, simply just use a p2p, meaning you give your money to someone and they give you cash, and then you use that cash to get it from someone else and hope that the person who buys from you doesn't check the address but when you are buying check the address.

It is really simple as long as all goes well, if something goes wrong that would be trouble but do not hesitate to back on a deal when it doesn't suit anyone, for example you are selling, they say it's tainted, say sorry and move on and find someone else instead of trying to convince someone to take tainted address money. If they say nothing, it's their mistake for not checking and they are on their own. That may sound terrible, but the whole tainted money ecosystem revolves like that, they will do it to someone else, and so forth in full circle.

[o48o]

Try another exchange, as simple as that. If there are any problems like that, simply just use a p2p, meaning you give your money to someone and they give you cash, and then you use that cash to get it from someone else and hope that the person who buys from you doesn't check the address but when you are buying check the address.

It is really simple as long as all goes well, if something goes wrong that would be trouble but do not hesitate to back on a deal when it doesn't suit anyone, for example you are selling, they say it's tainted, say sorry and move on and find someone else instead of trying to convince someone to take tainted address money. If they say nothing, it's their mistake for not checking and they are on their own. That may sound terrible, but the whole tainted money ecosystem revolves like that, they will do it to someone else, and so forth in full circle.

I wonder if people stop doing p2p after a while if there's a high change they are buying tainted coins that can get their accounts frozen. It's also harder to prove the origin of the income by doing that, as that's required soon, at least for significant amounts.

And sorry OP, i don't know what to tell you. You might want to pay attention what FinCEN and FATF have been doing.

[OgNasty]

So I week ago I used a mixer to send .1 eth from one wallet to another.  The wallets I used have never been sent to or from a CEX but did have the connection indirectly.  So yeah I just got banned from my main exchange that I hardly use anyways but would need it to go fiat on/offramp.  So is anything connected to this wallet tainted now?  Will I be able to use a different CEX for on/off ramp?  I am american btw.  What do I do now?

That seems rather extreme.  You're saying you didn't send the funds from a mixer to the exchange, just the fact that a mixer had sent funds at one point to your account was enough to get your banned?  Was it the same funds from the mixer?  Have you ever sent funds directly from a mixer to an exchange?  This seems like a dangerous problem for the community.  Essentially anyone that pays anyone using a mixer could be screwing over the person they send funds to and having their exchange accounts closed if this is true.  Pretty messed up behavior.

[Rengga Jati]

So I week ago I used a mixer to send .1 eth from one wallet to another.  The wallets I used have never been sent to or from a CEX but did have the connection indirectly.  So yeah I just got banned from my main exchange that I hardly use anyways but would need it to go fiat on/offramp.  So is anything connected to this wallet tainted now?  Will I be able to use a different CEX for on/off ramp?  I am american btw.  What do I do now?

Unfortunately, many CEXs definitely have regulations like that, especially if you live in the US, right? because of course the regulations are quite strict there. Actually, not only from mixers, but usually CEX will immediately react or act quite strictly if there are transaction funds from several suspicious origin addresses, especially if they are suspected of coming from mixers. Never mind mixers, in my country's CEX, if we make a direct deposit from a gambling exchange with a large enough nominal amount it will usually be detected and then the funds will be frozen. So, one way is to contact their CS to ask what you should do next. Usually they will provide a solution. hopefully that will happen. and from this we can take lessons to be more careful.

[Wexnident]

~

I don't think any big exchanges would accept you using mixers to transfer money to them. Pretty much all CEXs imo would have some kind of law/precaution with regard to mixers since they hide potential money laundering transactions and in such cases, they just choose to ban everyone who tries to use them.

I'm not familiar with how CEXs track tainted wallets but wouldn't the other wallets be fine? I mean if mixer > wallet 1 > wallet 2 > wallet 3 was the process, then any wallet that has sent coins to those 3 should be safe. I can't say the same for any wallet that has received coins from those 3 though since they may tie it to the coins received from the mixer. To be 100% safe though just avoid using any of them I guess? P2p might be the best option for your current existing funds.

[AakZaki]

That seems rather extreme.  You're saying you didn't send the funds from a mixer to the exchange, just the fact that a mixer had sent funds at one point to your account was enough to get your banned?  Was it the same funds from the mixer?  Have you ever sent funds directly from a mixer to an exchange?  This seems like a dangerous problem for the community.  Essentially anyone that pays anyone using a mixer could be screwing over the person they send funds to and having their exchange accounts closed if this is true.  Pretty messed up behavior.

This will also take away a person's freedom to send funds, before they even realize they are already banned because the person sending funds was detected to be connected to the mixer. This is indeed a rather extreme regulation, even though no criminal action has been committed. when someone receives payment for a signature campaign that might be an indication as well. So if you find an exchange that is too strict about the source of funds and even the funds are only a little, it's better to forget it and use another Cex, there are still many Cexes that are safe and not too strict with regulations regarding mixer addresses.

[albon]

[...] it's better to forget it and use another Cex, there are still many Cexes that are safe and not too strict with regulations regarding mixer addresses.

Perhaps there may be CEX platforms that are less strict or efficient in terms of detecting transactions related to the mixers, but as the client continues to do this continuously, they may block his account or freeze his funds one day and request documents for the source of the funds, and this is 100% expected if the FBI seizes the mixer service. Not your keys, not your crypto; everyone must believe in this. They can make any unfair decision against any client at any time to escape regulatory penalties from responsible authorities or pay fines. Even Now that centralized exchanges have removed privacy coins, how does CEX allow privacy and decentralization for its customers? I do not recommend using them except for small amounts, away from mixer transactions and signature campaigns, and looking for better alternatives.

[Kavelj22]

So I week ago I used a mixer to send .1 eth from one wallet to another.  The wallets I used have never been sent to or from a CEX but did have the connection indirectly.  So yeah I just got banned from my main exchange that I hardly use anyways but would need it to go fiat on/offramp.  So is anything connected to this wallet tainted now?  Will I be able to use a different CEX for on/off ramp?  I am american btw.  What do I do now?

Most platforms are now able to recognize transactions issued by Mixers, and the licensors of the platforms are forced to deal with these transactions with caution and therefore subject them to processing before exporting them. Also, this process is not supposed to last more than a quarter of an hour if the treatment conditions are sound.

[deepblue01]

And yet you didn't tell us which exchange

You probably have access to search engines like Google, but alright, here's one quick article: https://news.bitcoin.com/another-crypto-exchange-discourages-the-use-of-bitcoin-mixing-services/

Binance, Paxos, Coinbase, and pretty much almost any exchange that isn't planning on getting shut down.

I see now. now every crypto-exchange and even gambling site are needed for KYC.
It's quite clear that the government enforce strict regulations in the crypto space

[redsun114]

I think the exchanges block such transactions when they suspect money laundering and mixers are of course known to be used for laundering although people are using it for privacy the general perception of mixers is negative.

You might have to submit documents and then able to move the funds.

In future,  I suggest you to use a blank wallet which is used to receive and send money so it's not directly linked to the exchange as suspicious. For example, if A is the mixer wallet and B is the target exchange wallet where you want to send, then use C, a middle wallet where you receive and send from.

[Marvelman]

I see now. now every crypto-exchange and even gambling site are needed for KYC.
It's quite clear that the government enforce strict regulations in the crypto space

You're right, most big crypto exchanges and betting websites demand you prove your identity these days before you can use them.  Can't slide by anonymously like in the past.  However, there are still decentralized exchanges that let you trade crypto without needing to submit documents or selfies to show who you are and  these peer-to-peer platforms hook up users directly rather than going through a company in the middle.  So they don't have to follow the same know your customer rules that the centralized outfits require.   

[AakZaki]

Perhaps there may be CEX platforms that are less strict or efficient in terms of detecting transactions related to the mixers, but as the client continues to do this continuously, they may block his account or freeze his funds one day and request documents for the source of the funds, and this is 100% expected if the FBI seizes the mixer service. Not your keys, not your crypto; everyone must believe in this. They can make any unfair decision against any client at any time to escape regulatory penalties from responsible authorities or pay fines. Even Now that centralized exchanges have removed privacy coins, how does CEX allow privacy and decentralization for its customers? I do not recommend using them except for small amounts, away from mixer transactions and signature campaigns, and looking for better alternatives.

There must be and some Cex also have governments that are pro Bitcoin and I also don't recommend trusting Cex completely because it is not recommended for storing assets. Cex is only a place to convert crypto into fiat and the only way is to use p2P, there is no other way so Cex is still needed for several transactions that must be carried out.