Has the reputation of mixers really gone too bad?

[Anik_Elft]

This is in connection with the recent Bybit hack, where they reportedly lost $1.5 billion. Shortly after, an article came out titled...

Bybit Funds on the Move, Could be Headed for Bitcoin Mixers ‘Next’: Elliptic

As you can see, they used the word "could," which means there’s no confirmed result yet on where the money will actually go. It’s like they’re implying that in any illegal activity, including this hack, the hackers will automatically launder the funds through a mixer to cash out, making it harder to track.

No wonder mixers have developed a bad reputation. Even though they’re meant for privacy, illegal transactions like these overshadow their legitimate uses.

Thoughts.....

I don't think mixers were made for shady stuff–they're like about keeping my money private which feels super important these days with everything online. To me, the problem isn't the mixer itself, it's just how some people use it. It's like VPNs or encryption or even Tor, i love how they hide my tracks but yeah, they can be used for good or bad. I get why that's tricky. I just wish we could figure out how to stop the crooks without tossing out my right to keep things private. I mean, I'm not hurting anyone–I just don't want everyone snooping in my wallet, you know?

[AsvXrin]

This is in connection with the recent Bybit hack, where they reportedly lost $1.5 billion. Shortly after, an article came out titled...

Bybit Funds on the Move, Could be Headed for Bitcoin Mixers ‘Next’: Elliptic

As you can see, they used the word "could," which means there’s no confirmed result yet on where the money will actually go. It’s like they’re implying that in any illegal activity, including this hack, the hackers will automatically launder the funds through a mixer to cash out, making it harder to track.

No wonder mixers have developed a bad reputation. Even though they’re meant for privacy, illegal transactions like these overshadow their legitimate uses.

Thoughts.....

I don't think mixers were made for shady stuff–they're like about keeping my money private which feels super important these days with everything online. To me, the problem isn't the mixer itself, it's just how some people use it. It's like VPNs or encryption or even Tor, i love how they hide my tracks but yeah, they can be used for good or bad. I get why that's tricky. I just wish we could figure out how to stop the crooks without tossing out my right to keep things private. I mean, I'm not hurting anyone–I just don't want everyone snooping in my wallet, you know?

I think mixers are kinda like VPNs or encryption–super handy for keeping my stuff private. But it bums me out that some folks use them for shady stiff like crime and that makes it tricky. I don't want privacy tools to get the boot just because of a few bad apples. I'd love to see some smart rules that go after the crooks without messing with my right to keep my money info safge. to me, it's all about striking that balance, let me lock down my financial details without accidentally stepping over the line.

[X-ray]

I used to think hackers only used mixers to hide stolen cash but they've got other tricks like P2P trades or swapping across blockchains. Mixers are part of it, sure, but pointing at them alone misses the bigger mess. I'd say better tracking tools and beefing up exchange security could hit the problem harder.

when it comes to interchain bridge the hacker don't really erase their trace by simply bridging though, the bridge can easily disclose where the money going on the other side of the blockchain since they also retain their own ledger for this and in the recent bybit hacking, most of bridges has been cooperating so far. meanwhile mixers are privacy tools and well, not easily disclosing where the money went.

[ingiltere]

when it comes to interchain bridge the hacker don't really erase their trace by simply bridging though, the bridge can easily disclose where the money going on the other side of the blockchain since they also retain their own ledger for this and in the recent bybit hacking, most of bridges has been cooperating so far. meanwhile mixers are privacy tools and well, not easily disclosing where the money went.

It's difficult to obscure the trail of money using different bridges, as it can still be tracked. That's why those who don't want to leave a trace prefer mixers as their first choice. The bad reputation of mixers shouldn't be surprising. The majority of people who use them are involved in illegal activities and governments naturally want to take measures against this. Mixer usage due to privacy concerns is likely much lower, I don't think this will change in the future either. At the very least, the bad situation created by mixers no longer affects Bitcoin. Because by now, everyone has realized how transparent Bitcoin blockchain actually is.

[nakamura12]

Mixers have a bad reputation especially to the feds which I am sure you know about different mixers being seized by the feds. In my opinion, mixers was not created to be used for shady stuff like money laundering for example because it is the person that is using the mixers do shady stuff. It is the same as the knife which is used in kitchen but there are people who use it to kill people and for mixer is what I explained that it's entirely depends on the person who use it either for shady activity or for privacy.

[Abiky]

Mixers have a bad reputation especially to the feds which I am sure you know about different mixers being seized by the feds. In my opinion, mixers was not created to be used for shady stuff like money laundering for example because it is the person that is using the mixers do shady stuff. It is the same as the knife which is used in kitchen but there are people who use it to kill people and for mixer is what I explained that it's entirely depends on the person who use it either for shady activity or for privacy.

It's primarily because mixers are often labeled by governments as "money laundering tools". Especially the US government. Even if you're not a criminal, using a mixer alone will raise suspicion by the authorities. Luckily for Americans, the Trump administration has promised to go easy on crypto. I'm sure the US will change its stance towards mixers soon.

To be on the safe side, use a non-custodial mixer (decentralized) instead of a centralized mixing service. Most people claim to have "nothing to hide", so they won't give a damn about their privacy. They're fine using Bitcoin just the way it is. I'd say mixers are for the true paranoid. For even stronger privacy, converting your BTC to XMR remains the best choice. Let's hope other countries open their doors to Bitcoin mixers and other privacy techniques for the benefit of all. Just my two sats.

[betswift]

Mixers have a bad reputation especially to the feds which I am sure you know about different mixers being seized by the feds. In my opinion, mixers was not created to be used for shady stuff like money laundering for example because it is the person that is using the mixers do shady stuff. It is the same as the knife which is used in kitchen but there are people who use it to kill people and for mixer is what I explained that it's entirely depends on the person who use it either for shady activity or for privacy.

It's primarily because mixers are often labeled by governments as "money laundering tools". Especially the US government. Even if you're not a criminal, using a mixer alone will raise suspicion by the authorities. Luckily for Americans, the Trump administration has promised to go easy on crypto. I'm sure the US will change its stance towards mixers soon.

To be on the safe side, use a non-custodial mixer (decentralized) instead of a centralized mixing service. Most people claim to have "nothing to hide", so they won't give a damn about their privacy. They're fine using Bitcoin just the way it is. I'd say mixers are for the true paranoid. For even stronger privacy, converting your BTC to XMR remains the best choice. Let's hope other countries open their doors to Bitcoin mixers and other privacy techniques for the benefit of all. Just my two sats.

Agreed. It's for those that really, reallyyyy want to scale things up security and anonymity-wise (more for the latter).