Important Update March 24 2023: Since the writing of this post, Chipmixer and Blender.io have been shut down by Federal Governments. Please beware of scams impersonating these websites, as they no longer exist! Good alternatives are YoMix and Sinbad mixers.
Have you ever wondered how bitcoin transactions can go anonymous and what tools should be considered to make bitcoin untraceable? If you have been in the crypto world, you have definitely come across the word bitcoin mixer (also called tumbler). In short, a coin mixer makes bitcoin transactions in the network more anonymous. It also makes it more difficult for companies to track these transactions. So if someone cares about the anonymity of their transactions, they will definitely use this tool.
When you make a transaction from wallet A to B, this transfer is visible to everyone on the blockchain. Plus the transaction, with the amount transferred, is attached to all of the addresses involved amount. Since that’s also public, companies and individuals can be exposed with key information such as KYC documents. Well, if anyone cares about anonymity, they should use a mixer, also called a tumbler.
How do Bitcoin mixers work?
A bitcoin mixer takes your coins from you and combines, or “mixes” them with coins taken from other users. After receiving your mixed coins by crypto mixer, it converts them into smaller units and sends them to you. Note that the total amount of bitcoin sent to your address is the same as the total amount you deposited (but read the notice below). But how do coin mixers earn revenue to stay in business?
When you deposit bitcoins to a coin mixer, some will deduct a small percentage of your deposit as a fee to pay for the mixer’s operations. Some mixers don’t do that, and instead have a button with which you can “donate” part of your deposit to the mixer to cover their operations. Bitcoin mixers earn their income this way. Usually, new tumblers charge a lower fee to attract the audience.
Like most other crypto industries, not all mixers are trustworthy, however. As a result, you should consider using well-known and reputable tumblers only.
A running list of Bitcoin mixers
Chipmixer is one of the largest and most popular mixing services sites in the bitcoin world. You can do very fast deposits and withdrawals on this mixer, and also use different mixing methods to make your bitcoins untraceable in the blockchain network. Also, there is no registration or creating accounts here, so it’s very simple and easy, and you can talk to them privately whenever you need support.
Other well-known and frequently used mixers are:
- Wasabi Wallet, which mixes all the coins you receive
- Blender.io
- MyCryptoMixer
- cryptomixer.io
- PrivCoin
Advantages and disadvantages of crypto mixers
As you know, for every service that exists in the network, they have their own disadvantages as well as advantages. But here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using bitcoin mixers in general.
Advantages:
- Exchanges and services like Chainalysis have a hard time tracing the transactions back to you.
- Governments cannot monitor the network to track your mixed bitcoins. It is used by some people to avoid a “$5 wrench attack” where an armed robber hits you with a wrench for access to your private keys.
Disadvantages:
- Not all mixers are real, some mixers will collect the deposit and run away with the bitcoins after scamming you.
- The commissions might be high depending on the mixer. Common rates are between 1% and 3% of the deposit. This can make a big difference if you are mixing a large amount of bitcoin.
- There is concern that some exchanges block the deposits of mixed bitcoins.
Finally, it should be noted that the positive points of bitcoin mixers outweigh the negative ones, and have made digital currency activists interested in it. If you are also interested in privacy, coin mixers are one of the best services for you.