4 ms·

A lot of mixers are automated / are designed for this exact purpose

GordonS 9y ago
Yes, the operation of the mixer itself is automated, but I've wager than the owners have blacklisted addresses known to be involved with massive BTC theft - it just doesn't make sense to touch them from a risk perspective.
- pricechild 9y ago
  Would that really be effective? Isn't it relatively cheap to create a new wallet?
  - rodiger 9y ago
    It is free afaik
  - GordonS 9y ago
    Sorry, I don't get what you mean? Do you mean the criminals could simply move the coins to a new wallet before moving them to an exchange? Transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain are public, so it's relatively easy to keep tabs on movements of known criminal proceeds (as the article demonstrates :)
    - yebyen 9y ago
      > it's relatively easy to keep tabs on movements of known criminal proceeds Until they've been obfuscated by a mixer... and not every mixer is going to be interested in blacklisting every set of coin from every known criminal activity. And many criminal activities are surely unknown, including many for which the sources of coins are not going to go to any extent to report. (The senders may be committing crimes that were unrelated to Bitcoin crime, and so entirely off the radar.) I'd hazard a guess that the majority of crime committed in and around the ecosystem of Bitcoin is not even Bitcoin theft, so might never be reported. How many times does a value have to move from one address to another address, and mix with untainted coin, before it's going to be considered too far removed from the original addresses to be palpably associated with the original crime?
nolok 9y ago
There is still someone behind it, getting the fee's money. That person will have to face the police.
- Ajedi32 9y ago
  Only if they get caught.
IshKebab 9y ago
Yeah I'm sure automated money laundering is perfectly fine in the eyes of the law.
- rodiger 9y ago
  I am not saying it is legal-- just harder to prosecute

Yes, the operation of the mixer itself is automated, but I've wager than the owners have blacklisted addresses known to be involved with massive BTC theft - it just doesn't make sense to touch them from a risk perspective.

pricechild 9y ago
Would that really be effective? Isn't it relatively cheap to create a new wallet?
- rodiger 9y ago
  It is free afaik
- GordonS 9y ago
  Sorry, I don't get what you mean? Do you mean the criminals could simply move the coins to a new wallet before moving them to an exchange? Transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain are public, so it's relatively easy to keep tabs on movements of known criminal proceeds (as the article demonstrates :)
  - yebyen 9y ago
    > it's relatively easy to keep tabs on movements of known criminal proceeds Until they've been obfuscated by a mixer... and not every mixer is going to be interested in blacklisting every set of coin from every known criminal activity. And many criminal activities are surely unknown, including many for which the sources of coins are not going to go to any extent to report. (The senders may be committing crimes that were unrelated to Bitcoin crime, and so entirely off the radar.) I'd hazard a guess that the majority of crime committed in and around the ecosystem of Bitcoin is not even Bitcoin theft, so might never be reported. How many times does a value have to move from one address to another address, and mix with untainted coin, before it's going to be considered too far removed from the original addresses to be palpably associated with the original crime?

nolok 9y ago

There is still someone behind it, getting the fee's money. That person will have to face the police.

Ajedi32 9y ago
Only if they get caught.

IshKebab 9y ago

Yeah I'm sure automated money laundering is perfectly fine in the eyes of the law.

rodiger 9y ago
I am not saying it is legal-- just harder to prosecute