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So, none of your so-called red flags were actually unique to Whirlwind because they could just as well apply to any other mixing service (or any other crypto-related service, for that matter, apart from the anonymity mining campaign, which, as you yourself mentioned, came later)? And you weren't really any smarter than the rest of us in that regard?
But let's break down some of your inputs one by one:
I applied for the signature campaign when WW was first released - not enough research or usage to conclude if it was a scam or not at this point.
You applied for their campaign
four times, by my count. The last time was over a month from the start of the campaign. You didn't have enough time for your research?
During the review campaign I put in my cons that WW offered a basic level of privacy, explaining further that it was the equivalent to a hot wallet, pooling all coins together. WW gave some responses which I didn't believe were entirely satisfactory for me to use the service, but not worth posting much more about UNLESS someone wanted to continue the discussion, which no one did.
Fair enough, I'll accept that. However, as they pointed out themselves, this could easily be attributed to the fact that they were a very young service back then. I have no basis for comparison with other mixers in this regard.
Anonymity mining campaign (I did not voice anything here because anyone could and should have. I did not have time.to write a report and deal with responses to posting about this red flag) - this was the most major red flag.
You said it yourself – this feature was added later, and we can't be sure if it was part of their initial plan. There were no signs of it, afaik. Personally, I'm not into the idea of handing over my coins to others for a small interest, so I didn't pay much attention to it. But this isn't new. Some other services have been providing similar offerings for quite some time.
The creator was a newbie (anyone could have posted this red flag, I definitely didn't have to)
From what I know, throughout Bitcoin's history, the vast majority of service providers have typically been forum newbies. Furthermore, I would expect this from a bitcoin mixer service provider, given the sensitive nature of the work they do.
The service took custody for extended periods (again, everyone knew this, I didn't need to point it out)
Are you referring to the notes or the anonymity mining campaign? Regarding the notes, theoretically, everyone could withdraw funds at any time. It's no different than any other service provider, and not much different from ChipMikser.
It came right after Chipmixer (I elaborated in this IN the WW thread itself and even explained why I said it)
I'm not sure about that. Their website and forum account existed before ChipMixer's end, so unless they had inside information, we can't really say they came after ChipMixer.
Not decentralized. Centralized, and custodial. Everyone already knew that anyway and it is a norm (kind of).
Exactly. It's kind of the usual practice. So, it can't really be considered a red flag. Can we even find an example of a decentralized Bitcoin mixing service?