Mixers are a very risky business model and I believe this isn't the first time such thing happens. Back in the time, 6 years ago tho, circa 2017, Bitmixer shut down voluntarily after other services being seized by US government. Bitmixer at that time was extremely popular and their earnings were incredibly high, yet the owners saw that they should stop before being tracked down.
I don't know what's going on right now with Sinbad but I am not very surprised to see that coming. Mixers should take on consideration the risks of running such service and where to operate it.
I'm sure all mixer operators are aware of the risks. The more pressing question is whether campaign managers and/or participants can face any legal consequences for promoting such services. I don't think so, as the process of Bitcoin mixing itself is not illegal, so any further compliance should be the responsibility of operators.
The problem with Sinbad is quite unique though, given they've been linked to foreign intelligence, so some other three-letter agency might get invloved.
Not wanting to deviate too much from the main topic of the OP.
Do you think that a mixing service that only works on clearnet is less exposed to these types of problems?
No I don't think so because for many governments these type of services are equal to money laundering, tax fraud and illegal activities even though they are operating in clearnet. It is hard to convince these politicians, who are by the way doing the same thing with offshore companies, that all mixers aren't the same.
Personally, I find these services as a good way to keep your privacy and your money from being tracked by curious people. Governments think otherwise since they fail to track them.
True, but looks like whether or not a mixer operates only on darknet matters to Theymos:
Bitcointalk.org is not a darknet site. Linking to illegal services is not allowed. As mentioned in the law-enforcement press release, "a cryptocurrency mixing service is not necessarily illegal." But a seized mixer is rather different from just any old mixer. Sinbad, if still operating, is now clearly a darknet site, and therefore not allowed on bitcointalk.org.
The OP is banned. This topic is archived. The onion address is wordfiltered, and bypassing the wordfilter will get you banned.
Thoughts?
Good morning :-D
Good evening!
How do you find this whole situation? Given the huge numbers of campaigns you've ran, have you been prepared for such scenario?
Do you have any plans on what to do with the coins in the blacklisted escrow address if you get no instructions from a lawyer/authorities. Seems like it could use a mixer lol.
I'm curious on how the situation will unfold - will you be posting any updates anywhere? Both ANN and sig. campaign thread of Sinbad are locked.