How can we validate that anonymity is actually working, and/or is decentralized?
Is there a whitepaper?
You can download the wallet and try it. (for now just in console : sendfrommixer ) Use small amount like 0.0002
UI support coming next release.
But how does it work? Is it just sending to some mixer node that is pre-setup to mix coins?
I'm not sure how true anonymity can be built into a coin if it's not in the actual block creation source code... (which obviously has none of that code on github).
Unless it's just sending to some central mixer server somewhere to get a redirection. (which would be a valid way to do it but somewhat less impressive of an implementation ).
May not answer all your questions, but from what I have gathered, the current implementation is mixer based off a masternode. Revision 2 will utilize decentralized nodes in the sense that any wallet can act as an xnode and will utilize a separate protocal which can be run over TOR. Would be cool if android wallets supported xnode functionality, though just being able to stake will be nice.