As we enter the final month of the first quarter of 2019, one of the striking features of the crypto world has been the stabilizing of cryptocurrencies. Much of the volatility of 2017 and early 2018 seems, thankfully, to be a thing of the past. Despite the odd wild fluctuation here and there, the crypto markets have been relatively stable.
However, despite the stability, many current and potential investors of crypto have been put off. Some by the number of high profile hacks. Another reason has been the increased money laundering regulations that have diminished the anonymity of bitcoin holding and trading.
For the lovers of anonymous bitcoin trading, bitcoin mixing, sometimes referred to as tumbling, appears to be the answer.
What is Bitcoin Mixing?
Bitcoin mixing services such as https://bitcoinmix.org/ enable anonymity where a user sends their Bitcoins to a Bitcoin mixing company. The company charges a small fee then holds on for random delay before sending the same value Bitcoin from other users to your address.
The whole process ensures anonymity and is in direct contrast to how the governments want the blockchain world to be. Governments and law enforcement agencies around the world have started tracing Bitcoin transactions within the Bitcoin blockchain.\
The fact that Blockchain mixing puts the power back in the users hands and not the governments, is in many ways,a return to the early spirit of Bitcoin (BTC) and the blockchain world. There are of course, anonymous altcoins already out there, Monero and Zcash two of the more popular. However, what Bitcoin mixing brings to the table is anonymity to the daddy of all cryptocurrencies. Whilst 8 percent of Americans were found to own crypto, the overwhelming majority chose Bitcoin (BTC) as their crypto of choice. Nearly 5 percent of all Americans own Bitcoin. Less than 2 percent of Americans own Ethereum. Coming in third was Ripple, with 1 percent ownership amongst Americans.
Bitcoin Mixing also provides protection against hacks. Wallets and Exchanges have been victim to many high profile hacks, reducing trust in the whole crypto world. By mixing your bitcoins your transactions can never be traced to you. This leaves hackers confused, making a hack a much more difficult process by confusing the trail.
The Future for Bitcoin Mixing
Although Bitcoin mixing isn’t 100% fallible and isn’t free, it certainly provides a level of safety and anonymity that will appeal to many Bitcoin enthusiasts. Can the governments keep up with the advances in blockchain technology? probably not, and bitcoin mixing is the perfect example of the blockchain world finding solutions to ongoing challenges and keeping the trust of crypto traders.
