With TumbleBit, Bitcoin Mixing May Have Found Its Winning Answer

Researchers from North Carolina State University, Boston University, and George Mason University in the U.S. have created a new system that makes it harder to detect bitcoin transactions. Called TumbleBit, it is a computer protocol that runs on top of Bitcoin and benefits from an existing notion known as a ‘mixing service,’ according to a report from the North Carolina State University. According to the research, instead of Party A paying Party B, there are several Parties A that pay an intermediary ‘tumbler,’ which then pays Parties B. However, the more parties involved, the harder it is....

TumbleBit is one of the most promising privacy-enhancing technologies being built on top of Bitcoin right now. It allows users to mix their coins fully anonymously, without requiring trust in any third party. An advanced version of the technology, which requires Segregated Witness, can even be utilized as a second-layer payment hub to reduce transaction costs and speed up confirmation times. After TumbleBit was first proposed in an academic paper and subsequently presented at the Scaling Bitcoin workshops in Milan, NBitcoin lead developer Nicolas Dorier built an early version of the....

Is it possible for you to mix your Bitcoins with other people’s Bitcoins, and at the same time profit from it? Mixing companies claim it is - but there is a risk. Privacy is not just for criminals. Many people think that mixing services are primarily used to launder Bitcoins obtained through fraudulent or illegal means. This is not necessarily the case. Privacy is important for everybody. Criminals should not know how wealthy you are, strangers should not be aware of how you spend your money. This is a reason why Bitcoin mixers - Eg. Bitmixer.io - have grown their businesses. Trust is an....

As blockchain surveillance rises, the need for private financial transactions for bitcoin has become a holy grail for bitcoiners. Over the past few months, many Bitcoin proponents have been focused on the Tumblebit project, a protocol that aims to anonymize transactions. This week, the blockchain development company Stratis has announced “Breeze Wallet”,....

Whether or not Bitcoin mixing services will ever be very useful to the Bitcoin ecosystem, remains to be seen for now. Digital currency was never intended to be anonymous, and any service claiming to provide something else requires users to put their funds and faith into the hands of a third party. Plus, users have to rely on Tor to access certain Bitcoin mixing services, which only makes the whole process even more complicated. Not to mention how there is always a risk of losing funds. Bitcoin Mixing Is Not For Everybody. There are several ways to go about using a Bitcoin mixing service.....