Bitcoin mixing is legal, at least for now. Yet, you better check whether mixing is still legal in your jurisdiction.
We have already explained on many occasions, why Bitcoin on its own cannot be thought of as private or anonymous. Its inherent nature makes Bitcoin pseudonymous, meaning there are ways to still track Bitcoin and its usage to you as a person or at least to your wallet.
If you want to go around this, you would probably need something like Bitcoin mixer, blender or tumbler. Platforms, wallets or protocols that provide these services are trying to improve the privacy and anonymity of its users. They apply different mixing techniques to allow its users to “clean” their money of their identity and move money around in a more anonymous fashion.
After reading this, many of you might think that these people are probably doing something illegal, if they want to hide their money. While it is undeniable that these services are used also by criminals, so are phones, internet, cars or any other technology that comes to mind. Does that mean that all of these tools should be outlawed?
And that is our simple premise. Bitcoin mixers are nothing but tools that humans can use whatever way they find suitable. Just like cars, internet or mobile phones, Bitcoin mixers are nothing but an invention that serves some purpose. But that also applies to other day to day items, such as an axe or a knife. An axe can be used to chop wood as well as harm someone, the car can be used as a transport to a workplace as well as from a crime scene or an internet can be used for streaming as well as cyberbullying.
The same logic can be applied to Bitcoin mixers, which can be used to make sure your rightfully earned, bought or even mined coins are private. For sure there will be users who will try to clean their hacked or stolen funds of any identities so they can use it without any repercussions. But that is by no means the only purpose of using Bitcoin mixers. Many studies and research papers by analytical companies have already shown that this is in fact minority of these transactions.
Examples of Bitcoin mixers that got into problems with the authorities would seemingly undermine these statements. But the likes of Blender.io, Bitcoin For or Tornado Cash in many cases point mostly to the fact that the governments and authorities do not want ordinary people to have any form of privacy. This then begs a simple question. Should cash be illegal?
Many more users will use these means of Bitcoin mixers to remain anonymous either in the eyes of the side they are dealing with, or in the eyes of anyone who is looking. Bitcoin mixing provides cash-like anonymity, which many of us take for granted in the physical world with the cash itself. Therefore asking a questions whether Bitcoin mixers are legal or should stay legal can lead to the same question being asked about cash for instance.
Is paying for your groceries with cash legal? Of course, it is. That’s what cash is for. And with Bitcoin, which can be thought of in many ways to be a digital form of a decentralized cash, the same rights and logic should be applied.
As of now, Bitcoin mixing is legal in most jurisdiction around the world. Or at least it is not explicitly stated to be illegal. There are some jurisdictions that are trying to outlaw anything that is connected to the privacy of the users. In the Western world we might expect this to take some serious hits, if Bitcoin and its mixing are to be criminalized.
With the introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), one can only expect this to become a norm. Unfortunately, it is likely that many politicians will want to make using Bitcoin mixers illegal, as they would not have any chance of controlling the money flow due to privacy.
However, that only proves how effective Bitcoin mixers are. As of now, Bitcoin mixers are one of the best privacy-related tools in the financial world that anyone can access and use almost without any problems. And they give their users the right to privacy, which is currently being exploited by any larger corporation or government there is. Bitcoin and Bitcoin mixing are giving this right to financial privacy back to the owners and holders of the coins.
Whir is one of those tools as it allows for Bitcoin mixing for anyone, in a simple, cheap, fast and yet intuitive manner. So, if your only question was whether using tools such as these is legal, the answer in most countries around the world is yes.
But just for your own safety, make sure to check whether it is legal to use Bitcoin mixers in your jurisdiction. This article is purely informative and does not serve any legal or financial advices.
Disclaimer: This article does not serve as a piece of financial advice or encouragement and inducement for the usage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Its primary role is informative, explanatory, and educational. The readers have to decide themselves whether to use or not to use these types of services.
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