Users send cryptocurrencies to the service, mix them with other coins or tokens, and then send the equivalent amount of “mixed coins” to a recipient's address, hiding the connection between the sender and the recipient. There are many legitimate uses for this type of service. Decentralized mixers don't use an intermediary to complete a transaction and instead use open source protocols such as CoinJoin. Basically, users can combine their currencies into a larger transaction and, in the end, receive an equal amount of cryptocurrency, making it difficult to trace the source of the payment.
Bitcoin mixers are classified as money transmitters by the Financial Crime Control Network (FinCEN). BitMix is an application for converting and mixing Bitcoin that provides anonymous transactions by routing all payments through its own system, taking advantage of the anonymity capabilities inherent to BTC and making it difficult to track currencies. However, Chainalysis noted in its report that it is “not aware that any bitcoin or Ethereum mixer is currently following these rules.” Also, are Bitcoin mixers necessary? Or is it legitimate to fall for cryptocurrencies? It depends on your goals when using these services. You can use a centralized mixer, which are third-party services that receive bitcoins, extract other bitcoins from other deposits and return an equivalent amount of bitcoins at the end of the transaction.
According to a July report from Chainalysis, cryptocurrency mixers are a “reference tool” for cybercriminals who trade cryptocurrencies, and illicit addresses account for nearly a quarter of the funds sent to mixers since January. Companies that receive Bitcoin and return different BTC in exchange for a fee are known as centralized mixers, which provide a simple solution to the fall of Bitcoin. Tumblers have emerged to improve the anonymity of cryptocurrencies, usually bitcoin (hence the bitcoin mixer), since coins provide a public record of all transactions.
