multi signature transfers are going to make mixing bitcoins very secure also. I think it is already part of the bitcoin protocol actually. Soon the mix and or escrow will not be able to steal your coins unless X% of the individually operated nodes are malicious and/or compromised. I envison a network of mixes that stores tons of bitcoins that you can pull money out of whenever you need it, without having to worry about the coins being stolen unless a large number of the mix operators decide to get together and fuck you (or are independently compromised). Open Transactions already allows for this .