Quote from: vlad1m1r on May 10, 2012, 11:32 amSR has a built in mixer but I am not sure this is suitable for very large amounts of BTC - perhaps Pine can confirmI have my own theory on how SR's mixer operates, but it wouldn't be a good idea to post it here.Quote from: vlad1m1r on May 10, 2012, 11:47 amGenerating a new address can be useful as the Blockchain isn't a neat little list and every time you move coins across addresses you make it harder to trace a transaction but in principle yes, generating a new address doesn't greatly increase your safety if another has been compromised, it's a preventative measure. It's also true that it's not currently possible to tell through block chain analysis whether the coins you sent to another address were to an address of your own or someone else, so once again sending coins to yourself in random amounts to several addresses can help to obscure the trail.I have to disagree because it depends on what you mean by that, see my note on convergence below. You have to be precise because it matters. I mean, there are a couple of activities that I'd regard as a 'suspect signature' on the Bitcoin network:- A loop. This is where bitcoins go on a simple or complex journey, but ultimately come back to an address they visited before. This strongly implies that all activities in the loop were orchestrated by the same person. - A convergence. This is where bitcoins spread out among many addresses from a single point, possibly undergoing journeys through other wallets, but all the funds ultimately come back to a single address or a series of addresses that can be shown to be controlled by the same person. i.e. what I am saying, is that if the identity of the person who obtained the coins initially is known, and then all those coins wind up in a series of SR accounts, then you might as well as just bought the bitcoins with your credit card and fired them directly into SR for all the difference it makes. That is: you must either:a: use a mixer. Ideally a blind signature mixer (ask me why). This makes you untraceable.b: obtain bitcoins with cash in the first place. This makes your identity anonymous.Either of those options is very easy to achieve and gives you good anonymity. If you do both, then you are both anonymous and untraceable. Hence the Pine Seal of Approval badge.Quote from: vlad1m1r on May 10, 2012, 11:47 amSevering the link between coins at one address and another before sending won't work for the simple reason as I explained below that Bitcoins operate on the basis of Public Key Cryptography i.e if I send you an e-mail encrypted with your Public Key you MUST use your own Private Key to decrypt it before sending it to anyone else. Mixers on the other hand do allow you to do this in a limited fashion by swapping your coins with those of others though of course you are trusting the mixing service not to abscond with your coins and that there are sufficient coins to swap around so that you don't receive any of your own back. It may however be possible to trace the flow of coins through the mixer if it can be shown you made a deposit and then later withdrew a similar amount.In short, the only truly safe method for buyers to purchase BTC is to sell goods in exchange for them and/or buy them with cash.V.We ought to have an entire thread on how mixers work and their caveats to be honest. It is possible for a mixer to be compromised i.e. a man in the middle attack, but it not possible for a blind mixer to be compromised. There are also ways of using certain services which make life incredibly difficult for LEO. I have a headache now though -.-