Quote from: RootZero on July 28, 2012, 07:55 pmI have never used a tumbler, I just sent straight to the address on my SR account page from Intersango.I was under the impression SR used a tumbler with its incoming coins.What I'm now wondering is how secure a tumbler actually is, there was some talk I saw about a coin 'mixer' but my understanding of btc is very limited.There are litterally 1 or 2 posts on the whole forum talking about this subject and whether you should be using a service like Bitcoinfog between exchanges and SR. I've never felt safe using external services with my coins, was told not to do this.However safe the SR sytem is, there have probably been other 'dodgy' people accepting coins without tumblers etc. So its obvious to me that this is the cause of the whole Intersango incident. The UK LE will have taken control of the accounts at Metro Bank, and I doubt even Intersango know what is going on.I think its fairly safe to say the future of btc exchanges is very uncertain. Even using cash in the post to someone, they will still have to get that cash into and exchange somehow. While you might feel 'safer' sending cash in the post to someone, that is not a good idea ever if you value your cash.Everyone knows there are very few 'legitimate' uses for btc, you could suggest you were gambling.The future of btc itself is limited, eventually inflation will overtake the cost of mining I think 2020 was the suggestion, but I see the inflation rate to GBP and USD is a lot higher than people might suggest, its very difficult to chart this sort of thing. Without there being any solid capital behind btc it is a very strange idea.Hi RootZero,I very much agree with you that the days of exchanges may well be numbered. I think that they will be allowed to continue legally but they will probably be asked to perform AML checks on their customers, asking for ID, proof of address and so on.As I explained in my previous post cash in the mail is safe for the client for two reasons :- Firstly (at least in my case) I have found a way to use the exchanges safely, it would be virtually impossible to trace the wire transfers I use to obtain Bitcoins from exchanges - also this would tell LEO nothing about my clients, only reveal I had bought them myself. - Secondly, there are many other ways to obtain Bitcoins! I mentioned before I buy large amounts from vendors for cash in the mail myself (someone else sends the cash for me!) - also I invest in mining pools, play the Bitcoin Stock Exchange and run my own investment program. As I mentioned above, this is simply better for me - there is no risk of my clients being identified if they send cash in the mail, it's just easier for me to rely on the exchanges less because I agree with you in that this is the start of a trend.You're right about SR - coins are tumbled when they are withdrawn from an SR account, not when they are deposited. If you are nervous about this then feel free to set up a secondary SR account to have your coins sent to before sending them on to your main account but bear in mind the coins will be tumbled instantly all in one go. Of course a detailed analysis of the block chain would show the same amount of Bitcoins being transferred to another address at the same time you withdrew yours. A mixer like Bitcoinfog will allow you to mix your coins and withdraw them at random intervals over a period of days making them much harder to trace.Of course this isn't an issue if you paid cash to obtain your coins in the first place!V.