Once is not customary, France once again shows its grim distrust towards Bitcoin.
The Senate prohibits “mixers”
The Senate has just adopted an amendment prohibiting the use of “crypto-active mixers”. We also speak of “spouses” in jargon.
The mixers make it possible to strengthen the pseudonymat of Bitcoins. They are very practical to protect your privacy, which annoys the senators:
“This amendment intends to prohibit the use of crypto-active mixers which aim to opacify and make the origin of the crypto-actives that circulate on the blockchain. Given their characteristics, these mixers are in fact used in an increasingly laundering circuits, in particular with regard to income from drug trafficking. »»
This amendment does not lack salt when you know that the National Assembly is currently splashed by a drug use scandal. In addition, if we follow the same logic, we also prohibit banknotes since they all contain traces of cocaine. But then, how will our deputies do to buy their powder?
The Senate stresses that the amendment aims to align itself with EU regulations which will come into force in 2027. The Mica law passed by the European Center Party EPP (European People's Party) provides for the ban on financial services allowing anonymous transactions.
The attitude of the Senate is truly against the tide. For example, the Netherlands have just released the developer of Tornado Cash Alexey Pertsev. A little earlier in January, the Texas Federal Court had canceled the sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against Tornado Cash.
The relentlessness of the European Union against Bitcoin is a shame. That of time lost because of overpayed ideologists who imagine themselves being able to suffocate such a deep technological breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the United States is a few weeks old to create a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve. Not to mention the use of minors to balance the network and strengthen their energy. Conversely, we still do not know where to find the 70 billion that the next six French nuclear reactors will cost…
The usefulness of mixers
Bitcoin transactions are certainly pseudonymous, but all transactions are public. Each BTC is connected to a transaction history. It is possible to go back to the very first block in which BTCs have been created.
[Actuellement, 3.125 BTC sont créés à chaque bloc (toutes les dix minutes) en récompense pour les mineurs qui apportent de l’énergie pour sécuriser le réseau]
In other words, it is enough to be able to associate a transaction with an identity to know all the history of future and future transactions. And unfortunately, the fact is that getting bitcoins requires going through exchange platforms which oblige to reveal its identity.
Thus, at least, these platforms are a potential flaw. Even your email address supplier! Indeed, Coinbase, Revolut, to name only them, do not hesitate to send emails containing the addresses used to remove its BTC.
Not to mention data leaks following hacks … Imagine that data leak reveals that you have removed several bitcoins to a personal wallet! The recent Kidnapping affair of the co-founder of Ledger must remind us that privacy can be a matter of life or death.
In short, Bitcoin transactions being public, the recipient of a transaction can consult the whole history of transactions of the transmitter and vice versa. Any private life is not lost, thanks to the mixers (Coinjoin).
Bitcoin Coinjoin, concretely
In simple terms, a conjoin is a mega transaction combining many transactions from tens, even hundreds of people. This transaction will, so to speak, rebathers the cards by creating transactions of the same amounts at the exit.
Imagine a helicopter pursuing a car suddenly crossing in a tunnel. And that 100 identical cars stand out on the other side of the tunnel. Which one follow? …
This is the principle of the corner. The goal is to break the link between transactions to create “plausible deniabibility”, as the Anglo-Saxons say.
Passing your bitcoins to the reel of a corner after having removed them from an exchange platform allows you to blur the tracks. The platform no longer knows with certainty on which addresses are your BTC. In case of leaks of your data, a criminal will no longer know if you always hold the BTC withdrawn from the platform.
Unfortunately, the main wallets offering the Coinjoin option (Trezor, Wasabi) closed their doors because of the American legal proceedings against the developers of Samurai. Many options remain online, however, notably Joinmarket.
Here is a series of articles to understand the mechanics of a corner. This is a very good way to learn more about the functioning of Bitcoin:
–Bitcoin-Why shouldn't you reuse your addresses?
-Bitcoin Coinjoin -How does it work?
-How Chainalysis tracks your bitcoins?
–Utxo and privacy
Privacy is part of human rights. Hopefully the more pragmatic approach to the new US government is soon exporting to the Old Continent. And that the CBDC project dear to Christine Lagarde ends up in oblivion.
Maximize your Cointribne experience with our 'Read to Earn' program! For each article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start accumulating advantages.
