Right now my procedure is Credit/paypal to Localbitcoin seller to electrum to helix (light) to Alphabay. Is it worth the 2.5% fee to be slightly less traceable?
Is it worth tumbling?
Right now my procedure is Credit/paypal to Localbitcoin seller to electrum to helix (light) to Alphabay. Is it worth the 2.5% fee to be slightly less traceable?
[3 Points] Hi_Im_New_Here___:
[2 Points] dankrussian:
That's for you to decide. Is spending 2.5% more on every transaction potentially worth your freedom?
On the other hand I don't see the reason to if you're buying your coins off LBC. To each their own though
[2 Points] DatingFrog:
No. Nobody has ever been busted because the bitcoin they used to buy drug were traced back to them.*
*I have no evidence to support this claim but I believe it to be true.
[2 Points] The_Cold_Tugger:
NO.
Cite one bust where they tracked bitcoin. You can't. Quit paying for this shut "service"
[1 Points] bartardis:
Depends on how much you buy. I think as long as its personal amounts its not worth it. Plus I do cash deposit with localbitcoins and I bring a friend and have them give their ID to the teller, so I don't feel the need.
[1 Points] hulkgosmash:
If you look at almost every DN arrest, it's for 1 of 3 reasons
1) Snitched on by someone in RL 2) Shitty Opsec vendor 3) Vendor gets account controlled by LE
Not illegal to buy bitcoin and after you xfer them to an electrum wallet or what not, how do they have proof it's yours? They don't. Wallets have no name and no home.
[1 Points] Tuffy121:
Even if you were busted with drugs sent to you. All the feds gotta do is look at you're personal bank/paypal account to see if you bought any BTC.
Basically a open and shut case. Also if they find TOR on you're computer/phone.
Only way tumble would help is if you bought them with cash off local bitcoins.
Also that cash can't look suspiciously withdrawn from bank account.
[1 Points] Darknettoker:
Its only worth it if you are a darknetmarket kingpin.
[1 Points] pinochetHA:
My own view on this is that if you are using the markets to buy a little weed every so often you could be safe even without tumbling. It is unlikely that LE will spend the time and resources needed for proper blockchain analysis on catching a small fish.
However anyone who plans to hang around with a long-term contextual identity which is attached to bitcoin should strongly consider laundering. Market admins, big vendors and pedophiles are obviously the main targets for being traced on the blockchain. If they don't mix their coins and make the mistake of linking dirty coins to their real identity someone is going to catch up eventually.
Also bitcoin worrys me a little. It creates a lot of metadata which will never go away. To make things worse I don't think many of the people who use bitcoin on the darkmarkets understand it fully (I don't either). Using a new, and somewhat verbose cryptocurrency to do illegal stuff is asking for trouble. If blockchain analysis becomes easier in the future all that data will still be there and those who didn't mix may pay more than 2.5% (2% if you're clever enough to use Payshield ;P).
[1 Points] Bruce_Lean:
Was doing research on a similar question like this and found out people who havent tumbled with circle or coinbase usually got their accounts closed, now this can be from sending the btc directly to a marketplace but i still have heard of ppl sending to circle/coinbase>electrum>market and still having their account closed, as for lbc ive heard you dont really need to tumble
[1 Points] throwaway274723:
I really cannot believe that people are fretting over 1-3% for tumbling. People seem to forget that the blockchain lasts forever and always available for analysis by anyone at any time. What if in 10-20 years all the markets in existence today have been seized by LE and blockchain analysis has become so advanced with the cooperation of LBC, Coinbase, Electrum nodes, etc. that identifying people is a joke? They map 80% of addresses with IP addresses and local LE gets their hands on names and make busts? What if even Tor doesn't help because many ISPs and VPNs around the world map Tor connections and traffic patterns?
"Oh that isn't possible/that isn't going to happen" - really? Can you predict the future? I can't, but one thing I can do is control my own future to ensure I don't get busted ever. Never trust anything. Use multiple layers of security because if you're only behind one, you're just asking to be exposed.
I think the biggest thing to take into consideration now is that what seems meaningless now, might have meaning in the future. DPR had all kinds of OPSEC fuck ups. But it was posting his personal Gmail address on a BTC forum (post deleted, but revived with a quoted reply IIRC) that ultimately fucked him.
What is seemingly innocent now could carry significant weight in the future. Just something to think about.
Using credit/Paypal seems innocuous enough now, but please do not lose sight of the fact that you are making transactions that are linked to your IRL identity to facilitate DNM purchases. What is legal now might not be in the future. Avoid providing yourself rope now that you might hang yourself with later.