So, Bitmixer.io decided to stop offering their services due to ideological reasons.
Here's a quote:
It is important that you understand my position. I really revised my view about Bitcoin as a transparent system. Bitcoin has no future with drug/weapon traffic or any other illegal activity. This is my point.
They also said:
I believe that Bitcoin will have a great future without dark market transactions. You may use Dash or Zerocoin if you want to buy some weed. Not Bitcoin
Perhaps we would if everyone wasn't already using bitcoin on the dark web.
The point of bitcoin was to take away the power from government.
I understand that bitmixer.io considered dark web transactions a bad influence on the public image of bitcoin, but if the legacy media wants to attack cryptocurrencies they'll do so whether you give them a reason or not.
I personally don't think there's anything wrong with buying weapons or drugs illegally.
And so, given these two factors, I believe that getting rid of all bitcoin mixing services, wouldn't help lure more new users in, but would perhaps get rid of people that want anonymity, which is a bigger part of the user base than some think.
Which is actually proven by their own profits.
"Clean" users that just wanna invest in bitcoin don't have a reason to mix their bitcoin.
Is this really what we want for bitcoin? A currency people just invest in and never use?
"oh but you can still buy coffee" you might say
but, stores can't really use bitcoin and still pay taxes for those transactions so...
I mean, you can sell your bitcoin and pay an income tax but that doesn't quite work hand in hand with the way legal business owning works.
So, chances are, at least as a store owner, you still wanna be anonymous.
People will never adopt bitcoin because it's just as good as "real" money, or because it's easier to use,
but they will adopt it for the anonymity (in the scenario in which they're actually using it and not just investing in it).
But, at the end of the day, we're talking about capitalism. The end of one service means the birth of 5 others trying to replace it.
This one company won't change a thing, they probably knew they won't change a thing, and yet they did it, which is why I said they did it because of "ideological reasons".