Mixero launches Ricochet to obfuscate Bitcoin trails

Mixero has added a feature called Ricochet that routes Bitcoin through multiple newly generated intermediary addresses and inserts randomized delays between transfers. The company says the feature is intended to make on-chain transaction paths harder to trace while limiting retained user activity data.

Ricochet sends funds through a chain of one-time wallet addresses rather than moving BTC directly from sender to recipient. Each intermediary address is created for a single use. Users can choose the number of hops a transaction takes and set how many confirmations are required at each step. An option labeled full randomization varies the timing and structure of the route to avoid fixed timing patterns.

Mixero positions Ricochet as an alternative to CoinJoin-style mixing. CoinJoin pools multiple users’ inputs into a single transaction to obscure which outputs belong to which participants. Ricochet instead increases the number of intermediate transfer steps to lengthen the path between origin and destination. The feature is available alongside Mixero’s existing privacy offerings, which include CoinJoin-based services, Tor access, and signed Letters of Guarantee.

Mixero pairs Ricochet with a no-logs policy. The provider says that limited retention of routing data, combined with fresh addresses and timing variability, reduces the amount of on-platform information that could be used to reconstruct routes.

The feature responds to developments in blockchain analytics that can link on-chain activity to real-world identities. A single withdrawal from a know-your-customer exchange can associate a person’s name with an address, and analysts can then follow subsequent activity tied to that address. Mixero says layered routes and timing variability aim to make reconstruction of full transaction paths more difficult for standard analysis techniques.

Users can adjust Ricochet settings to balance speed and privacy: fewer hops reduce transfer time, while more hops and confirmation requirements increase the number of intermediate steps between an origin address and the final receiving address. Mixero offers Ricochet as an option for users seeking to change how funds move on public blockchains without relying solely on pooled transactions.