Wasabi Wallet is a non-custodial, open-source desktop Bitcoin wallet that uses the CoinJoin protocol to offer maximum privacy to its users.
The development of Wasabi Wallet was sponsored by zkSNACKS Ltd., a company founded by Ádám Fiscor, Gergely Hajdú and Bálint Harmatin 2018.
The wallet intends to increase the privacy of Bitcoin transactions while keeping the same level of security. With Wasabi Wallet, nobody can steal or breach the privacy of any participant.
How to Use Wasabi Wallet?
Using Wasabi Wallet is just like your usual non-custodial wallet. Here are three simple steps to using Wasabi Wallet:
- Download: Wasabi is a desktop wallet, so users can’t use it on their phones. To download the wallet, they should access the company’s website and choose the platform they want to use (Windows, MacOS, or Linux).
- Set-up: After downloading the application, create a wallet or import an old one. To create a new wallet, you must memorize the seed phrase and set a strong pass key. After that, the wallet is created.
- Use the Wallet: Receiving and sending transactions with the Wasabi wallet works the same as with other non-custodial wallets. To receive Bitcoin, users share the address or the QR code and confirm the transaction. To send Bitcoin, users paste the transactions or scan the QR code, input the amount of BTC or USD, and complete the transaction.
How Does Wasabi Wallet Work?
Wasabi Wallet works just like your usual non-custodial crypto wallet (e.g., an exchange wallet), but it also keeps user information 100% private.
The wallet combines CoinJoin, the system’s backbone, with new technologies like Dandelion++ and Tor to make transactions private.
Every technology has its own role to play in this equation:
- Dandelion++: Responsible for hiding where the transaction originates by routing them through multiple Bitcoin nodes.
- Tor: Encrypts and anonymizes internet traffic, protecting user identities and hiding IPs.
These technologies are used to eliminate the possibility of de-anonymizing users through data analysis.
For example, a user buys a book from an online store using BTC. The store then links the shipping address with the Bitcoin payment address to complete the order.
Cross-referencing these pieces of information can reveal the user’s identity in full – name, social security number, family, and more.
What is CoinJoin?
CoinJoin is an anonymization strategy that protects the privacy of Bitcoin users. Simply put, this technique bundles multiple transactions into one, mixing the addresses and making external tracking difficult.
For example, Alice, Bob, and Chad want to send 1 BTC, 0.5 BTC, and 0.2 BTC to Dave, Eve, and Frank.
Without CoinJoin, all these transactions would’ve been recorded separately on the public blockchain ledger. Instead of making separate transactions, they pool their funds and create a single transaction with combined inputs and outputs.
This way, the blockchain only shows a single transaction with mixed inputs and outputs, masking the direct link between a sender and a receiver.
By masking the deals this way, an outside observer can’t fully determine who sent BTC to whom.
Conclusion
To sum everything up, Wasabi is a non-custodial wallet that facilitates private Bitcoin transactions using technologies like CoinJoin, Dadelion++, and Tor.
With this wallet, customers can send frequent payments without worrying about being de-anonymized by hackers and other malicious actors.
