¶ The Coordinator
Whirlpool requires the use of a blinded coordinator server to pass messages between clients. This server doesn't and crucially cannot know the contents of the messages it is passing.
¶ Pools + Fees
Whirlpool is different than other CoinJoin services, in that you do not pay a volume based fee per anonymity set, but instead you pay a one time flat fee for an unlimited anonymity set. You do pay a miner fee for each UTXO created after Tx0.
You can use WhirlpoolFees.com to get an estimate of your mixing fees.
To put it simply, it costs the same in Pool Fees to cycle 1 BTC or 35 BTC. Once the pool fee is paid, it costs nothing to continue cycling. With each cycle you gain a greater privacy advantage with a deeper anonymity set.
¶ Fixed Pool Fees
The pool determines the minimum and maximum amount you can cycle through that pool and what the denomination the mixed outputs in your postmix account will have.
-
0.001 Pool
- minimum:
0.001 BTC (plus miner fee) - maximum:
0.025 BTC (plus miner fee) - pool fee:
0.00005000 BTC
- minimum:
-
0.01 Pool
- minimum:
0.01 BTC (plus miner fee) - maximum:
0.70 BTC (plus miner fee) - pool fee:
0.00050000 BTC
- minimum:
-
0.05 Pool
- minimum:
0.05 BTC (plus miner fee) - maximum:
3.50 BTC (plus miner fee) - pool fee:
0.00175000 BTC
- minimum:
-
0.5 Pool
- minimum:
0.50 BTC (plus miner fee) - maximum:
35.00 BTC (plus miner fee) - pool fee:
0.01750000 BTC
- minimum:
Generally the larger the amount you are cycling, the larger the pool you want to choose.
For example:
- Cycling a little over 0.5 BTC in the 0.01 Pool would create 50 outputs of 0.01 BTC
- Cycling a little over 0.5 BTC in the 0.05 Pool would create 10 outputs of 0.05 BTC
- Cycling a little over 0.5 BTC in the 0.5 Pool would create 1 outputs of 0.5 BTC
¶ Choosing the right pool
The denomination of the pool determines the minimum amount you can cycle through that pool and the resulting denomination of the newly cycled UTXOs in your wallet. Generally the larger the UTXO you are cycling, the larger the pool you want to choose.
For example:
-
Cycling 0.65 BTC in the 0.01 Pool would create 65 outputs of 0.01 BTC
-
Cycling 1 BTC in the 0.05 Pool would create 20 outputs of 0.05 BTC
-
Cycling 1 BTC in the 0.5 Pool would create 2 outputs of 0.5 BTC
¶ SCODE's
Occasionally we will announce promotional SCODE's - or Samourai Discount Codes - that you can apply to your Whirlpool client for reduced price or even free mixes. Keep an eye on our Twitter account and our Telegram rooms to be the first to hear about new SCODE's
¶ Whirlpool Accounts
Whirlpool is completely non custodial. The term "account" refers to an address space covered by your recovery words and passphrase. Within Whirlpool there are two areas of this address space that are segregated from the rest of the wallet to preserve privacy.
¶ Deposit
This account consists of all the bech32 UTXOs within your standard Samourai Wallet. UTXOs in this account have not been cycled through Whirlpool yet. You can receive deposits directly into this account or select UTXOs from this account to cycle.
¶ Premix
This account consists of all the UTXOs that are prepared to cycle but are still pending. UTXOs will remain in Premix until they have one confirmation and they are selected in a Whirlpool cycle. These UTXOs cannot be spent yet but will have priority in any Whirlpool cycle over UTXOs in the Postmix Account.
¶ Postmix
This account consists of all the UTXOs that have completed at least one cycle. These UTXOs are available for spending from within Samourai Wallet or available to cycle again for greater privacy.
¶ Architecture
¶ Usage
Whirlpool can be managed:
- from desktop:
whirlpool-gui - from command line:
whirlpool-cli - from REST API for developers:
whirlpool-cli API - from JAVA & Android:
whirlpool-client
¶ Modules
Whirlpool is modular:
- 4 java modules:
server,client,protocol,cli - 1 electron/react module:
GUIclientandservercommunicate throughprotocol.
¶ Cycle dialog
Dialog is described in whirlpool-protocol, implemented in whirlpool-client and whirlpool-server.
