The ongoing debate surrounding the privacy of Bitcoin has caused quite a stir among Bitcoin enthusiasts in recent times, as Wasabi Wallet and Samourai Wallet go head-to-head in a dispute that has come to be known as the "Bitcoin privacy war."
It's important to note that Bitcoin is not private by default. The transaction history of Bitcoin is visible to everyone, meaning users have to take the time to learn and utilize certain tools and wallets if they want to completely privatize their Bitcoin.
Two of the most popular wallets that currently make it easy for users to shield their transactions are Wasabi Wallet, managed by the company zkSNACKs, and Samourai Wallet. The two teams have been at odds for years due to differing philosophical opinions on the best way to preserve the privacy of Bitcoin.
The latest round of debate started last week when Trezor, a Bitcoin hardware wallet, announced its partnership with Wasabi Wallet to make it easier for Trezor users to privatize their Bitcoin holdings. Supporters of Samourai Wallet criticized zkSNACKsfor including transactions on a blacklist, reigniting the heated debate.
Both Wasabi Wallet and Samourai Wallet rely on a privacy technique called CoinJoin, in which multiple Bitcoin users join forces to create a large transaction. By mixing transactions in this way, it becomes unclear to outsiders which Bitcoin belongs to which user.
The long-standing dispute between the creators of these two wallets has taken different forms over the years. More recently, Samourai Wallet supporters have criticized Wasabi Wallet for announcing last year that its wallet coordinator run by zkSNACKs would begin blacklisting certain Bitcoin transactions, preventing them from being used in each CoinJoin, citing undisclosed legal and regulatory reasons.
Wasabi acknowledged that the decision was ultimately undesirable, but argued that it was the best course of action to keep zkSNACKs running and help as many users as possible privatize their Bitcoin holdings. As the Bitcoin privacy war rages on, it remains to be seen which wallet will emerge victorious and continue to offer users the best means of securing their Bitcoin transactions.
Bitcoin, Bitcoin privacy, Wasabi Wallet, Samourai Wallet, CoinJoin, Trezor, zkSNACKs
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