Use of Wasabi

Wasabi Wallet is an open-source Bitcoin wallet that is available to anyone for free. Because it is open-source, anyone can view, verify, and even contribute to the code that powers …

What Is Wasabi Wallet?

Wasabi is a privacy-based open-source wallet available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It implements a trustless approach for coin shuffling with mathematically provable anonymity: Chaumian CoinJoin. Wasabi is the first full implementation of the CoinJoin protocol which provides confidentiality of transaction inputs and outputs by mixing transactions with other users. By interacting with its four-tab interface, you can send and receive Bitcoins using CoinJoin. You can also track your transactions.

Wasabi wallet lets you hide your all sensitive information with a click of a button. It protects you from shoulder surfing.

One of the main arguments for the mass adoption of cryptocurrency is that it offers the ability to transact in a truly private, yet transparent way. Anything that allows people to be more secure and independent, while also enabling more freedom and autonomy, should be celebrated. Cryptocurrency wallets are an important part of this equation. They allow you to keep your money safe and accessible, but they can also expose you to other threats if they aren't designed with privacy in mind. That’s where Wasabi wallet takes the lead as it’s believed to be the first wallet with commercial-grade privacy.

Wasabi protects your privacy by implementing CoinJoin. CoinJoin is an old technique for increasing privacy in Bitcoin transactions, where multiple senders and receivers transact with each other directly, without needing to trust any third party. Wasabi takes CoinJoin to the next level by combining it with novel new technologie,s such as Chaumian CoinJoin, Dandelion++ protocol, and Tor integration. This makes the transactions indistinguishable from each other in a way that doesn't leak information about who transacted with whom.Wasabi is a non-custodial crypto wallet, which means you are the one who holds the keys to your crypto assets. It's similar to keeping cash in your hand, as opposed to storing it in a bank. The difference is that, with a bank account, the bank stores your money and keeps track of how much you have by updating their records accordingly. With non-custodial wallets, there is no third party involved - no middleman who can lie or make mistakes - so you are solely responsible for ensuring that your funds are safe.

The protocol aims to increase the privacy of Bitcoin transactions by allowing multiple parties to contribute inputs and outputs, and obscuring which output belongs to which input. If a user spends coins that were received earlier in the same transaction, the user is revealing a link between her past and present identities. The more often this happens, the easier it becomes to de-anonymize users through data analysis. In order to improve anonymity, users can bundle their transactions into one bigger transaction before broadcasting it to the network (e.g., by waiting for other people's transactions to arrive).

CoinJoin is a decentralized mechanism for anonymization that does not require trust between participants or the participation of any trusted third party (such as a bank or an exchange).

Data Collection

We collected detailed data on 19 popular cryptocurrency software wallet companies, through a process that included online data collection, as well as direct company phone and email contact across a total of 26 scoring criteria, for a total of 570 data points. In addition, we surveyed 926 potential consumers who are looking to own a crypto wallet in the future.

Based on a combination of consumer survey results and subject matter expertise, we developed the following category weights:

• Security (28.43%)

• Cost (12.50%)

• Privacy and Anonymity (17.63%)

• Usability (10.50%)

• Customer Support (11.76%)

• Features (19.18%)

To compare companies, the six categories and 26 features that make up our scoring rubric are as follows:

Security

• Account Access Method (5.73%)

• Transaction Authorization Method (4.79%)

• Recovery Method (5.01%)

• Reputation (5.52%)

• Hierarchical Deterministic (3.23%)

• Open Source Code (3.97%)

Cost and Fees

• Device/account (one-time) Fee (2.08%)

• Send (recurring) Fee (2.08%)

• Receive (recurring) Fee (2.08%)

• Can Customize Fee (6.25%)

Privacy and Anonymity

• KYC (3.96%)

• Transaction Anonymization Method (4.96%)

• CoinJoin-Enabled (4.05%)

• New Address Generated (4.66%)

Usability

• Compatible with Hardware (4.90%)

• Cross-platform (5.60%)

Customer Support

• 24/7 Customer Support (7.74%)

• Number of Support Channels (4.01%)

Features

• Number of Currencies Supported (2.67%)

• Fiat Funding Available (2.10%)

• Frequency of Update (2.18%)

• Earn Interest on Crypto Holdings (2.82%)

• Staking Option (2.19%)

• Can Buy Crypto (2.85%)

• Can Sell Crypto (2.41%)

• Can swap/exchange/convert Crypto-to-Crypto (1.95%)

Security

Software cryptocurrency wallets come in different forms. Users can either access the wallets through crypto exchanges that are used to buy coins, download a software program to a computer desktop, or even use a smartphone app. Because each of these options leave a user’s public and private keys connected to the Internet, software wallets are known as “hot wallets.” As a result, there is a higher risk of a user’s funds being hacked than with hardware wallets that provide “cold” storage of crypto assets offline.

This entire section accounts for 28.43% of the total weighted score in our evaluation.

Account Access Method

While examining the means by which each wallet can be accessed, we considered whether or not multiple forms of authentication (MFA) are required to access user accounts.

Wallets requiring MFA received a score of 1, while those lacking multiple forms of authentication received a score of 0. This score makes up 5.73% of our overall star ratings.

Transaction Authorization Method

We also examined the security-related step(s) required to authorize transactions while sending from each wallet.

Wallets with multisig authorization received a score of 1, while those with no multisig requirements received a score of 0. These scores make up 4.97% of our overall star ratings.

Recovery Method

The recovery phrase is a crucial element for the security of a crypto wallet. In the event you lose access to your account for any reason, a seed phrase becomes a crucial element for the recovery and security of your wallet.

For wallets that provide a seed phase to help users recover their accounts, a score of 1 is awarded, while wallets offering no seed phrase receive a score of 0. This score makes up 5.01% of our overall star ratings.