Do you want to have your finances with Bitcoin outside the radar? The Samourai Wallet Mix returned

A technology that favors privacy in Bitcoin’s transactions returns to the scene with the launch of Ashigaru Whirlpool, an implementation of the Whirlpool protocol, originally developed by Samourai Wallet, an exclusive BTC purse that stopped operating after facing legal problems in 2024.

Ashigaru Whirlpool, announced on June 23, 2025, is a work by the Ashigaru team, a project focused on the development of privacy tools for the network created by Satoshi Nakamoto.

This new Whirlpool implementation, unlike that created by Samourai, is open source, which guarantees transparency in its evolutionand is based on tor, a network designed to promote the anonymity of users on the Internet (the source code can only be accessed through Tor).

What is Ashigaru Whirlpool and what is it for?

Ashigaru Whirlpool is a software that allows you to run Coinjoins ZEROLINKa transaction mixing method that hides the traceability of bitcoins on the network. A coinjoin It combines multiple transactions of different users in one, making it difficult to determine what entry corresponds to what exit.

The usefulness of Ashigaru Whirlpool lies in his ability to offer privacy both (hiding the fate of the funds) and backward (hiding the origin).

That serves to protect privacy by hiding the origin and destination of the funds, an essential characteristic for those who seek Avoid scrutiny of movements by third partiessuch as data analysis companies or governments.

By participating in a Coinjoinusers can break those tracking chains, making it difficult for their financial activities to be monitored.

Ashigaru Whirlpool use cases

For example, a user who receives BTC as a donation or payment for services could use Ashigaru Whirlpool to mix those funds before spending them, preventing them from linked to their identity.

In the same way, a person who wants protect your Bitcoin savings from the analysis ON-CHAIN You can use this tool so that your transactions do not leave an easily identifiable trail.

How is this new bitcoin protocol executed?

The launch of Ashigaru Whirlpool was accompanied by a client terminal application for desktop computers, which is a user interface that users can install on their computers (Windows, Mac or Linux).

This application, built on the architecture of Sparrow Wallet, a open -source bitcoin purse, enables users to Interact with bitcoins mixture poolsconfigure initial transactions (TX0) and manage the process of Coinjoin In Ashigaru Whirlpool. The following image shows the interface:

Ashigaru Whirlpool only supports native secwit addresses, a format required by the Mandatory use of passing phrases BIP-39which are additional passwords generated from a list of 12 or 24 words that reinforce the safety of Bitcoin Wallets.

The protocol created by Ashigaru excludes other types of addresses such as Legacy, Wrapped Segwit, Taproot or Multisig (Multifirma).

Additionally, already a difference from the version of Samourai Wallet, Ashigaru has eliminated the dependence of a dojo, a complete bitcoin node required by Samourai. The Lo Terminal replaces a customer connection Electrumcompatible with popular nodes such as Start9, Umbrel or Mynode.

Ashigaru’s terminal is not a wallet

Although Ashigaru included a client terminal application for computers (Windows, Mac, Linux), derived from Sparrow Wallet, This does not work as a complete purse that stores, sends or receives bitcoins in a general way.

On the other hand, it allows users to prepare and manage bitcoins to participate in Coinjoinsconnecting to an electrum server to interact with Bitcoin.

To use Ashigaru Whirlpool, users need a separate Bitcoin Wallet (such as Sparrow Wallet or any other compatible with electrum servers) containing their bitcoins.

The funds are sent to the account called “Premix” within the Ashigaru terminal to start the mixing process:

Technical aspects of Ashigaru Whirlpool

Ashigaru’s announcement highlights several technical improvements that differentiate this implementation from Samourai’s original.

One of the most significant is the elimination of RSA keys (an asymmetric encryption system that uses a public and private key to protect digital data) to customers for the Chaumian process, a cryptographic technique that allows digital signatures to be obtained without revealing the original content.

That points to the coordinator of the Coinjoin I cannot link what tickets correspond to what exits and Reduce the risk that a malicious coordinator can collect sensitive information.

In simple terms, the coordinator is a server that facilitates the organization of Coinjoins And it acts as an intermediary that coordinates the entries and exits of the transactions of the participants, ensuring that they are mixed so that they cannot be linked deterministically, thus preserving privacy.

For now, Ashigaru team manages a centralized coordinator In its Whirlpool version that works exclusively through the Tor Network, which suggests that the connections are anonymous and not use common browsers (Chrome, Firefox, etc.).

However, according to the statement, Ashigaru developers work to Decentralize that coordinatorwhich would eliminate any unique point of failure and further reinforce the privacy of the system.

Another relevant aspect is the limitation of 20 UTX Coinjoin. This restriction was imposed In order to avoid Sybil attacksensuring that a single participant cannot master a mixture pool.

In Ashigaru Whirlpool, users can participate in Mix Pools with different Bitcoin denominations, paying A 5% fixed rate The pool size to protect the system against Sybil attacks, a technique in which an attacker tries to manipulate the system creating multiple false identities. Some Bitcoiners find that extremely high Fees amount.

Some limitations and opinions found of users

Despite its advances, Ashigaru Whirlpool faces some limitations. One of them is the incompatibility with the UTXO generated in the Pools of Samourai Wallet, since Ashigaru does not have access to private keys or the transaction databases of Samourai.

This means that users with mixed bitcoins in the original Whirlpool version They will not be able to continue the Remix process with the Ashigaru coordinator.

In addition, although the project is a step forward in the privacy of Bitcoin, the use of a centralized coordinator, although temporary, implies that users must trust Ashigaru team until decentralization is implemented.

This aspect can generate concern in the most cautious users, although the exclusive operation through Tor mitigates some risks.

An X user alerted Possible safety risks in Ashigaru Whirlpoolmentioning that a fixed key in its terminal application could make it vulnerable to attacks and that the code has without solving errors. The same user mentions that the coordinator would be capable of Whirlpool would be able to discourage user transactions, although Ashigaru mentions that it is already resolved vulnerability.

Although the project is open source and allows the community to review it, these criticisms, which have not yet been confirmed, highlight the importance of reviewing the reliability of the tools that protect the privacy of bitcoins.

Contrary, the bitcoiner developer known in X as Ishik described Ashigaru Whirlpool as a “crucial tool and one of the most important news for Bitcoin’s privacy in 2025.”

Ishik highlighted the operation of the Ashigaru coordinator through Tor, its design to avoid the linking of entrances and exits, and its independence of the Samourai infrastructure, presenting it as an auditable and community solution.

Also, another user emphasized that “this is the real ‘news of the last minute’ and not another ghost company adding BTC to their treasury.”