The technology that advocates privacy in Bitcoin transactions is back on the scene with the launch of Ashigaru Whirlpool, an implementation of the Whirlpool Protocol, originally developed by Samourai Wallet, which stopped working after facing legal issues in 2024.
Ashigaru Whirlpool, released on June 23, 2025, is a work by the Ashigaru team and is a project focused on developing network privacy tools created by Nakamoto at.
This new vortex implementation is open source, unlike those created by Samorai. Ensures transparency of evolutionand is a network designed to promote anonymity for users on the Internet (source code can only be accessed via TOR).
What is Asigal Whirlpool? What is that for?
Ashigaru Whirlpool is software that can be run Coin Join ZEROLINKTransaction mixing methods Hide Bitcoin traceability on the network. coinJoin Because you combine multiple transactions from different users into one, it becomes difficult to determine which entries correspond to the exit.
The usefulness of Ashigaru Whirlpool lies in his ability to provide privacy (hiding the fate of the funds) and in his rear (hiding the origin).
This helps protect your privacy by hiding the origins and destinations of funds. Please avoid scrutiny of third parties’ movementsdata analysis companies, government, etc.
When participating in coinJoinusers can break these tracking chains, making it difficult to monitor financial activities.
Ashigaru Whirlpool Use Case
For example, users who receive BTC as a donation or payment for a service can use them before using Ashigaru Whirlpool to use those funds. Prevent them from being linked to their identity.
Similarly, the person who wants Protect your Bitcoin savings from analysis On-chain This tool can be used to prevent transactions from leaving trails that are easily identifiable.
How will this new Bitcoin protocol be implemented?
The launch of Ashigaru Whirlpool comes with a client terminal application for desktop computers, a user interface that can be installed on computers (Windows, Mac, or Linux).
Built on the architecture of Sparrow Wallet, this application is an open source Bitcoin wallet that allows users to Interact with Bitcoin Mixed Poolconfigure initial transaction (TX0) and manage the process of Coin Join At Asigal Whirlpool. The following image shows the interface.
Ashigaru Whirlpool only supports native SecWit addresses. Required use of seed phrases or BIP-39a 12 or 24 word mnemonic password that enhances the safety of your Bitcoin wallet.
Protocols created by Ashigaru are legacy, wrapped segment wit, Taproot, or Multisig (Multifilma).
Furthermore, Asigal, already different from the Samourai Wallet version, has eliminated the dojo dependency, the complete Bitcoin node that Samourai needs. LO terminal Replace customer connections electricitystart9, umbrel the mynode, and other common nodes.
Ashigaru’s devices are not wallets
Ashigaru included client terminal applications for computers (Windows, Mac, Linux) derived from Sparrow Wallet, This does not function as a perfect wallet It stores, sends or receives Bitcoin in a common way.
Meanwhile, users can prepare and manage Bitcoin and participate Coin Joinconnect to the Electrum server and interact with Bitcoin.
To use Ashigaru Whirlpool, users need another Bitcoin wallet containing Bitcoin (such as Sparrow Wallet or other compatibility compatible with Electrum Server).
The fund is sent to an account called “Premix” within the Ashigaru terminal to begin the mixing process.
Technical aspects of Ashigaru Whirlpool
Ashigaru’s announcement highlights some technical improvements that distinguish this implementation from the Samourai original.
One of the most important things is the elimination of RSA keys (an asymmetric encryption system that uses public and private keys to protect digital data). This is a customer of the Chaumian process, an encryption technique that allows you to obtain digital signatures without revealing the original content.
It refers to the coordinator of Coin Join It is not possible to link which tickets correspond to the exit y Reduces the risk that malicious coordinators can collect sensitive information.
Simply put, the coordinator is Servers that promote organizations Coin Join It also acts as an intermediary to coordinate participants’ transaction entries and exits, preventing them from combining and linking deterministically, maintaining privacy.
For now, The Ashigaru team manages the centralized coordinator The Whirlpool version, which only works through the TOR network, suggests that the connection is anonymous and does not use a common browser (such as Chrome, Firefox).
However, according to the statement, the developers of Asigal are working on Decentralize that coordinatorthis eliminates unique failure points and further enhances system privacy.
Another related aspect is the 20 UTX limit Coin Join. This limit has been imposed To avoid Ataques Sybilto ensure that a single participant cannot master mixed pools.
At Ashigaru Whirlpool, users can participate in a mix pool with various bitcoin sects and pay 5% fixed rate Pool size to protect your system from Sybil Attacks. This is a technology in which an attacker attempts to manipulate a system and creates multiple false identities. Some Bitcoiners find very high rates.
Some user restrictions and opinions found
Despite its advances, Asigal Whirlpool faces several restrictions. One of them is incompatibility with UTXO generated in a pool of Samourai wallets, as it does not have access to Samourai private keys or transactional databases.
This is because users with mixed Bitcoin in the original Whirlpool version You cannot continue the remixing process with the Ashigaru coordinator.
Furthermore, while the project is taking a step towards Bitcoin privacy, the temporary use of coordinators means that users must trust Ashigaru’s team until decentralization is implemented.
This aspect can raise concerns for the most discreet users, but exclusive operations via TOR reduce some risks.
X user warned Possible safety risks for Ashigaru Whirlpoolnotes that terminal applications’ static keys become vulnerable to attacks and that code may have without resolving the error. The same user says that Whirlpool’s coordinator can discourage users from transactions, but Ashigaru says that he has already resolved the vulnerability.
The project is open source and allows the community to review it, but these criticisms that have not yet been confirmed highlight the importance of reviewing the reliability of Bitcoin’s privacy-protecting tools.
On the contrary, the developer of Bitconnor, known for X, described Asigal Whirlpool as “one of the most important news and one of the most important news for Bitcoin privacy in 2025.”
Ishik presented it as an auditable community solution, highlighting the design for Ashigaru coordinators to operate through the TOR and avoid entry and exit links, as well as the independence of Samorai infrastructure.
Another user also emphasized, “This is the last and last “true ‘news’ and not that another ghost company is adding BTC to its finances.”
