bitcoin-dev

Design for a CoinSwap implementation for massively improving Bitcoin privacy and fungibility

Design for a CoinSwap implementation for massively improving Bitcoin privacy and fungibility

Original Postby Chris Belcher

Posted on: May 25, 2020 13:21 UTC

The concept of CoinSwap is a way to trade one coin for another in a non-custodial manner, which can improve privacy in Bitcoin transactions.

When combined with other building blocks such as ECDSA-2P, liquidity markets, and multi-transaction CoinSwaps, it offers even greater benefits. CoinSwap works by breaking the transaction graph heuristic, making it hard for observers of the blockchain to link the sender's address to the recipient's address.CoinSwap is more complicated to implement than CoinJoin but provides better privacy benefits. It can be used as a stand-alone app or implemented into existing wallets for greater privacy. ECDSA-2P is used to create 2-of-2 multisignature addresses that look like regular single-signature addresses, making it easier to adopt. A liquidity market similar to JoinMarket can be created for CoinSwap, while multi-transaction CoinSwaps are used to avoid amount correlation attacks.Routing CoinSwaps through multiple parties can also decentralize trust in the system. Combining multi-transaction CoinSwaps with routing CoinSwaps can offer even greater benefits. By using these various building blocks, a truly private system can be created, offering much more privacy than the existing equal-output CoinJoin apps.CoinSwap breaks the common-input-ownership heuristic by involving inputs from different people. The protocol involves decoy UTXOs to protect against leaks and a communication network using federated message boards protected from spam with fidelity bonds. CoinSwap can be adopted unilaterally and is an on-chain technology that helps in situations where PayJoin or PaySwap cannot. Liquidity is not an issue as it is purchased from a liquidity market right before it is used. Sybil attacks are less likely due to the use of fidelity bonds.CoinSwap transactions look like any other regular Bitcoin transaction and are indistinguishable. CoinSwap software can be decentralized and available for all to use for free. Overall, CoinSwap is a privacy protocol that can improve Bitcoin's fungibility and create a private system for sending transactions.