I had to write a quick article on these 2 wallets, as I'm absolutely obsessed with them. In my opinion, these are the best two privacy-focus wallets for UI, performance & features. I would recommend using these 2 wallets in conjunction with one another - Make every spend a CoinJoin + Lightning! Break the link in your TX history. Privacy should be your number 2 priority after Bitcoin - it cannot be understated or undervalued in this day and age. It is a basic human right for the protection of your well-being. Don't let anyone make you think you're a criminal for wanting privacy. There's a reason humans live behind 4 walls. Bitcoin isn't private by default & governments have further stripped your privacy with KYC. Hence, we need to use the tools to counter-act & vote against these draconian regulations with open-source software (Software is speech).
For complete privacy & self-sovereignty (so your transactions/IP aren't logged with a third party), I recommend acquiring your own node - buy a Raspberry Pi & download Umbrel (Umbrel is free & open-source - incredibly easy to install & use - all steps are provided on their site). I also recommend getting yourself an air-gaped hardware wallet like Coldcard. Transact on your Coldcard using open-source desktop software like Sparrow or Wasabi. Remember to connect every wallet to your personal node too. Secure your keys (main portion of your stack) offline in cold storage. Only keep a small amount of your stack on your mobile - keys connected to internet, are keys at risk. On Samourai, you can connect to your Umbrel, using Dojo. It is also easy to connect your Phoenix wallet from within Umbrel. All steps to carry out these tasks are provided by Umbrel. Becoming a private self-sovereign individual has never been easier. You will feel immense power at your fingertips as you start to use all the privacy tools. Samourai will teach you the importance or address re-use & combining UTXO's (Unspent Transaction Output - basically each individual digital coin in your wallet). Controlling & separating these digital coins, gives you a massive privacy benefit. If you want to take your Lightning sovereignty a step further on your node, I highly recommend downloading RTL - Ride The Lightning in the Umbrel app store. This app makes using Lightning so much easier. Main benefit in my opinion - You can chose your payment routes or indirectly pay someone through another node to hide balances at the destination. If the receiver knows your payment amount, they could find your TX on their node & reveal your node ID.
Both of these wallets can be run over TOR (Onion routed - hides IP), however you should run a VPN too, as the wallet server will know your IP. Government authorities for example, will likely target the main hubs. Both these wallets are non-custodial for on-chain funds, however Phoenix wallet provides incoming liquidity, so you don't control your own channels - as I said previously, if you want to level up again build a node & install Umbrel. Phoenix makes Lightning very smooth & seamless. The trade-off is definitely worth it for a hot wallet on the go. Both these wallets can be downloaded & verified as android APK's for extra privacy. Google play store is a surveillance hub. If you want to take this a step further wipe your phone & install GrapheneOS.
Samourai Wallet - IMO, this wallet is the #1 privacy wallet. It has the most development & liquidity for a CoinJoin implementation; meaning you're going to get maximum obfuscation on your transactions. The UI is extremely logical; it is near impossible to make any mistakes. They currently have four different sized UTXO pools in Whirlpool (built into wallet): 0.001 BTC, 0.01 BTC, 0.05 BTC & 0.5 BTC. You may think the fees are excessive, however you must consider that the fees incentivize developers to build & maintain the code; also prevents spamming attacks. In perspective, the fees are minuscule if you value your privacy. Your Bitcoin is put into a trust-less pool and made the same size as everyone else's coin. All coins are made equal size & they're all over TOR, so when your coins come out the other side, it's impossible to know who owns what. It's only on the spend you can give your ID away, hence why Lightning is good for post-mix, as it hides your on-chain address. If you're not using Lightning, they have other post-mix spend tools for added entropy & fungibility - Stonewall, Cahoots, Ricochet. Just CoinJoin alone, is a massive added benefit for chain surveillance software. You can also use the PayNym code function between friends/known payees within the wallet to avoid revealing your addresses.
For the excess sats or doxxic change - few options: you can save them up for another round of CoinJoin; you could do an Atomic-Swap to Lightning using something like boltz.exchange. or perhaps you save them for donating. You have to get a little creative with it, as soon as you join your UTXO's, you could be giving up your privacy. After your UTXO goes through Whirlpool, you will see it in post-mix transactions. Once you see it in post-mix, at least one round of CoinJoin has been completed. The longer you leave it in the pool, the greater the entropy of your transaction history. It is a little daunting when you get started with this stuff, however this knowledge is incredibly valuable - I highly recommend getting your hands dirty - or clean for that matter. Once you know how to do it, it's easy. KYC is dangerous for the user & we need to take every precaution to fight it. Governments just want your tax money - KYC isn't intended for your safety, just fear to extort you. They've broken the money, now they need the people to pay for their mistakes & greed. I say: pay your taxes for now, but at some point the people will rebel & when that day comes & the people make a stand - the tools are ready. Regulated exchanges have been on a rampage lately rejecting CoinJoin history so we know it's effective - it definitely provides the user with a high level of plausible deniability. This doesn't mean we should avoid using it. I say: ditch the service and find another that will accept it - or just open a Lightning channel. If they want to ban Lightning, they're simply just banning innovation. Don't go soft, your freedom is at stake here. No privacy, no freedom. Here is a good step-by-step guide, if I've just confused the hell out of you.
Phoenix Wallet - Personally, this is the wallet I recommend to new non-tech savvy Bitcoin users. However, it's a great hot wallet for more advanced users. This wallet is non-custodial, however there's an element of trust to Acinq as you do not manage the channels or what data is logged (Should run a VPN also as your IP address is like a number plate for your identity). For a 0.1% fee you, can receive an on-chain transaction and it will enable you to receive on Lightning (automatically manages channel). Normally, you require multiple inbound channels for liquidity, which takes more effort & knowledge (still minimal IMO). As I said earlier, if you want full sovereignty & best privacy, Umbrel with RTL is the way to go. I think wallets like phoenix are leading the way; they will enable a circular economy on Lightning to play out at global level. It will become impossible to audit, enforce laws & taxes on this network when this tech is completely ubiquitous. The mix between on-chain & Lightning is good for privacy as it places a break in your TX history. Muun wallet is another good wallet similar to Phoenix. The differences; no TOR or APK download, however Lightning & on-chain have been made even more seamless - so you could argue that user experience is slightly better. Personally, I'd prefer privacy over UI.
Privacy is a right & it's being stripped for us like crazy. Unfortunately, privacy is a moving target so we have to continually strive to improve it. If you can acquire non-KYC Bitcoin through peer-to-peer purchases (Bisq, Hodl Hodl) or mine it - you're already a step ahead. However, you should keep your anon-stash separate to your main holdings. The problem is: Bitcoin transactions are permanent on the blockchain; using privacy tools, you're less likely to have any regrets in the future. Hope this article helps whoever reads it. I wish I knew all this info when I first got into Bitcoin, however the tools are much easier to use these days.
Subscribe to future posts & claim FREE Bitcoin - https://www.bitcoin2009.com
If you'd like to donate:
Bitcoin: bc1qse0rhdkcutnejc7kacpjhkhepcgkmh3lrkz8tg
Lightning: https://tippin.me
