If there is one particular trait Bitcoin severely lacks, it is anonymity. Despite claims from the media about how it is impossible to track Bitcoin transfers, the cryptocurrency is far more transparent compared to some others. That situation may soon change, as several initiatives are underway to add anonymity to Bitcoin in unique ways. One of these ventures is Zerolink, which claims to have come up with a method to fully anonymize payments made using Bitcoin. This certainly is an interesting concept that should not be overlooked.
Zerolink Wants to Provide Bitcoin Anonymity
It is neither the first nor the last time we will see a company focused on providing Bitcoin anonymity. This is quite an interesting trend, even though most people feel there is no need for such anonymity where Bitcoin is concerned. Then again, there are plenty of others who would like nothing more than to benefit from additional anonymity when completing Bitcoin payments. Achieving that goal is currently quite difficult without using a mixing service of some sort. Using services such as XMR.to is a viable option, assuming one owns any Monero to begin with.
This is why the Zerolink project is so intriguing. It appears its team has found a way to successfully anonymize Bitcoin payments. The project is a collaboration between the teams behind Samuraiwallet and Hiddenwallet. Both projects specifically target Bitcoin anonymity and privacy measures, so it makes sense they would join forces to produce an even more compelling solution. Their new wallet privacy framework appears to provide the traits some Bitcoin users have been actively seeking as of late.
It appears this project makes use of a technique known as Chaumian CoinJoin. The CoinJoin aspect is nothing new, as it has been a commonly used solution in the cryptocurrency world for quite some time now. However, this Chaumian implementation is slightly different, as it utilizes what are known as Chaum Blind Signatures. Users provide inputs and change addresses to the protocol, and use a blinded version of the address they want coins to go to. The server used for this purpose then signs the tokens and returns them.
According to the Zerolink team, this entire process takes as little as a few seconds or a minute at most. That in itself is quite impressive, considering most mixing services take hours, if not days, to complete. This particular service does not require the washing of coins specifically, so there is no need for Zerolink to hold large amounts of currency in reserve. Users will receive their initial tokens back, but with added anonymity thanks to a method known as blinding and unblinding. It is an interesting take on things which seemingly requires a lot less trust, although that remains to be determined.
It is quite interesting to see how far Bitcoin mixing has come these past few years. It initially started out as a very cumbersome process and lately has turned into a web-based service requiring use of the Tor browser. Zerolink aims to provide similar functionality to the masses without any specific requirements for bells and whistles or dedicated software. With the focus on reducing the associated fees, the team looks to be on track to make this a reality. Zerolink makes it economically unfeasible for malicious entities to disrupt the process.
It seems this Wallet Privacy Framework will be implemented into both Samouraiwallet and Hiddenwallet in the near future. No official timeline has been set so far, but the integration should not be too far out at this stage. There are still a lot of challenges associated with this concept such as protecting against distributed denial-of-service attacks. Coin mixing in the Bitcoin world will never be the same once this framework comes into the picture. It is an intriguing development by both teams.
