Cryptocurrency hardware wallet firm Trezor is teaming up with the privacy-focused Wasabi Wallet to enhance the privacy of Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.
Trezor has introduced the privacy-enabling CoinJoin feature on its hardware wallets, enabling users to boost the privacy and security of Bitcoin transactions.
Trezor announced on April 19 that the new function is immediately available on the company’s Trezor Model T wallet, with plans to implement the CoinJoin option for its initial hardware wallet, the Model One, in the near future.
The CoinJoin process anonymizes Bitcoin transactions, allowing users to send their BTC in a large collaborative transfer and obscure transaction history. It was first introduced by former Bitcoin core developer Gregory Maxwell in August 2013 as an option to send BTC transactions more privately.
Trezor’s collaboration with Wasabi enables the CoinJoin option on its wallets to hide transactions and balances when purchasing, donating, and making other transactions with Bitcoin.
To activate CoinJoin, users need to open a new CoinJoin account on the main Trezor menu, available alongside other account types, including Segregated Witness (SegWit) and Bitcoin Taproot accounts.
To maximize privacy, Trezor’s CoinJoin feature also prompts users to allow the anonymous communication protocol, Tor.
Coinjoin on Trezor is optional, and users must first send their coins to a specific CoinJoin account if they wish to use this function,” said Trezor’s Bitcoin analyst Josef Tetek. The CoinJoin Function is also associated with longer transaction times and costs a 0.3% coordinator fee and the mining fee. Remixes, which are further CoinJoin rounds, have no coordinator fee, and there is no additional cost when spending coinjoined outputs.
Trezor CEO Matěj Žák stated that privacy is the most important asset of individuals, and Trezor values it accordingly. “Consequently, we’re delighted that we’ve found a way for our community to keep their Bitcoin history private,” he added. Trezor is the first hardware wallet to implement CoinJoin, following in the footsteps of software wallets like Wasabi.
