The Pool's Edges

Deposits and withdrawals cross between public Bitcoin and the private pool. That crossing is where most privacy is lost.

Amounts and timing

A deposit of 0.1234 BTC followed a day later by a withdrawal of 0.1234 BTC tells a story. The wallet makes each deposit and each withdrawal one standard chip by default (1-2-5 from 1,000 sat to 1 BTC), so amounts repeat across users. That narrows the story; it does not end it. At today’s low volume, a chip in and a chip out close together are still easy to pair. Decoy settlements were considered and declined (2026-11-06); spreading a withdrawal over time and a fixed settlement schedule are deferred. Solo exits and forced exit requests take whole notes, so their amounts are whatever the note holds.

Moving coins in leaks too: if you fund deposits from your own Bitcoin wallet, change from one deposit’s funding can link it to the next. Funding each deposit from elsewhere (an exchange, another wallet) avoids that.