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Okay, first off, the biggest screw up newbies make? They dump all their UTXOs into one giant mix without checking pool sizes. Boom, your coins sit there forever 'cause no one's joining that massive 50 million sat pool. I did that once. Waited days. Dumb.
Right way? Start small. Pick a pool that matches what you've got, like the 0.1 BTC one if you're testing with 10k sats. Matches liquidity. Mixes fast. Why does this matter? 'Cause Whirlpool needs two new premixers to kick off every cycle. No premixers? You're stuck.
Look, Whirlpool's this killer Bitcoin mixing tool from the Samourai crew. Breaks links between your inputs and outputs using collaborative CoinJoins. Five peeps pool in equal amounts. Outputs shuffle - 1496 ways to guess who got what. Do it 5-10 times? Chain analysis nightmare.
In my experience, one mix cuts basic links. But aim for 3 minimum. Thing is, remixing's free. Pay once upfront, then it rides forever. Pretty much set it and forget it.
Honesty time: It's not magic. Pools got fees - around 0.03% for smaller ones, up to 0.003% on big boys. Plus miner fees, say 10-20 sats/vB depending on mempool. Gas? Nah, this is BTC, not ETH. Think -5000 sats total per first mix.
Most folks chain 'em: Mobile to kick off, CLI to grind remixes. Sound familiar? That's the ultimate stack.
Download Samourai Wallet on Android. iOS? Tough luck, privacy gods favor rooted or GrapheneOS phones. Backup your 12/24 words. Twice. Don't skip.
Receive sats to your deposit address. Wait for 1 confirmation. Now open Whirlpool tab. Blue plus sign. Hit Whirlpool. Select "Mix UTXOs."
Pick your UTXOs. Pro tip: Mix clean ones separate from sketchy history. Don't lump 'em. Next, choose cycle priority - high if mempool's clogged, like 20 sats/vB. Pool size: Match your amount. 0.001 BTC? Go 100k sats pool.
Review: See the tx0 breakdown. Pool fee sats. Change to bad bank if uneven. Miner fee. Hit Begin Cycle. Broadcasts. Boom, premix wallet lights up.
Now? App registers 'em for mixes. Keep it open. First one's quick - minutes in small pools. Post mix shows up. Remix auto starts till you close app.
Did your first mix hit 1? Great. Close app? Stops. Reopen? Picks up. But for non stop, level up.
Why Sparrow? Free, open source. Runs Whirlpool native. No phone needed after setup. Connects to your Bitcoin Core node ideally - privacy boost. Or public electors if lazy.
Install Sparrow. New wallet. Hot wallet for deposits. Receive BTC. Go UTXOs tab. Select one. "Mix Selected" pops bottom.
First time? Explainer screens. Pre mix, post mix, bad bank wallets auto create. Enter Samourai code if you got one - cuts fees, like 50% off.
Set pre mix priority: Peek mempool.space. 19 sats/vB? First block. Pool: Dropdown - 0.001, 0.01, 0.05, 0.5 BTC. Fee shows: 0.05% on 0.001 pool (sats). Preview tx0. Graph splits: Fee, premix UTXOs (7 equal ones), bad bank change, miners.
Broadcast. Watch premix fill. Auto mixes into post mix. Labels show mix count: 1, 2, 3.. Remixing free. Fails? Toggle net connection off/on. Or restart Whirlpool.
| Pool Size | Fee % | Typical First Mix Time | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.001 BTC (100k sats) | ~0.05% | 5-15 mins | Small tests |
| 0.01 BTC (1M sats) | ~0.03% | 10-30 mins | Daily spends |
| 0.05 BTC | ~0.015% | 20-60 mins | Medium stacks |
| 0.5 BTC | ~0.003% | Hours days | HODL privacy |
See? Smaller pools = faster. But less anonymity per mix. Tradeoff. I usually start 0.01, remix to 5+.
Issue: Computer sleeps? Kills mixing. Disable sleep. Or run on Pi. Failed mixes? Low liquidity or net hiccup. Check OXT.me for your TxIDs - visualize mixes.
CLI's the grindmaster. Download Whirlpool CLI. Raspberry Pi 4, 24/7 power. Connect Samourai wallet via seed. Set remix target: unlimited. Deposits from mobile, CLI handles rest.
In Sparrow? Mix straight to hardware. Coldcard, Ledger, Passport. Post mix tab. "Mix to" button. Select hardware watch only wallet. Set min mixes: 6. 25% chance extra remix for randomness. Restart Whirlpool.
Chain watchers see UTXO "still mixing" forever. Genius. On chain: Impossible to link to your hardware. I do this for big stacks. After 6 mixes, auto sends. Free on remixes.
Steps in Sparrow for hardware:
What's next? Monitor mix counts. 3? Decent. 10? God tier. Stop manually if needed - per UTXO.
No mixes after hours? Liquidity drought. /liquidity check. Switch pools. Or wait - freeriders random.
App crashes? Backup wallets first. Sparrow: Export seeds separate - pre, post, bad bank.
Fees spiking? Mempool rage. Drop priority, wait cheaper. Samourai code? Hunt Discord for fresh ones.
Bad bank bloating? Mix small change solo. Or spend zero conf if trusted.
One I hate: Auto sleep kills CLI. Pi + UPS. Or VPS if paranoid.
Honestly, 90% issues? User error. Keep net on. App open. Pools matched.
Single mix: Breaks basics. 3: Solid. 5+: Pro. Unlimited CLI? 50+ easy. Each adds anonymity set. Free.
Receive to Samourai deposit. Mix mobile to post. Export seed to Sparrow. Set unlimited remix, mix to Ledger at 7. CLI takeover on Pi. Repeat.
Visual? OXT.me > Whirlpool graph. TxIDs from wallet. See cycles chain.
Scale up? Multiple UTXOs parallel. But separate histories. Patterns kill privacy.
Cost breakdown real talk: 0.01 BTC mix. Pool fee 300 sats. Miner 1000 sats. Total ~0.000013 BTC. Remixes? Zero extra. Worth every sat.
Potential pitfall: Coordinators go down? Rare, but community mirrors. Check Twitter @SamouraiWallet.
Scale issues? 0.5 pool slow? Split to 0.05x10. Same privacy, faster.
Last thing - don't spend post mix immediately. Let 'em sit, remix more. Patterns bad.
There. You're mixing like a boss. Hit snags? Experiment. Tweak. Privacy's iterative.
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