How do BTC and Bitcoin Cash privacy options compare?
Bitcoin (BTC) employs the CoinJoin method as one of its primary privacy-enhancing techniques. CoinJoin involves creating large transactions that combine inputs from multiple users, generating multiple equal outputs to obscure the linkage between specific outputs and participants. Popular wallets like Wasabi, Samourai, and Trezor Suite offer CoinJoin functionality on BTC.
However, a significant drawback is the cost associated with transaction fees due to BTC's 1 MB block size restriction, leading to network congestion. Transaction fees on BTC can range from several dollars to over $50 during periods of high network activity. The anonymity set, which influences the privacy level, may be limited, and increasing it through additional CoinJoin rounds may be cost-prohibitive.
Bitcoin Cash implements the CashShuffle protocol, a decentralized CoinJoin solution that has been in use for several years. CashShuffle employs equal amounts in transactions, similar to other CoinJoin protocols, but it distinguishes itself by incorporating a matching service to enhance usability.
However, CashFusion, a more advanced mixing protocol, has gained prominence on Bitcoin Cash. CashFusion stands out as a fully decentralized solution that accommodates outputs of varying sizes, ensuring an exceptionally high number of potential configurations after a mixing transaction. Unlike BTC, Bitcoin Cash's low transaction fees make continuous mixing and remixing of a user's entire wallet balance cost-effective, amounting to just pennies per day. Endorsed by a security audit, CashFusion provides users with an impenetrable anonymity set, offering a heightened level of privacy at minimal costs.
Learn more in our deep dive into the differences between BTC and Bitcoin Cash.