Wasabi Wallet Review 2025: What It Is, How To Coinjoin, Coordinators List

When Wasabi Wallet announced the shutdown of its zkSNACKs coinjoin coordination service many thought that this popular Bitcoin wallet was dead.

Instead, Wasabi Wallet is now reborn from ashes like a phoenix, because it came back stronger than ever thanks to a coordinator selection, so coinjoining with Wasabi Wallet will still be possible. 

What Is Wasabi Wallet?

Wasabi Wallet is a Bitcoin wallet designed to keep your transactions private. Since the launch, it became popular for its strong privacy features. Unlike some other wallets, Wasabi doesn't hold your Bitcoin for you (non-custodial) and helps make your transactions anonymous.

The creator of Wasabi Wallet, known as nopara73, started working on this idea in 2015 and gathered a team of experts to help bring it to life. They launched Wasabi Wallet 2.0 in 2022, which is easier to use and more efficient.

Wasabi Wallet has become the most popular privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet and the second most actively developed open-source Bitcoin wallet after Bitcoin Core. The team is now working on new features like a mobile version and integration with hardware wallets. They aim to make financial privacy accessible to everyone.

Despite facing challenges, including attacks and threats, Wasabi Wallet continues to be a leading tool in the fight for financial freedom and privacy.

How Wasabi Wallet Works

Wasabi Wallet main functions is a Bitcoin Wallet, so this means storing, receiving and sending BTC securely. It works as many software wallets such as Bitcoin Knots and Bitcoin Core, with the difference that it works like a lightweight wallet (so it doesn't download the whole blockchain). You can connect it to your own node for even more enhanced privacy.

But the real crown jewel of Wasabi Wallet is its particular design to enhance user privacy through a feature called CoinJoin. CoinJoin combines multiple users' transactions into a single transaction, making it difficult for observers to determine which inputs and outputs are linked. This process helps to obscure the ownership history of Bitcoin, enhancing privacy.

This collaborative method allows users to protect their financial privacy on the Bitcoin network by making it much harder for third parties to track the flow of their funds.

Wabisabi Coinjoin

Bitcoin's ledger is public, showing the source (inputs) and destination (outputs) of every transaction. Each input and output has an address and an amount. If a payment has two outputs, one can trace the sender's change. If multiple inputs are used, it's possible to link the sender's addresses.

To solve this privacy issue, CoinJoin transactions mix inputs from many users, making it hard to link coins to their previous addresses. Users submit their inputs anonymously, and the coordinator bundles them into one transaction, returning new private outputs. This process enhances privacy by breaking traceable links between transactions.

WabiSabi CoinJoin is integrated inside Wasabi Wallet and works by mixing coins from multiple users into a single transaction, making it difficult to trace the origin and destination of each coin.

Here’s a simple breakdown of how it works:

1. Users Submit Inputs: Multiple users submit their Bitcoin inputs (the amount they want to send) to a central coordinator. These inputs are registered anonymously using unique identities to maintain privacy.
2. Coordinator Mixes Inputs: The coordinator collects these inputs during a set time period (usually around 10 minutes). A minimum number of inputs (e.g., 150) is required for the mixing to proceed.
3. Creating Outputs: After collecting enough inputs, the coordinator creates new outputs. These outputs are split into standard amounts that match those of other participants, making it hard to trace any specific coin back to its original owner.
4. Privacy Enhancement: By combining inputs from many users and creating standardized outputs, WabiSabi CoinJoin effectively hides individual transaction details. Each new transaction increases the "crowd" in which your coins are mixed, further boosting privacy.
5. Non-Custodial: The process is non-custodial, meaning the coordinator and other participants never have control over your funds. Even if you lose connection during the process, your coins are safe.

This method ensures that your Bitcoin transactions remain private and difficult to trace, protecting your financial information from prying eyes. If you're interested in boosting your Bitcoin privacy, tools like WabiSabi CoinJoin can be very effective.

If you want to learn more about Coinjoin, read our detailed review:

CoinJoin: What Is It and How It Works

Explore CoinJoin, a privacy technique used in Bitcoin transactions. By combining transactions, CoinJoin enhances anonymity, protecting your financial privacy. Learn about its benefits and how it works

blockdyorAndrea Carnimeo

Wasabi Wallet Features

Wasabi Wallet is a powerful tool designed for those who value privacy and security in their Bitcoin transactions. Built to be user-friendly and accessible, it offers several key features that ensure your financial activities remain confidential. Here’s a look at what makes Wasabi Wallet stand out.

Privacy by Default: Wasabi Wallet is designed to protect your privacy automatically. It mixes your Bitcoin transactions with others, making it hard to track your activity.

Open Source: The wallet is free and its code is public. Anyone can inspect, verify, or contribute to the code.

Trustless Design: Wasabi uses coinjoin, client-side block filtering, and the Tor network to ensure no one can breach your privacy.

Non-Custodial: You control your Bitcoin private keys, giving you complete ownership of your funds.

User-Friendly: Wasabi is easy to use, handling privacy features seamlessly in the background.

Comprehensive Privacy: Utilizes the WabiSabi protocol for efficient coinjoins, allowing even small amounts of Bitcoin to gain privacy benefits.

Affordable: Coinjoin fees are low, especially for small transactions, making privacy accessible to all users.

Wasabi Wallet Quick Review

How To Install And Get Started With Wasabi Wallet

Wasabi Wallet primarily functions as a desktop wallet, meaning it’s available for Windows, Mac, or Linux. For my testing, I’ll be using an Apple Silicon Mac.

To install, simply download the installer from the official Wasabi Wallet website, double-click it, and drag the Wasabi Wallet app into the Applications folder, as with most Mac installations.

Updating Wasabi Wallet requires re-downloading and reinstalling, which can feel inconvenient since there’s no in-app update button. This is likely because the developers encourage users to verify each release. While automatic signature verification is available on Windows and macOS, it’s recommended to manually verify the PGP signature of the downloaded package with zkSNACKs’ PGP public key to guard against malicious software. If you’ve personally verified this key and understand the Web of Trust, consider signing it as well.

When creating or adding a wallet in Wasabi Wallet, you'll be prompted to set a passphrase. Each time you access the wallet, you’ll need to enter this passphrase. If you didn’t set one, simply leave the field empty and click "Open" to access your wallet.

The photo above shows Wasabi Wallet’s main dashboard, which is one of the best I’ve seen for a Bitcoin wallet. It’s minimalistic, easy to understand, and simple to use. Here's how it's structured:

1. Wallet: This is where you manage all your Bitcoin wallets. You can create new wallets, switch between existing ones, and organize your funds securely.
2. Send/Receive Button: These buttons make it simple to send or receive Bitcoin. The “Receive” button allows you to generate labeled addresses, enhancing privacy management, while “Send” lets you set up transactions with adjustable fees.
3. Shopinbit: A built-in feature connecting you to Shopinbit, allowing you to spend your Bitcoin directly on products, helping make everyday transactions more accessible within the wallet itself.
4. Balance: Displays your total Bitcoin holdings in the wallet, alongside its fiat equivalent based on the current exchange rate. It’s an essential reference for managing your funds.
5. Privacy Progress: This meter shows the current privacy level of your Bitcoin, which improves through Coinjoin rounds. It provides an at-a-glance view of your privacy status.
6. Exchange Rate: Shows the current Bitcoin-to-fiat exchange rate, updated in real time, so you always know the value of your holdings.
7. Transactions: A detailed log of all incoming and outgoing transactions, including labels and associated addresses, making it easy to track and review each interaction with the wallet.
8. Settings/Add Wallet/Discreet Mode: In Settings, you can customize wallet features, adjust coordinator settings, and manage your preferences. “Add Wallet” lets you create new wallets, while “Discreet Mode” hides sensitive information, allowing for more privacy when using the wallet in public spaces.

Privacy options are enabled by default (except the coordinator), but there’s much more to explore in the Settings panel —let’s take a look.

Due to regulatory changes in 2024, Wasabi Wallet no longer includes a default Coordinator—the core "engine" responsible for the coin mixing that ensures user privacy. This Coordinator is central to the software’s coinjoin functionality.

There are several coinjoin explorers available, like Wabisator and others, so you can choose whichever you prefer. A good rule of thumb is to select a coordinator with 0% fees. For this test, I used the Kruw Wasabi Coordinator, one of the most popular options with 0% fees. The higher the number of inputs and outputs, the better the anonymity set it can provide.

Another important setting is located in the user interface, not in the regular settings. Next to "Buy Anything," click the three dots > Wallet Settings > Coinjoin.

Here, you’ll find two key options:

• Automatically Start Coinjoin: Toggle this On or Off to control automatic mixing.
• Coinjoin Strategy: Choose from Minimize Costs, Maximize Speed, or Maximize Privacy.
• Stop Coinjoin Threshold allows you to set the amount at which mixing will stop. If your wallet balance falls below this threshold, you’ll need to start Coinjoin manually, as the wallet will consider it “uneconomical” to initiate automatically.

Before starting a Coinjoin, check also the current Bitcoin mempool fees; if they’re too high, it may not be economical, especially with a smaller amount of bitcoin. Alternatively, you can lower the default "Max Coinjoin mining fee rate" in the coordinator settings from 150 sat/vB to something like 10 sat/vB, or whatever rate you’re comfortable with. If fees are higher than your set threshold, the Coinjoin won't start.

With the wallet created, coordinator selected, and max fees threshold set up, it’s time to click “Receive” and add a label to the transaction.

A new address will be generated and you can send bitcoin from another wallet to that new, freshly generated address.

How To Coinjoin With Wasabi Wallet

Once the bitcoin arrives and is confirmed on the blockchain, you’ll receive a notification in the wallet.

In this case, I sent an amount of Bitcoin to my wallet that’s below the Coinjoin threshold. Wasabi Wallet helps by not automatically starting the Coinjoin, advising that it may be uneconomical. This is because, in addition to coordinator fees (which may vary), blockchain fees are also incurred for each Coinjoin transaction. It’s often better to Coinjoin larger UTXOs instead of small amounts, as fees can become disproportionately high for smaller amounts. But I’ll proceed with the Coinjoin anyway—for science! 😄 So press the play button (▶️) on Wasabi to get started.

After pressing the Play button, the first step is the "Awaiting other participants" phase, which typically lasts about 50 minutes. This duration, known as the Maximum Round Registration Time, can vary between coordinators—some are shorter, others longer. A longer registration time increases the chances of finding more participants and, therefore, more inputs. So, sit back and relax; the Coinjoin will begin... sooner or later!

Once the other participants are found, the Coinjoin begins, and the lower part of Wasabi Wallet lights up with an orange tint. I found this visual touch impressive—a classy detail that showcases zkSNACKs’ excellent UI design skills, adding a bit of flair to their pioneering work on Wasabi Wallet.

After some time, you’ll see the message "Hurray! All your funds are private!" appear at the bottom of Wasabi, and the privacy progress bar will reach 100% (or close to it), indicating that your funds are now private. The entire Coinjoin process cost me 6,977 sats in fees for mixing around 561,271 sats, which is about 1.24% of the total amount.

Clicking on the green bar lets you explore your privacy progress in detail, displayed as a beautiful ring chart showing the various UTXOs in your wallet and their respective anonymity sets. Wasabi Wallet achieves high anonymity by mixing and creating new UTXOs with rounder numbers. For instance, one of the newly created UTXOs has 200k sats, which are easier to blend in with others in future Coinjoins. In this round, I didn’t reach a high anonymity score since I used the "Fast" Coinjoin preset and had a relatively low Bitcoin amount, but it’s a solid start toward enhanced privacy.

The real strength of Wasabi Wallet is that the more you use it, the higher your privacy score becomes over time.

Wasabi Wallet Alternatives

Several alternative Coinjoin solutions are available beyond Wasabi Wallet; let's take a look at some of the most popular options currently.

• Ginger Wallet: When Wasabi Wallet announced it would no longer include a default coordinator due to regulatory pressures, the same team (zkSNACKs developers) introduced Ginger Wallet as an alternative. Ginger Wallet, like Wasabi, is a free and open-source software fork of Wasabi, but it comes preconfigured with a default coordinator. However, Ginger's default coordinator includes additional fees, which might make it less appealing compared to Wasabi, especially since Wasabi continues to receive regular updates, and its Coinjoin rounds, particularly with the Kruw coordinator, offer larger anonymity sets. That said, Ginger Wallet is a strong alternative to Wasabi, especially if you're interested in exploring different options or if Wasabi Wallet is ever discontinued.
• Jam Wallet: Jam is a free, open-source project created to enhance financial privacy in Bitcoin transactions without needing a trusted third party. Launched in 2021 by a group of volunteers, Jam continues to be developed and maintained by community contributions. Jam is essentially a user-friendly front-end for JoinMarket, a privacy-focused Bitcoin software that enables collaborative transactions via a peer-to-peer marketplace. The aim of Jam is to make JoinMarket more accessible to a wider audience by providing an easier interface, allowing more users to improve their privacy without relying on a centralized coordinator.

Wasabi Wallet Pros & Cons

Wasabi Wallet’s biggest strengths are its ease of use and the robust anonymity set it provides. The team at Wasabi is laser-focused on a single mission: making Bitcoin private by default. Any features outside this purpose would only complicate an already challenging task, which is why the software is streamlined and straightforward.

That said, the lack of a mobile app is a drawback. Wasabi’s website explains that mobile phones lack the necessary power for Coinjoin transactions. While this may have been true a decade ago, mobile technology has advanced significantly, and introducing a mobile app could greatly expand adoption of this highly effective privacy tool.

Bottom Line

Wasabi Wallet recently evolved to comply with regulatory pressures by removing the default coordinator, meaning users now need to add one themselves after installation, which can make it slightly more challenging for beginners. However, years of refinement have turned Wasabi into one of the best options for seamlessly performing Bitcoin Coinjoins.

If you’re not interested in Coinjoins, you can still use Wasabi as a regular Bitcoin wallet without setting a coordinator—just be sure to back up your seed phrase during wallet creation, as it can’t be displayed again later.

Wasabi Wallet Evaluation

With an impressive blockdyor Score of 86 out of 100, Wasabi Wallet shines as one of the top software wallets focused exclusively on Bitcoin. Its powerful Coinjoin capabilities set it apart, offering users a highly effective privacy tool.

Security: Wasabi Wallet provides a strong security framework, especially when used with a hardware wallet. For added protection, it’s best to keep your passphrase offline if you’re storing significant funds.

User-Friendliness: Despite its focus on privacy features, Wasabi Wallet maintains an easy-to-navigate, streamlined interface, making its advanced privacy tools accessible even for new users.

Compatibility: Wasabi Wallet is compatible with most operating systems and can integrate with hardware wallets, supporting various private keys and seed phrases for smooth transitions.

Reputation: Wasabi Wallet was developed by zkSNACKs, a team known for their dedication to Bitcoin privacy. The wallet’s open-source nature enables full transparency and ongoing community audits, enhancing its reputation and trustworthiness.

Cost: Wasabi Wallet is entirely free to use, with fees applying only with certain coordinators using Coinjoin for privacy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)