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Released: Ashigaru Terminal v1.0.0

— Ashigaru Open Source Project

Overview

The first release of the Ashigaru Open Source Project's Terminal builds directly from Sparrow Wallet v1.8.4. Ashigaru Terminal dispenses with the graphical user interface of Sparrow, and is instead an easy to use terminal application of which Sparrow Server users will find more familiar. Ashigaru Terminal is a non-custodial, dedicated Ashigaru Whirlpool client which allows users to enter pools of their choice and continue to build their forward and backwards anonymity sets whilst being in full control of their funds during every stage of coinjoin cycles. There is no requirement to run your own Dojo server.

For the development and release of Ashigaru Terminal v1.0.0, we have focused on:

    • Familiarization with the code base.
    • Bringing wallet creation and management closer to the Ashigaru Mobile defaults.
    • Adding some small enhancements for UI/UX.
    • Replacing the nightjar library with darkjar to be in line with Ashigaru Whirlpool requirements.

Terminal Usage

Ashigaru Terminal is not intended to be a substitute for other Bitcoin wallets, and is instead designed to complement users’ existing desktop and mobile wallets. The application only allows users to broadcast Tx0 transactions (the Zerolink staging transaction) and does not allow users to create and broadcast ordinary spends. This functionality is unlikely to be incorporated as the purpose of this application is simply to interact with the Whirlpool coordinator for participating in Zerolink coinjoins.

Whilst it is possible to restore BIP39 compatible wallets, Ashigaru Terminal works best with Sparrow Wallet, Ashigaru Mobile and Samourai Wallet, as they have the ability to support the different account derivation paths used in Whirlpool, and have spending tools designed to preserve your privacy when you spend from the pool.

We have no intention to utilize SCODEs for discounted Anti-Sybil fee rates. Users are recommended to initiate a Tx0 transaction and coinjoin when they receive funds as soon as possible as the Anti-Sybil fee will remain fixed and not change. Those experienced with transacting on Bitcoin will take advantage of periods when mining fees are at relative lows to coinjoin and allow plenty of time to ensure their entire holdings have, at some point, been through several coinjoin cycles, and ideally extended time periods before being spent or withdrawn to cold storage.

Redundancy and decentralization

Remote and automatic update of Tor URLs for connecting to both Ashigaru Whirlpool and for transaction broadcast using our “Hanzaki” feature will be coming in a future release. In the meantime, users can stay up to date by monitoring our Gitea code repository (Tor only), and be on the lookout for new releases through the mobile application or news updates.

General updates, fixes, and enhancements

Although a fork of Sparrow, Ashigaru Terminal has a number of differences. The default mainnet public Electrum servers that are connected to on startup are .onion URLs to preserve user privacy. Users may configure in the preferences a private Electrum server to connect to, either locally, over Tor, or over clearnet.

Only native SegWit Whirlpool account derivation paths are supported for hot wallets, and BIP39 passphrases are mandatory. As Legacy, Wrapped SegWit, Taproot, and all multisig scripts are not used in Whirlpool, these wallet types are not supported in the application.

Fee estimation for the construction of the Transaction Zero (Tx0) to enter Ashigaru Whirlpool has been simplified and is calculated to get the transaction confirmed in the next available block. For users that find the fee rate high, they should delay until block space becomes less competitive.

Free and Open Source

Code repository

Ashigaru Terminal code base can be found here (Tor only).

Software license

Ashigaru Terminal is released under the Free and Open Source license GNU General Public License Version 3.

Download, Verify, and Install

The Ashigaru Terminal application for desktop can be downloaded from here. A PGP signed message for the "SHA-256 Hashes of the Terminal files" can be found via the same link.

The Ashigaru PGP public key for verifying the "SHA-256 Hashes of the Terminal files" signed message can be obtained from Keybase:

Documentation guide to download and verify the application can be found here.

Documentation guide to install the application can be found here.

Documentation guide to navigate the application can be found here.

Documenation guide to initiate a Transaction Zero (Tx0) can be found here.

Brand assets updated

Along with this release we have designed a logo for Ashigaru Terminal which is now included within our Brand Assets under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. This can be viewed in our code repository here, or downloaded from our website (using the Tor browser) here.

Establishing liquidity and unspent capacity

Early users of Ashigaru Terminal who initiate Transaction Zeros (Tx0) to enter pools and coinjoin their bitcoin will be most rewarded in their forward and backward looking anonymity sets. Please note however that early users should have patience after "jumping" in the pool while waiting for their first coinjoin and subsequent cycles. Ashigaru Whirlpool has a strict requirement for each coinjoin organized, meaning cycles are only carried out when the new liquidity participant threshold is met.

After broadcasting a Tx0 we therefore encourage users to keep their Ashigaru Terminal open and active (computer / machine locked if so desired). This way your client is always online and ready to participate in a coinjoin when network and protocol conditions are met.

We are eager and excited to watch the Ashigaru Whirlpool unspent capacity* grow as new coinjoining clients come online, and hope you consider integrating this Free and Open Source tool into your bitcoin spending and saving strategy.

*Unspent capacity: the total amount of bitcoin which has participated in one or many coinjoin cycles, remaining in a pool denomination size (of 0.25, or 0.025 BTC), and is therefore "unspent".

User feedback

In the spirit of Free and Open Source software, all user feedback is welcome from this initial release and we ask that any feature requests, issues, and bugs are raised on the official Ashigaru code repository.

If you have the skills and ability to contribute to the Ashigaru code base, pull requests are welcomed to our code repository. You may email us and we will create an account for you.

For security and vulnerability reporting, we request you raise either a private issue on our code repository, or encrypt your communication using the contact method here.

Reminder

This website is the home of the Ashigaru Open Source Project. We do not hold a social media presence, nor have any other method of letting you know about the latest news related to this project. You should always verify information, or second-hand information, with what is stated on this website.

If you would like to get in contact with us, please do so via encrypted email following the steps here.