Ashigaru v1.0.0: Privacy-first Mobile Bitcoin Wallet

• "The first release of the Ashigaru Open Source Project's mobile wallet builds directly from Samourai Wallet's 0.99.98ii app release and their development work carried out up to 24th April 2024," announced the project.
• Ashigaru wallet v1.0.0 comes with PayNym (BIP47 reusable payment codes) support, Onion Routing over Tor, Ricochet transactions, encrypted key recovery, post mix and batch spending, stealth mode via decoy launcher, peer-to-peer coinjoins (Stowaway and STONEWALLx2), coin control features, and an advanced fee algorithm for determining a rate from unconfirmed transactions in the mempool.

For the first release of Ashigaru mobile wallet, developers focused on:

• Familiarization with the code base;
• Assessing and testing the development changes made by Samourai Wallet up to 24th April 2024;
• Removing all dependencies on Samourai Wallet infrastructure within the code base;
• Tailoring the app UI/UX for Dojo-only usage;
• Adding some small enhancements for UI/UX;
• Assessing the PayNym Server API interaction between client and server;
• Deploying a new PayNym Server.

NOTE: Unlike Samourai Wallet, the Ashigaru mobile wallet requires a Dojo node for full functionality. Connecting to your own Dojo wallet server is mandatory unless you are using the mobile wallet in Offline Mode. The Ashigaru Open Source Project does not offer a publicly accessible Dojo node for users.

• It is recommended to use Dojo version v1.25.0 to access all features of the mobile wallet, such as Next Block fee estimation. Additionally, connecting to a Dojo running Fulcrum as the indexer is advised, as it offers the best performance for restoring and syncing wallets.
  • Users wishing to set up a Dojo wallet server may follow the documentation guide here.

"There are two types of CoinJoins available in the app that can be used via QR with existing Samourai users and either QR or Soroban with Ashigaru users. There is no service fee to be paid for either of these transaction types, only the transaction miner fee paid by the sender, or shared between the sender and collaborator to ensure transaction entropy," was stated in a blog post.

1. Stowaway appears as a typical Bitcoin transaction with two outputs but has inputs from different entities and transactions. The transaction amount is not visible on the blockchain, leading to multiple interpretations.
2. STONEWALLx2 is a transaction involving a sender and collaborator, appearing identical to a single-user STONEWALL. With four outputs (spend, decoy, and two changes) and mixed inputs, it conceals details from observers and recipients. Ideal for spending to offline or non-CoinJoin wallets.

"The Ashigaru Open Source Project now hosts its own Soroban server that other wallet providers are welcome to use. We have made this available only via a hidden service for now, and users will therefore need to be a little more patient due to bandwidth limitations," said the developers.

What's new

The following changes provide summary for Samourai Wallet development (pre-24th April 2024):

• Send screen major overhaul.
• Next Block fee rate estimation added (with fallback to Bitcoind fee rate estimation).
• Android notification for receiving payments (when app is open).
• Batch spend from Postmix account now allowed.
• Pairing screen.
• Updates to Tor library.
• Updated Spanish translation.
• Various UI fixes.
• Various enhancements to avoid app crashes.
• Prevent PIN digits from changing color when being tapped.
• RBF enhancements to prevent errors when boosting transaction fee.

Changelog summary for development carried out by the Ashigaru Open Source Project (post-24th April 2024):

• Overhaul of UI and UX flow for creating / restoring wallet to prioritize the use of Dojo-only functionality.
• App supports only connecting to your own Dojo wallet server over Tor (unless no internet connection is present which in-turn triggers Offline Mode).
• Wallet Syncing UI launched with live progress status after creating / restoring wallet.
• In-app explorer uses self-hosted explorer URL from Dojo pairing credentials.
• Networking screen overhauled to display Dojo information and pairing credentials.
• In-app notification when a new Ashigaru mobile release is available.
• Whirlpool coinjoin removed.
• Service fee of 0.00015 BTC now removed when connecting to a BIP47 reusable payment code. (Connecting to a BIP47 reusable payment code in Ashigaru is now the same on-chain fee as Sparrow and Stack Duo/Wallet: 0.00000546 BTC + transaction miner fee).
• All in-app reference to "Samourai" and "Samourai Wallet" removed.
• Removal of all services connecting to or using infrastructure hosted by Samourai Wallet (including; public node backend, in-app explorer, paynym[dot]is).
• Ricochet service fee (0.001 BTC) now sent to the Ashigaru development fund.
• PayNym directory changed from paynym[dot]is to paynym[dot]rs.
• Default to spending to Native Segwit address for BIP47 reusable payment code, unless payment code is registered on paynym[dot]rs with no Segwit flag.
• Online Cahoots functionality restored.

Tor mobile or desktop browser is required to download the mobile application.

"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 respository."

Blog Post / Archive
Website
Repository (onion link)