Tumblers

1 min read

Pronunciation

[tuhm-buh-lerz]

Analogy

Think of tumblers like stirring ingredients in a pot so no one can tell which spoon served which ingredient.

Definition

Services or protocols that mix by pooling and redistributing funds to obscure origins and enhance privacy.

Key Points Intro

Tumblers enhance privacy by blending transactions among multiple users.

Key Points

Mixing pool: aggregates funds from many users

Anonymity set: larger pools increase unlinkability

Centralized vs. decentralized: trade-offs between trust and reliability

Fees: charge a percentage for mixing service

Example

A tumbler collects coins from users, mixes them in a series of batched transactions, and redistributes to new addresses, breaking linkability.

Technical Deep Dive

Centralized tumblers require custodial deposits and trust, while -based tumblers coordinate multi-party transactions without custody. Decentralized use protocols like Wasabi ’s Chaumian with blinded signatures to preserve privacy without a central party.

Security Warning

Centralized tumblers can steal funds or maintain logs compromising privacy.

Caveat

Privacy guarantees degrade with low participation or network congestion.

Related Terms

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Glossary

Tumblers - Related Articles