Swapping Cryptocurrency
Convert transparent coins into private Monero the right way: KYC vs no-KYC, atomic swaps vs exchangers, and the OpSec that keeps a swap from de-anonymising you.
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What 'swapping' means here — and a warning
Swapping converts one coin into another — most importantly, converting a transparent coin like Bitcoin into Monero to gain privacy. This lab teaches the PROCESS, the trade-offs, and the OpSec. It does NOT move real funds — never rehearse with real money while learning.
The privacy win: value that was fully traceable on Bitcoin becomes private once it's Monero.
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Boot Tails and connect to Tor
Start Tails and connect to Tor automatically. Any swap research or execution should happen inside Tails so your network activity stays over Tor.
Your IP touching an exchange is metadata — Tor removes it.
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Know your threat model: KYC vs no-KYC
KYC ('Know Your Customer') services demand ID and permanently tie your identity to the coins. No-KYC services don't. For privacy, you avoid KYC — a KYC on-ramp anywhere in the chain can de-anonymise everything downstream.
Type the acronym for the identity checks you want to AVOID:
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The three ways to swap
1) ATOMIC SWAPS — trustless, no custodian holds your coins (e.g. BTC↔XMR via UnstoppableSwap). 2) INSTANT EXCHANGERS — a service swaps for you; fast but custodial for a few minutes. 3) DEXs — decentralised, mostly same-chain. For BTC→XMR privacy, atomic swaps and no-KYC exchangers are the practical routes.
Custodial = someone briefly holds your funds and could log or freeze them.
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Atomic swaps: trustless by design
An atomic swap either completes fully or refunds both parties — no third party ever custodies the coins. BTC↔XMR atomic swaps (COMIT / UnstoppableSwap) are the gold standard for a trust-minimised BTC→Monero move. They take longer and need a little setup, but nobody can run off with your money.
‘Atomic’ = all-or-nothing; the cryptography guarantees you can't be cheated.
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Instant exchangers: fast, but mind the custody window
No-KYC exchangers quote a rate, give you a deposit address, and send the other coin to your destination. Two rules: ALWAYS set a refund address (so a failed/underpaid swap comes back), and assume they log the deposit/withdraw pair. Send from and to addresses you don't reuse.
The refund address is your safety net — never skip it.
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Choosing a service
Judge a swap service on: no-KYC policy, a working .onion site (reachable over Tor), a no-logs stance, and a track record. Prefer reaching it as an ONION service so the connection never leaves Tor.
What kind of address lets you reach a service entirely within Tor? (one word)
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Walk a swap end-to-end (no real funds)
Mentally (or on paper) run it: pick BTC→XMR, set your Feather Monero subaddress as the destination, set a BTC refund address, get the deposit address, and note the rate/fees and expiry. This is exactly the flow you'd follow for real — practice the sequence until it's second nature.
Double-check the destination address character-by-character before any real send.
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Privacy pitfalls that undo a swap
Common leaks: reusing addresses (links swaps together), swapping a round/identical amount that stands out, doing the deposit and withdrawal back-to-back (timing correlation), or touching the coins from a KYC wallet. Vary amounts, use fresh addresses, and let Monero do the heavy lifting.
Chain analysis loves patterns — reuse, round numbers, and tight timing are patterns.
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Land safely in Monero
Once the XMR arrives in Feather, it's private: RingCT hides the amount, ring signatures hide the sender, stealth addresses hide the destination. From here you can hold or spend without the transparent-chain history following you.
This is why BTC→XMR is the classic privacy move — Bitcoin is a public ledger, Monero isn't.
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