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I've recently been learning a bit of Python and decided to try writing a couple of scripts for one of my favorite open source projects: Monero!

I've written a script that runs on a sleep timer and automates the sweep_all wallet RPC call every X minutes to empty a wallet with a small amount of Monero in it, back to the same address.

Is this bad for privacy? If I leave it running then the same transaction will be happening X times every XXX minutes for a few hours.

Also, if I churn like 20 times in a row, am I helping myself or other users on the network by adding entropy to the transaction pool?

Thanks.

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  • Churns should essentially mimic real spending behavior. You'd thus want the time between them to be random.
    – dEBRUYNE
    Commented Mar 17, 2019 at 14:36
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    Yeah, I figured that from the answer by jtgrassie. It was a cool way to learn how to do a scripted payment.
    – bitofagoob
    Commented Mar 17, 2019 at 14:37

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Is this bad for privacy?

Yes. Performing a churn (or any transaction for that matter) at regular intervals is bad for privacy (for yourself and others to some degree).

You are essentially helping to create a linkage by exposing the likely true output in a ring (thus also exposing the likely decoys), based purely on the timing of the transactions.

Also, if I churn like 20 times in a row, am I helping myself or other users on the network by adding entropy to the transaction pool?

A single churn can be useful for yourself in certain circumstances (like after receiving money from a centralized exchange). And whilst every transaction on the network increases the entropy set, the increase is so negligible, one shouldn't go around patting themselves on the back thinking they are "helping the network". Normal usage is fine.

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    No problem. It's also worth noting to take a look at sweep_single if you need to churn a single output (like in the from a dodgy exchange use-case). Sweeping a single output is more privacy-preserving than sweep_all.
    – jtgrassie
    Commented Mar 17, 2019 at 7:07
  • Cool. I saw that on this list: getmonero.org/resources/developer-guides/wallet-rpc.html As I get better with Python I'll add more to my scripts.
    – bitofagoob
    Commented Mar 17, 2019 at 9:18

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