Synchronizing and p2pstate.bin, GUI wallet

Question

Hello I have 2 questions after recently downloading the monero blockchain to a whonix instance. I am using the GUI wallet.

1. When I log into the wallet I get "Daemon is synchronized" but the block height shown is not the true block height, it is behind a few dozen blocks and I wait but it will not continue to sync. I end up having to close down the wallet/node and reopen it a few times to get it to realize it is behind. Is there a way doing this can be avoided? I do not know what the problem is.

2. When churning funds these days is p2pstate.bin still a vulnerability? I used to delete it between churns and IPs, but I also read somewhere that this is not an issue any more but there was no explanation.

Thank you

Answer 1

1. If you are fully synchronized but your block height is not the same as other people, you are not fully synchronized or are connected to bad peers. Check against know block explorers (e.g. xmrchain.net) or remote node operators (like xmr.to).

2. As repeatedly pointed out, churning in most cases is actually harmful to your privacy. The only exception I'm aware of is churning specific outputs you know you need to disassociate from each other. As for p2pstate.bin, deleting it just means your daemon is going to have to look for peers again, t does not mean you are guaranteed to use new / different peers. I suggest you only delete it if your having sync problems.