TOR Network DDOS Attack Leads to I2P Solution for Bitcoin Privacy Apps

by James · December 11, 2022

Bitcoin privacy apps and lightning nodes have struggled with DDOS issues for most of this year, as TOR, the network used by many of these applications, has come under attack. In response, the team behind the MercuryWallet application decided to make the wallet work with both TOR and I2P, a decentralized network that provides anonymous communication over the internet.

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Infrastructure for privacy on the Internet

TOR, short for The Onion Router, is an encrypted overlay to the internet that consists of thousands of relays that ensure network traffic cannot be traced. On the TOR network, IP addresses are untraceable in the same way as a VPN.

However, a VPN is traditionally based on a centralized provider, which means there is the potential for the centralized entity to be forced to release the IP addresses of those on the network.

When using TOR, a decentralized group of volunteer nodes provide encryption, making it much more difficult for someone to trace the source IP address of a connection. In addition, Bitcoin privacy apps use the TOR network to hide network activity to improve privacy when interacting with the Bitcoin blockchain.

Throughout 2022, the TOR network has been subject to continuous DDOS attacks that have caused the network to operate far below satisfactory speeds. Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks are persistent attacks on a network from a decentralized cluster of computers that ping a network at a level beyond, or close to, its capacity. The traffic volume causes the network to slow down due to artificially created congestion.

TOR has been subject to DDOS attacks for years and is a continuing problem for the network.

The degraded performance caused on the TOR network by the said DDOS attack had affected applications that exploit the TOR network, including Bitcoin wallets such as Mercury Wallet.

MercuryWallet privacy solution

By making MercuryWallet application protocol agnostic, users can switch to I2P if TOR fails or is unavailable. This allows them to continue using the wallet and accessing their funds, even in the face of a DDOS attack on TOR.

I2P, the Invisible Internet Project, is a robust and resilient network that uses encryption and tunneling to protect the privacy and anonymity of users. It is designed to resist attacks and censorship and has proven to be a reliable alternative to TOR for anonymous communication.

The success of MercuryWallet’s approach highlights the importance of applications being protocol agnostic and adapting to changing network conditions.

As DDOS attacks and other forms of online disruption become more common, applications must consider alternative networks and protocols to maintain functionality and security.

So far, results for MercuryWallet have been positive, with users reporting smooth and reliable performance using both TOR and I2P. Additionally, by embracing protocol agnosticism, MercuryWallet has demonstrated its commitment to providing a high-quality and secure user experience, even under challenging conditions.