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What is a Private Swap?

Private Swaps are Houdini’s flagship route, built for users who want the highest level of transactional privacy. On a normal swap, anyone can follow the funds from your wallet to the receiving wallet. A Private Swap breaks that link by routing the transaction through two separate non-custodial exchanges, with a temporary Layer 1 token as an intermediary in between. Over $1.5 billion in private swap volume has been processed to date, making it one of the most-used compliant privacy tools in crypto.
Key Characteristics
  • Maximum Privacy: The sender and receiver addresses are not linked on-chain.
  • Non-Custodial: Houdini never takes possession of your funds. The process is fully automated through exchange partners.
  • Same-Chain: Send and receive the same token on the same chain (e.g. USDC-ETH to USDC-ETH).
  • Cross-Chain: Any token on any chain to any token on any chain (e.g. USDT-TRC20 to BTC).
  • Battle Tested: Over $1.5 billion in Private Swap volume since inception.

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How it Works

A Private Swap routes each transaction through two unrelated exchange partners:
  1. Leg 1 (Source Chain): You send Token A from your wallet. It is routed to a non-custodial exchange and swapped into a temporary Layer 1 intermediary token.
  2. The Intermediary Step: This temporary asset acts as a buffer, breaking the trail of the original transaction.
  3. Leg 2 (Destination Chain): The intermediary asset is routed to a second non-custodial exchange, swapped into your desired Token B, and delivered to the receiving wallet.
By the time the funds arrive, the on-chain trail connecting the sender to the receiver is completely severed. Connect your wallet to fund the swap in a few clicks, or send manually to a one-time deposit address from any wallet or exchange. Either way, the privacy is the same. Houdini Private Swap Graph Houdini Private Swap Graph

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What Makes it Private?

Houdini is the leader in transactional privacy, with over $1.5 billion processed through private routing.
  • No Direct Link: The sender and receiver never appear in the same transaction or transaction trail.
  • No Transaction Markers: There are no deterministic markers showing that a transaction is a Houdini swap. Each leg appears to end on its own, so observers cannot prove that Leg 1 and Leg 2 belong to the same swap. To an outside observer, each leg looks like a standard, unrelated transaction.
  • Infinite Anonymity Set: Even if an observer suspected a Houdini swap, Leg 2 could be on any chain, in any token. With 120+ chains and thousands of tokens supported, the anonymity set is effectively all of web3.
  • Battle Tested: Houdini has run multiple “Trace a Transaction” competitions with bounties over $100,000. No transaction has been traced by the public.

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Privacy Options

Use Monero
By default, Private Swaps use Houdini’s privacy tunnel and pick the best intermediary route automatically. In Advanced Settings, you can turn on Use Monero to route solely through Monero instead. This may affect speed and cost. Built into every product
The same private routing powers Send, Split and Request, so you can transfer, pay out to multiple wallets, or get paid without linking wallets.

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Who it’s For

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Ideal for

  • Business Operations: Organizations using crypto for payroll, treasury management, or sensitive vendor payments.
  • Influential Traders: Whales or public figures who want to move funds without signaling their intent to the market.
  • Privacy-Conscious Users: Anyone who wants to move funds without exposing their wallet balance or history.
  • Micro-Transactions: Small, everyday swaps where the cost and time of privacy routing may outweigh the benefits. Use a Standard Swap instead.
  • Time-Sensitive Trades: Arbitrage or plays where speed matters more than privacy. Private Swaps run two separate exchange legs, so timing can range from 5 to 50 minutes.

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Summary at a Glance

  • Privacy Level: Maximum (Decoupled on-chain trail).
  • Speed: 5 to 50 minutes.
  • Partners: 2 exchange partners per swap, selected from 20.
  • Best For: High-value transfers and sensitive wallet management.
  • Custody: 100% Non-custodial.