Bisq - The P2P Exchange Network

Patrick · March 9, 2018, 3:12pm

Bubonic Chronic:

Did I read that Whonix has built-in measures to prevent this?

Yes.

If that works depends on the technical specifics how Bisq starts and
uses Tor.

BubonicChronicWhonix · March 10, 2018, 2:27am

Well, I have not done any extensive testing yet. But out of the box, given enough time, Bisq seems to connect without a problem. (It says I am connected to 8-9 peers at any given time).

I have not attempted to use any currencies yet, but the program itself seems to run as expected.

I’m going to poke at it a bit more, then I’m going to see if I can exchange currencies without going broke.

I’ll keep this thread updated with my progress.

Patrick · March 10, 2018, 2:01pm

If that works

→ Clarification: If Tor over Tor protection works depends on the Tor integration of Bisq. I don’t know.

There might be indeed connectivity but with Tor over Tor. Look for Tor in running processes and look how Bisq code starts Tor or checks if it is already running.

Patrick · October 5, 2018, 10:59am

Tested. Results in Tor over Tor.
Dev/anon-ws-disable-stacked-tor - Whonix can’t prevent it.
Doesn’t talk to system Tor’s default ControlPort.

See also:

/home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/torrc

# This file was generated by Tor; if you edit it, comments will not be preserved
# The old torrc file was renamed to torrc.orig.1 or similar, and Tor will ignore it

AvoidDiskWrites 1
ClientTransportPlugin fte exec ./PluggableTransports/fteproxy.bin --managed
ClientTransportPlugin obfs2,obfs3,obfs4,scramblesuit exec ./PluggableTransports/obfs4proxy
ClientTransportPlugin meek exec ./PluggableTransports/meek-client
ControlPort auto
CookieAuthentication 1
CookieAuthFile /home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/.tor/control_auth_cookie
DataDirectory /home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor
GeoIPFile /home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/geoip
GeoIPv6File /home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/geoip6
HiddenServiceDir /home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/hiddenservice
HiddenServicePort 9999 127.0.0.1:39115
HiddenServiceStatistics 0
PidFile /home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/pid
RunAsDaemon 1
SocksPort auto

/opt/Bisq/Bisq starts a process:

/home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/tor -f /home/user/.local/share/Bisq/btc_mainnet/tor/torrc __OwningControllerProcess 4987

qubenix · October 6, 2018, 6:01pm

http://forums.dds6qkxpwdeubwucdiaord2xgbbeyds25rbsgr73tbfpqpt4a6vjwsyd.onion/t/crypto-anonymity-is-getting-harder/6098/12?u=qubenix

qubenix · October 7, 2018, 3:38pm

For anyone that knows Java, Bisq needs developers to help them fine tune their Tor implementation. There are quite a few Tor related issues on their tracker.

Patrick · November 17, 2018, 7:12pm

github.com/bisq-network/bisq

Bisq can now use an external Tor service

bisq-network:master ← freimair:externalTor

opened 05:32PM - 17 Nov 18 UTC

freimair

+366 -80

Bisq can now use an already running Tor service (TorBrowser for example). The fe…ature can be used by supplying the required command line parameters on Bisq start, being: ``` --torControlCookieFile <Path> The cookie file for authenticating against the already running Tor service. Use in conjunction with -- torControlUseSafeCookieAuth (default: ) --torControlPassword <String> The password for controlling the already running Tor service. (default: ) --torControlPort <Integer> The control port of an already running Tor service to be used by Bisq [port]. (default: ) --torControlUseSafeCookieAuth Use the SafeCookie method when authenticating to the already running Tor service. (default: ) ``` In order to get this functionality, the Netlayer dependency and the jtorctl dependency have been bumped to version [0.6](https://github.com/JesusMcCloud/netlayer/releases/tag/0.6) and [1](https://github.com/JesusMcCloud/jtorctl/releases/tag/1), respectively. closes #1761, closes #811, closes #492, closes #1887

jpearson · April 24, 2019, 7:51pm

@Patrick Do these options work for you in Whonix Workstation?

Patrick · April 24, 2019, 8:15pm

Untested.

jpearson · April 24, 2019, 10:48pm

Ok. I’ll give it a shot.

jpearson · April 25, 2019, 12:41am

I’m a bit confused as to which parameters I should use for this. The port method or the cookie file method? Any documentation on applications with similar options would be appreciated.

jpearson · April 25, 2019, 1:00am

I tried this command on workstation: ./bisq-desktop --torControlPort 9051 --torControlPassword notrequired

Got this error:

Apr-25 01:06:56.345 [NetworkNode-9999] INFO  b.n.p2p.network.RunningTor: Connecting to running tor 
 pr-25 01:06:56.492 [TorControlParser] TRACE o.b.netlayer.tor.Tor: >> AUTHENTICATE 6E6F747265717569726564
Apr-25 01:06:56.493 [TorControlParser] TRACE o.b.netlayer.tor.Tor: << 250 OK 
 pr-25 01:06:56.549 [TorControlParser] TRACE o.b.netlayer.tor.Tor: >> SETEVENTS CIRC WARN ERR
Apr-25 01:06:56.549 [TorControlParser] TRACE o.b.netlayer.tor.Tor: << 510 Command filtered 
Apr-25 01:06:56.550 [NetworkNode-9999] ERROR b.n.p2p.network.TorNetworkNode: Could not connect to running Tor: Error reply: Command filtered 
Apr-25 01:06:56.552 [JavaFX Application Thread] ERROR bisq.core.app.P2PNetworkSetup: onSetupFailed

This command exits successfully: bash -x tor-ctrl -p notrequired -c "signal newnym"

My Tor Controller knowledge is limited so I would appreciate any troubleshooting suggestions.

Patrick · April 25, 2019, 7:56pm

Progress was made. Instructions Bisq: The P2P Exchange Network updated. An onion-grater profile was written just now which solves the command filtered issues.

Bisq does not connect yet, says: “No seed nodes available.”

Cause unknown. Bisq has many native Tor issues so it may or may not be an issue caused by Whonix.

Patrick · April 25, 2019, 8:27pm

Found a bug:

Patrick · April 25, 2019, 8:53pm

The fix is now in Whonix 15 repository.
For Whonix 14 a workaround is documented.
Bisq is working for me now.
Testers welcome!

Patrick · April 26, 2019, 9:59am

Instructions bug fixed and improved clarity yet again.

micky · April 26, 2019, 3:25pm

Thanks! I’ve been using Bisq in the past inside the Workstation and guess it was Tor over Tor.

The instructions seems a bit scary though. Will it be possible to do it in Whonix 15 without touching the Gateway (include the onion grater profile as default? is it done for other apps?), and without opening all ports in the Workstation?

I feel this is a super important application to have for anyone serious about crypto.

Patrick · April 26, 2019, 9:08pm

Not that I know.

No, not good to do that by default.

bisq, onionshare, ricochet, zeronet

Not that I know.

micky · April 27, 2019, 5:17am

I see, so certainly an ideal case for using alternate WS / GW for this purpose.

If we “only” want to avoid Tor over Tor, are there simpler alternatives? for example, revise only usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf in the gateway to use a certain exit node, or something of that kind?

Alternatively, ship an “advanced users” version with the configurations you specified already done?

Patrick · April 27, 2019, 9:10am

I don’t think so. You’d have to specific the full path through the Tor network, not just the Tor exit and then also make sure the bisq internal Tor client doesn’t do the same.

Alternatively, ship an “advanced users” version with the configurations you specified already done?

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