New: a threat-model-first guide to choosing your network defence, plus the nym-smoldvpn dVPN package and nym-swizzle sender hygiene.
Network
dVPN Mode

dVPN Mode

dVPN mode is a transport choice: a 2-hop decentralised VPN. Traffic is routed through two independent gateways rather than a single VPN provider's server, so no single operator ever sees both who you are and what you're doing.

It hides the client IP from the destination at line rate. Unlike mixnet mode, it adds no in-transit timing protection, so it does nothing against a network observer watching the traffic pattern. dVPN is available both through the NymVPN (opens in a new tab) application and to developers as a datapath through nym-smoldvpn, a userspace WireGuard library.

How it works

User --> Entry Gateway --> Exit Gateway --> Internet

Your device wraps each packet in two layers of encryption, one per gateway. The Entry Gateway strips the outer layer and forwards a packet it cannot read; the Exit Gateway strips the inner layer and sends the plaintext request to the destination. Responses follow the reverse path. The Entry Gateway therefore knows your IP address but not the destination, while the Exit Gateway knows the destination but not the sender.

What it protects, and what it does not

Against the destination, dVPN hides the client IP and splits trust across two operators, so the destination sees the exit gateway's IP rather than yours. A fixed exit is a linking key: within a session requests stay grouped, so rotating the exit per request is what restores request unlinkability at the destination.

Against a network observer, dVPN offers nothing in transit. It adds no timing obfuscation and no cover traffic. Packets are forwarded immediately, so both the local and global observer can fingerprint activity and correlate timing across the two gateways. If you need protection against traffic analysis, that is what mixnet mode provides.

Neither transport closes the timing or content vectors the destination sees on its own. That is a separate layer: baseline hygiene disciplines the requests themselves. See the two-layer model for the split, and choose a defence to pick the configuration for your threat.

Performance

Added latency is comparable to traditional VPNs, and WireGuard keeps cryptographic overhead low, so browsing, streaming, and downloads are not noticeably affected.

Technical details

Further reading

SURBs vs Tor Hidden ServicesProtocol & Encryption