Optional privacy
Private and public transfers both exist; a careless one leaks.
13 of the 40 · $24.54BPick a project
Filter by kind of privacy. What the kinds mean
Pick one of the 40 biggest privacy projects, send a transfer, and see what a stranger sees.
Market values: CoinGecko, a price site, 18 October 2026, 20:46 UTC. What each one hides: a report of the same day by LlamaAI, the research tool of the data site DefiLlama, read from each project’s own documents.
Words on the cards (38)
- Blockchain, coin, token
- a blockchain is a shared public record of transfers; a coin is its own currency; a token is an asset that runs on someone else’s blockchain.
- Ticker
- the short code of a coin, such as ZEC for Zcash.
- Opt-in
- off unless you turn it on yourself.
- Audit
- a check of a project’s code by an outside firm.
- Zero-knowledge proof
- maths that proves something is true without showing the data behind it.
- Shielded
- kept private inside a protected pool or address.
- zk-SNARK
- a short zero-knowledge proof that is quick to check.
- Ring signatures
- a signature that hides yours among decoys, so it is hard to tell which one is real.
- Stealth address
- a one-time address made for each payment, so payments cannot be linked to your public address.
- RingCT, Bulletproofs+
- methods that hide an amount and prove it is valid without showing it.
- Viewing key
- a key that lets someone you choose see your private transfers, without being able to spend.
- PLONK, STARK
- kinds of zero-knowledge proof; PLONK needs a trusted setup, STARK does not.
- zkTLS
- a way to prove what a website showed you, with a zero-knowledge proof.
- Trusted setup
- a one-time ceremony whose secrets must be destroyed.
- Mixing (CoinJoin)
- many people’s coins go into one transaction, so it is harder to tell whose went where.
- Dandelion++
- a way of passing a transaction around the network that makes it harder to link it to your IP address.
- Tor
- a free network that passes your traffic through several relays to hide your IP address.
- Layer 2
- a network that runs on top of a bigger blockchain, such as Ethereum.
- Smart contracts
- programs that run on a blockchain.
- EVM chains
- Ethereum and the networks that run the same kind of smart contracts.
- Mimblewimble
- a design that keeps no addresses on the chain and hides amounts.
- Mixnet, onion routing
- your traffic passes through several relays, so no single one sees both ends.
- Homomorphic encryption
- encryption that lets a computer calculate with data without decrypting it.
- Garbled circuits
- a method that lets computers calculate together on inputs none of them can read.
- Trusted dealer
- one party trusted to create and hand out the secret keys.
- Secure enclave (TEE)
- a sealed part of a chip, designed to run code that the machine’s owner cannot read.
- Miners
- computers that add new blocks to a chain and earn coins for it.
- Validators
- computers that check and add new blocks, backed by coins they lock up (stake).
- Proof of stake
- a way to run a chain where validators lock up coins instead of mining.
- Masternodes, service nodes
- servers that lock up a set amount of coins and run extra services, such as mixing.
- Relayers
- services that send your transaction for you, so it does not come from your own address.
- Sequencer
- the operator that puts transactions in order on a layer 2.
- Shard
- one part of a blockchain that runs alongside the others.
- Bridge
- a service that moves tokens between two blockchains.
- Metadata
- data about a transfer, such as when and from where, rather than its content.
- Whitepaper, readme
- a project’s founding technical paper; a readme is the front page of its code.
- UTC
- world time; Greece is UTC+3 in summer and UTC+2 in winter.
- Mainnet, alpha
- the live network with real money; alpha means an early version.
What the 40 show
$43.1B
All 40 together, by market value. Zcash and Monero alone are 67% of it.
56.9%
of the value is in “Optional privacy”, the biggest of the six kinds below: 13 projects.
Almost all
privacy claims here rest on the projects’ own word, the report says. It opened no audit report, though some, such as Firo, Dusk and Nym, name audits.
- Optional privacy 56.9% (13)
- Privacy built into the chain 27.1% (7)
- Encrypted computing 15.2% (10)
- Apps, internet-trail tools and proofs 0.8% (10)
Six kinds of privacy
Not all privacy projects hide the same thing. The kind tells you what to expect.
Privacy built into the chain
Each chain is built to hide transfers by default, its makers say.
7 of the 40 · $11.67B
Encrypted computing
Hides data while apps use it, usually not who paid whom.
10 of the 40 · $6.55B
Privacy app on a public chain
You move tokens into it; inside, they move privately.
5 of the 40 · $256M
Hides your internet trail
Mainly hides your IP address, not your payments.
4 of the 40 · $90.6M
Proves without showing
Proves a fact about your data without showing the data.
1 of the 40 · $7.9MWhat the EU rules say
- Now (MiCA, the EU’s crypto-asset law, Article 76(3)). A trading platform’s rules must keep out crypto-assets with an “inbuilt anonymisation function”, unless the platform can identify the holders and their transaction history.
- From 10 July 2027 (the EU’s anti-money-laundering rules, Article 79). Crypto service providers may not keep accounts that allow “increased obfuscation of transactions”, including through coins with built-in anonymity, always on or optional. The report says that is wide enough to reach opt-in designs such as Zcash, but did not test how it applies to each project. The rule binds companies, not your own wallet.
- What one EU-licensed exchange lists. Bitvavo shows 15 of the 40 (18 October 2026). Zcash, Monero and Dash are not among them. Being listed is not an EU ruling, and a missing coin does not show it is banned.
Not legal advice. More in our guide to privacy and EU law.
All 40 at a glance
Open the table
- Hidden: always. Hidden by default: privacy is on unless you turn it off; with “(official wallets)”, only in the project’s own wallets.
- If you choose: hidden only when you turn privacy on. Labels that end in “opt-in” apply only when privacy is on.
- Harder to trace: blurred, not hidden.
- Claimed: the project says it is hidden; the pages the report read do not confirm it.
- No claim found: the pages the report read do not say it is hidden.
- Paused: its private mode is paused now.
| # | Project | Sender | Receiver | Amount | Market value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZcashZECOptional privacy | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $17.95B |
| 2 | MoneroXMRPrivacy built into the chain | Hidden | Hidden | Hidden | $10.92B |
| 3 | NEAR ProtocolNEAREncrypted computing | Claimed, opt-in | Claimed, opt-in | Claimed, opt-in | $6.11B |
| 4 | LitecoinLTCOptional privacy | Harder to trace, opt-in | If you choose | If you choose | $4.44B |
| 5 | MidnightNIGHTOptional privacy | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $634M |
| 6 | DashDASHOptional privacy | Harder to trace, opt-in | Harder to trace, opt-in | Visible | $599M |
| 7 | BeldexBDXPrivacy built into the chain | Claimed | Claimed | Claimed | $590M |
| 8 | StarknetSTRKOptional privacy | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $445M |
| 9 | DecredDCROptional privacy | Harder to trace, opt-in | Harder to trace, opt-in | Visible | $251M |
| 10 | ZamaZAMAEncrypted computing | No claim found | No claim found | If you choose | $172M |
| 11 | RailgunRAILPrivacy app on a public chain | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $143M |
| 12 | AleoALEOOptional privacy | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $84.9M |
| 13 | ZanoZANOPrivacy built into the chain | Hidden by default | Hidden by default | Hidden by default | $80.4M |
| 14 | DuskDUSKOptional privacy | Paused | Paused | Paused | $68.4M |
| 15 | iExec RLCRLCEncrypted computing | Visible | Visible | Visible | $64.0M |
| 16 | OasisROSEEncrypted computing | Visible | Visible | Visible | $56.9M |
| 17 | AztecAZTECPrivacy app on a public chain | Claimed, opt-in | Claimed, opt-in | If you choose | $55.1M |
| 18 | Pirate ChainARRRPrivacy built into the chain | Hidden | Hidden | Hidden | $48.9M |
| 19 | ArciumARXEncrypted computing | No claim found | No claim found | No claim found | $46.9M |
| 20 | VergeXVGHides your internet trail | Visible | Harder to trace, opt-in | Visible | $40.1M |
| 21 | NillionNILEncrypted computing | Visible | Visible | No claim found | $37.4M |
| 22 | Tornado CashTORNOptional privacy | Harder to trace, opt-in | Harder to trace, opt-in | Visible | $32.8M |
| 23 | COTICOTIEncrypted computing | No claim found | No claim found | If you choose | $30.7M |
| 24 | NullmaskMASKPrivacy app on a public chain | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $28.8M |
| 25 | NymNYMHides your internet trail | Visible | Visible | Visible | $24.7M |
| 26 | AnomaXANPrivacy app on a public chain | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $23.1M |
| 27 | OctraOCTEncrypted computing | No claim found | If you choose | If you choose | $19.8M |
| 28 | FiroFIROOptional privacy | Hidden by default (official wallets) | Hidden by default (official wallets) | Hidden by default (official wallets) | $17.2M |
| 29 | ANyONe ProtocolANYONEHides your internet trail | Visible | Visible | Visible | $17.0M |
| 30 | Epic Private Internet CashEPICPrivacy built into the chain | Harder to trace | Harder to trace | Hidden | $16.0M |
| 31 | The InterfoldFOLDEncrypted computing | No claim found | No claim found | No claim found | $15.5M |
| 32 | MinoTari (Tari)XTMPrivacy built into the chain | Claimed | Claimed | Claimed | $9.1M |
| 33 | HOPRHOPRHides your internet trail | Visible | Visible | Visible | $8.7M |
| 34 | zkPassZKPProves without showing | No claim found | No claim found | No claim found | $7.9M |
| 35 | ExiomXEQMPrivacy built into the chain | Claimed | Claimed | Claimed | $6.4M |
| 36 | ZclassicZCLOptional privacy | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $6.1M |
| 37 | UmbraUMBRAPrivacy app on a public chain | If you choose | If you choose | If you choose | $5.9M |
| 38 | Iron FishIRONOptional privacy | Claimed | Claimed | Claimed | $5.7M |
| 39 | YcashYECOptional privacy | Claimed, opt-in | Claimed, opt-in | Claimed, opt-in | $5.3M |
| 40 | SecretSCRTEncrypted computing | No claim found | No claim found | No claim found | $4.9M |
How we checked
- The 40: the largest by market value in CoinGecko’s privacy categories (18 October 2026, 20:46 UTC), plus seven projects we asked about, five of which made the 40: Aleo, Dusk, Iron Fish, Secret and Aztec. The report checked each against its own documents for a privacy feature working on its main network. It left out 10 with no working privacy feature, 13 it could not confirm or that failed that test, and 1 wrapped copy.
- What each hides comes from its own documentation, site or code, as the report read them. Where a hiding claim could not be confirmed, the simulator says so, and every cell is matched to the words of its source.
- Our own reads, 18 October 2026. Dusk passed the report’s check, but its docs say new shielded transfers are paused, so it shows as paused. CoinGecko’s UMBRA is the Solana app Umbra, so its card follows that app’s own site. The IP rows of Monero and Firo follow Monero’s own blog and Firo’s forum on Dandelion++, which makes it harder to link a transaction to your IP address.
- Laws: EUR-Lex, Regulations (EU) 2023/1114 and 2024/1624. Exchange list: Bitvavo’s public markets, 18 October 2026, about 21:02 UTC.
- One change to the report’s grouping: we count Aleo under “Optional privacy”, because its docs let apps and users pick a private or a public transfer. The report filed it under “Privacy built into the chain”.
- Our other privacy pages use other lists and dates, so their counts and shares differ from these.
Educational only, not investment or legal advice. DYOR (do your own research). Data: CoinGecko and each project’s own documents, via LlamaAI, 18 October 2026; we matched every cell to its source. Features change.
PANOPTIC PROTOCOL © 2026