In 2022, cryptocurrency was all the rage, no doubt in part due to the enormous profits that certain currencies had achieved over the course of the previous few years. There are a lot of individuals who have never considered purchasing cryptocurrencies but are now taking a closer look at the asset class as a whole. However, despite the fact that the majority of attention in the financial press is given to the most well-known coins, the market for cryptocurrencies includes hundreds of other potential investments. Many of these alternative cryptocurrencies provide benefits over more well-known cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum, especially in terms of anonymity.
What Exactly Does It Mean to Have Private Crypto?
Even though the blockchain technology that currencies like bitcoin employ is designed to be safe and anonymous, many coins are nevertheless able to maintain an even higher level of transaction confidentiality.
The identities of cryptocurrency coin users may remain anonymous thanks to specialized technologies that are used by these currencies. They often conceal the quantities of transactions as well as the senders and recipients of transactions. Transactions may become impossible to track as a result of this. The following are examples of currencies that are among the most private and secure on the list:
- Beam (BEAM) (BEAM)
- Monero (XMR) (XMR)
- Horizen (ZEN) (ZEN)
- DASH (DASH) (DASH)
- ZCASH (ZEC) (ZEC)
Continue reading to see how some of these alternative currencies manage to maintain such a high degree of safety.
1. Beam (BEAM) (BEAM)
As of the 18th of January in 2023, the price of a coin was $0.12.
The average investor probably won’t be familiar with many of the phrases used in the cryptocurrency realm. Beam is an excellent example since it operates in the domain of secret decentralized finance using the MimbleWimble and LelantusMW protocols. Beam has a primary emphasis on safety, with transactions being kept confidential by default and addresses being omitted from the distributed ledger altogether. Beam’s values are encrypted using so-called “blinding factors,” which lends it an additional layer of security despite the fact that it employs the same unspent transaction output paradigm as bitcoin does.
2. Monero (XMR)
As of the 18th of January in 2023, the price of a coin was $163.15.
Monero is a kind of anonymous online money that gives individuals the ability to act as their own bank. Monero’s security system obscures both transactions and users, making it impossible for other parties to see the wallet balance or activities of any particular user. This is what differentiates it from more prominent currencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin, which both have blockchains that can be seen by everyone. The developers of Monero claim that their cryptocurrency is the only one of its kind that automatically protects the privacy of every user. Ring Signatures, RingCT, and Stealth Addresses are three distinct technologies that work together to conceal not only the value of each transaction but also the identities of the sender and the recipient of the transaction. Because each transaction is conducted in privacy, it is impossible to track them.
3. Horizen (ZEN)
As of the 18th of January in 2023, the price of a coin was $9.78.
Horizen’s native cryptocurrency is called Zen, and it employs Zendoo technology, which enables companies or developers to establish their own public or private blockchains. Horizen was developed by Horizen. Z-Addresses and T-Addresses are the two primary varieties of addresses that may be used with Zen, which is a cryptocurrency that is based on the Equihash algorithm and uses the proof-of-work consensus method. Z-Addresses, also known as shielded transactions, are distinguished by their absolute discretion and anonymity. T-Addresses are similar to bitcoin addresses in that they are public and transparent and are used to make transactions on the blockchain. If a user wants more control over their privacy, they may choose the sort of address that best suits their needs.
4. DASH (DASH) (DASH)
As of the 18th of January in 2023, the price of a coin was $47.31.
Dash is a sort of cryptocurrency that may be used as a form of payment and, as the name indicates, is intended to be a practically instant method of transmission. Dash is a cryptocurrency that was created by “forking” the Bitcoin system. Unlike Bitcoin, Dash offers enhanced privacy protections and charges almost no fees for transactions. Dash employs a two-tier blockchain network that consists of both miners and masternodes in its infrastructure. The functionality of the masternodes, such as PrivateSend and InstantSend, which enable transactions that are both untraceable and anonymous, is the reason for their existence. Dash was the first cryptocurrency designed specifically for private transactions when it launched in 2014.
5. ZCash (ZEC)
As of the 18th of January in 2023, the price of a coin was $43.15.
Zcash is a cryptocurrency that may be of interest to you if you are an Edward Snowden admirer who places a high value on privacy. In 2017, the notorious whistleblower advocated for the cryptocurrency known as zcash, calling it “the most exciting alternative” to bitcoin. Zcash, much like other cryptocurrencies, enables users to choose between two distinct modes of transaction execution: shielded and transparent. Zcash provides an increased level of secrecy by using a concept known as “zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge,” which is abbreviated as “zk-SNARKS.” Even if it’s technical, the fact that zcash attempts to improve the Bitcoin blockchain by adding more robust security mechanisms and that it enables faster transaction times, lower fees, and larger block sizes is what really matters to the common user.
Final Take
If you are worried about maintaining your privacy in relation to your investments, it may be time to move some of your cryptocurrency holdings into choices that are both more safe and anonymous. Keep in mind that the cryptocurrency market has been quite volatile as of late, and before you make an investment, you should do a lot of study on the subject.