Table of Contents
I remember years ago when Bitcoin was frequently described as an anonymous or private peer-to-peer currency network during the last market cycle. Now however, with growing awareness of how Bitcoin and other open-by-default networks work, we know that ‘pseudonymous’ would be the accurate term, whereby even that pseudonymity itself is becoming difficult to maintain.
The openness of leading blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is a double-edged sword. While certain use-cases are indeed perfectly suited to be recorded on a completely transparent ledger (say, a platform for recording the issuance and trading of carbon credits), other common applications such as our day-to-day transactions, storage of funds, and use of Web3 dApps are not.
While many projects have tried to tackle the subject of on-chain privacy, an optimal solution has yet to emerge. We take a look at Secret Network, which is a privacy-oriented proof-of-stake blockchain that supports private smart contracts. It provides computational or programmable privacy, in contrast to the simple transactional privacy afforded by privacy coins such as ZCash and Monero.
Let’s dive in.
