Have you heard of Privacy coins? If not, are you aware of the term cryptocurrency? Of course, that’s a hot and trending topic these days. And, here we will be discussing the Top 7 Privacy Coins for 2021 and their rising popularity.
One of the reasons why cryptocurrencies have gained traction is because of the privacy and anonymity it promises. A most important step from a cybersecurity perspective as users safeguard their wallets, encrypt all sensitive information while concealing their identities.
Here, we look at some of the top privacy coins that will rock 2021. They boast amazing built-in features that offer privacy and security.
Before diving in, let’s learn what exactly is private cryptocurrency?
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What is Private Cryptocurrency or Privacy Coin?
As the name suggests, they are private cryptocurrencies. This means every transaction activity, balances, wallet addresses are private to the user and are untraceable. Privacy coins ensure complete privacy as users can hide their identity and origin of information while making transactions.
Why Should You Use Private Cryptocurrency?
While many think that the well-known BTC is private it is possible to trace every transaction related to your wallet’s address. Bitcoin is pseudo-anonymous. It can protect your information, but not all of it.
For instance, everyone can still see the transaction details, including balance, size, and destinations. Even though observers might not know the identity of each wallet owner. All it takes is a tech-savvy, skilled in all things cryptocurrency expert to track all your transaction information and link it to your identity.
This is where private coins come into play. The creators believe everyone has the right to the utmost privacy. They take bitcoin to a whole new level that makes transaction information private without leaving any traces. This doesn’t mean they are transacting in secrecy or have anything under their sleeves to hide. They still operate on open public ledgers while empowering users by making anonymous transactions and keep every detail away from the prying eyes.
Private cryptocurrency advocates also believe that all transactions will go digital in the future. To prevent everyone’s private financial information from being easily exposed, private coins become important.
Top 7 Privacy Coins for 2021
Here are the trending privacy coins that you must know about:
1. Monero
This is one of the most popular private coins on the planet. By market cap, it is also one of the widely used private coins that anonymize users, untraceable, and unlinkable transactions. It is powered by ring signatures, stealth addresses, and ring confidential addresses. This makes it difficult to trace the parties involved in the transactions and the transaction details.
Moreover, when you share your recipient address or make it public, it doesn’t disclose the transaction amount, thanks to the Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT). Hence, providing more privacy.
2. Dash
Dash is the first-ever privacy coin to emerge and the name DASH simply means digital and cash. It was launched in 2014 and was built on a blockchain that bitcoin uses. It seeks to address areas of bitcoins’ weaknesses which include anonymity and privacy.
This currency provides the option of whether you want a transaction to be private or not through the PrivateSend feature. Choosing to use the PrivateSend feature can attract some fees.
Dash has won the heart of many because it offers better privacy and a speedy transaction process((InstantSend), than bitcoin. This is achieved through powerful servers called master nodes.
3. Zcash
>Many believe Zcash is by far the most private coin and this is further buttressed by its description “If Bitcoin is like HTTP for money, Zcash is HTTPS”. This coin seeks to address the issue of taking advantage of privacy for illegal activities. This is because, like bitcoin, a transaction is posted on a public blockchain, while your personal information and transaction details remain confidential.It makes use of a technological tool called Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive or simply zk-SNARKs. This keeps participants shielded, allowing for anonymous trading. Users have control over their transactions and they can hide or reveal their address.
One of the cons is that Zcash doesn’t provide privacy by default and there are different types of transactions with varying degrees of privacy.
4. Verge
is described as a coin that is built for people and everyday use. This open-source, decentralized cryptocurrency claims to give importance to the privacy and anonymity of those using it. Verge uses anonymity -centric networks such as The Onion Router (TOR) and the Invisible Internet Project (I2P).The Onion Router (TOR) runs across multiple different networks across the globe to conceal the user’s location. Invisible Internet Project (I2P) on the other hand, encrypts the data before it is sent through. This way, the location and Ip address are obfuscated which makes the transaction and identity of the user untraceable.
5. Beam
been launched in 2019, Beam is one of the newest private coins. Beam takes pride in its scalable and confidential privacy coin without compromising performance. While other private coins require an opt-in, Beam provides privacy by default. This means users have complete control over personal data and no private information is stored on the blockchain.It also offers advanced scalability by keeping its blockchain compact and lean, allowing online and offline transactions, and supporting escrow and atomic swaps.
6. Zcoin
s a privacy-centric coin based on Zerocoin protocol to provide anonymous transactions in a scalable way. Zerocoin was originally designed to be an extension of bitcoin to promote anonymity-enhancing transactions. However, it is currently not compatible with bitcoin.It uses the most advanced cryptography and pseudonyms to provide maximum protection and prevent information leakage. The zero-knowledge proofs, pass-thrus, tested encryption, help to create a barrier to information that even modern computers find hard to peek through. Hence, preserving the privacy and integrity of users.