Since Bitcoin came crashing out of the starting blocks over ten years ago one of the major points of contention has been over the privacy of its public ledger (or lack thereof). Anybody can search a Bitcoin wallet address and instantly see the coin balance, a full transaction history, and even the public wallet addresses of any senders or receivers.
For some, this transparency has its benefits. A public ledger that cannot be altered helps to build the kind of trust that non-profit organizations or some government authorities may find extremely useful; but when it comes to private companies or individuals, do we really want everybody to be able to know how much money we have and to whom we send it?
What are Privacy Coins
In the simplest terms, a privacy coin protects the anonymity of its users and features a ledger that is private, like the name suggests. In most cases, wallet addresses are masked or encrypted and transactions are recorded in an anonymous fashion leaving even the most steadfast snooper scratching their heads.
This gives companies the ability to hide their trade secrets or supplier lists while also giving individuals the peace of mind that their financial history isn't easily available to would-be hackers or thieves.
Although there are a number of privacy coins on the market, all with their own unique approach of providing anonymity, many still have their weaknesses. This gives emerging privacy-centric projects a great opportunity if they can provide a robust currency that is truly confidential.
Introducing Veil
Veil is the newest privacy coin iteration combining Zerocoin and RingCT technologies to allow full-time privacy for its users. The Zerocoin Protocol was developed in 2013 and in simple terms, provides anonymity to blockchain addresses. The protocol burns coins that are sent in each transaction, and then mints new coins with no history that are sent onto the receiver. Zerocoin tech has seen a lot of development and testing and has been adopted for multiple cryptocurrencies such as PIVX and Zcoin.
RingCT is a feature of Monero and it essentially masks a coin's value so that transaction amounts also become private. By incorporating both of these technologies, Veil are providing what might possibly be the most private cryptocurrency on the market.
Key Features
Below are the key technical features of the Veil project, as taken from the Veil website.
Consensus
Veil operates a hybrid consensus mechanism featuring Proof of Work (PoW) mining that is ASIC resistant, and Proof of Stake (PoS).
Proof of work mining is the oldest and probably most secure consensus mechanism around. by using proof of work, Veil has avoided the need for an ICO and guaranteed additional security for the network. Veil's approach to mining encompasses the X16RT hashing algorithm, allowing only NVIDIA and AMD processors to mine in order to level the playing field for miners and prevent 51% attacks.
Proof of Stake gives holders the ability to stake their coins to earn rewards in paid out in Veil coins. Staking is only available through pre-determined denominations of Zerocoin Veil, ensuring transactions on the ledger aren't visible and privacy is upheld at all times.
The hybrid mechanism means that mining profits can then be staked to double up on the coins generated, which is a huge benefit to the Veil community.
Verdict
Veil is a rare gem among a sea of ICO mediocrity and the fact that it could launch without an ICO makes it seriously stand out from the crowd as a genuine product. The tech looks solid, taking the best features from some of the top privacy coins and putting their own twist on it, and the opportunity to build a portfolio by mining and staking gives great prospects to anyone within the Veil community.
If you are one of those that value private transactions, Veil is definitely worth looking into. You can find out more by checking out the website or discord server
Badman Crypto
Veil basecoin address
bv1qzlqlej9gmusft5e2gnvmxmclvgfuxet70fs9ug
