NIX offers an exceptional privacy layer that solves many concerns in the existing cryptocurrency environment. Because NIX believes that users should have the power of privacy, the redemption of this right is not mandatory, it is optional instead; implying that every single user in the market can decide whether or not to make use of the privacy service.
The NIX Ghost Protocol will initially be comprised of several privacy components that will be continually evolved and built on top of. The NIX platform will enable Zerocoin with one-time-addressing outputs, i.e., stealth outputs combined with Tor networking. Zerocoin creates a system that eliminates the possibility of revealing the original location of assets. On the other hand, the stealth outputs build a blockchain element that conceals the destination output resulting in a non-traceable address location. These two appliances provide receiver and sender privacy. Tor networking integration will allow users to gain both blockchain privacy as well as networking privacy. The Bulletproof integration will keep being researched and developed into the Ghost Protocol, yet it will not be available on main-net release.
The Zerocoin Protocol is a strong encryption system in which two large prime numbers are multiplied; it is then practically impossible to determine the original prime numbers based on the factorization result, even more considering much larger digits. These prime factors are called the RSA numbers, which have not been cracked in more than 25 years since the RSA Factoring Challenge; it is safe to say that, at projected computing capacity, this encryption system guarantees privacy for decades. With Zerocoin, NIX anonymity set is on a dramatically higher magnitude compared to Ring Signatures and other privacy attempts.
Furthermore, Zerocoin stealth outputs provide a way of masking the destination address on chain by creating a hashing mechanism between the sender and receiver on the blockchain, thus covering the actual NIX address that will be receiving the data on the network and reflecting a stealth output to the public chain. This ensures complete privacy of receiving Zerocoin payments.
In company with transaction privacy, users need to have access to location privacy; NIX will integrate Tor networking to address this need in the market. Tor is a software that enables the ability to conceal user location and usage from outside monitoring entities. When using Tor, a user’s networking is routed through thousands of different network relays to scramble initial internet traffic resulting in a secure system for networking. Tor will be a default networking tool enabled in the NIX Platform.
Finally, the outlying solution which Bulletproofs bring is designing a trustless setup that creates transaction output privacy for users. Along with the integration of the Zerocoin Protocol, a user will now have access to not only location privacy of their coins, but also value privacy.
Originally published at nixplatform.io on April 29, 2018.
