Anonymity, Security and Privacy: Anonymous Cryptocurrency Enhancement Comparsion

[theduuude]

KORE...the first coin to implement TOR nodes

[1714721528]

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[SafeCoins]

Fantastic thread and chart, thanks very much SafeCoins!

I 've recently been researching privacy coins as well and saw most of the players already mentioned in the thread or in the chart. There are a few of note that I saw that are interesting;

Electra (ECA) - https://electraproject.org/

ALQO - https://alqo.org/

Kore - http://kore.life/

SWIPP - http://www.swippcoin.com/

Thank you very much for the suggetsions ShamanicHarmonics, here is what I found, please feel free to educate/correct me:


Electra (ECA) - https://electraproject.org/     While they might have atomic swapping or plans for it, I don't see anything involving privacy or anonymity?

ALQO - https://alqo.org/   While they have masternodes, I don't see anything involving privacy or anonymity?

Kore - http://kore.life/  Adding.   And I will ask their community to correct me on specific features.

SWIPP - http://www.swippcoin.com/    Hmm...dash fork?  We have a lot of those.  Does it have any of its own privacy related features that separate it from what it forked form?  I can contact the community

[JesusCryptos]

I guess that the only coin 100% anonymous out there is blackbytes, which is so anonymous that cannot even be traded in centralized exchanges.

[carap]

...Here is a brief summary of my first glance.   I will have to whittle away at this with everyone's help:

Hcash (HSR): https://h.cash      Decred and Dash fork...Adding Super, super dodgy ICO here, even for an overseas coins, but a lot of promises made
StealthCoin (XST): https://www.stealthcoin.com/    Added as you were posting
Crave Project (CRAVE): https://craveproject.net      Blackcoin fork, adding
Bulwark (BWK): https://bulwarkcrypto.com             Dash/PIVX fork, adding
InnovaCoin (INN): https://innovacoin.info               Another Dash fork......um..., ok...adding?
Phore (PHR): https://phore.io                                 PIVX fork....adding maybe?
Pura (PUR): https://pura.one/                                Another Dash fork......um..., ok...adding?  Maybe?
Sumokoin (SUMO): https://www.sumokoin.org/       Already added, was in wrong alphabetical order, fixed in next publication
Grin (http://grin-tech.org/)                                    Looks interesting!  Adding.  Will mostly be roadmaps
Aeon (AEON): http://www.aeon.cash/                     Early Monero fork, I had mentioned it earlier.  I may ask the community if it has any new privacy enhancements
SolarisCoin (XLR): https://solariscoin.com/              PIVX fork....adding maybe?
Pure (PURE): https://purealt.org/                            Dash fork....recent scam claims....adding...... maybe?........
Enigma (ENG): https://www.enigma.co/                 Talks about privacy but doesn't describe any privacy features? ICO Hacked  https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/24/enigma-refund/
Aion (AION): https://aion.network/                         Interesting coin, can't find any privacy features in whitepaper
Obsidian (ODN): https://obsidianplatform.com/        Interesting software, private messenger, can't find any privacy features in whitepaper that relate to cryptocurrency

Awesome work! Thank you for your analysis, I found it very useful and I assume we should move it to the top of this discussion! Together with your other revisions of suggested coins. That should help to prevent other participants from suggesting same coins again and again.

Electra (ECA) - https://electraproject.org/     While they might have atomic swapping or plans for it, I don't see anything involving privacy or anonymity?

ALQO - https://alqo.org/   While they have masternodes, I don't see anything involving privacy or anonymity?

Kore - http://kore.life/  Adding.   And I will ask their community to correct me on specific features.

SWIPP - http://www.swippcoin.com/    Hmm...dash fork?  We have a lot of those.  Does it have any of its own privacy related features that separate it from what it forked form?  I can contact the community

I think it is a great format to mention all possible numerous forks.

[Miner2525]

You've brought some valuable insight here, and while I prefer brevity where possible, you have forced me into a situation where it makes sense to have an additional column for
masternodes which are purely protection based.   Please have a look and let me know what you think.

It makes no sense now to have a Masternodes column under Security.  Get your head out of the privacy/masternodes box and think of what security means at the software and hardware levels in the real-world where transactions need to be hacker-proof.  You use TLS everyday on the web for vulnerable transactions (e.g. https).

Mixing is a privacy feature.  Masternodes is just one of many ways to accomplish that.  So Masternodes with that feature is but a subset or a type under the mixing category.

Traffic encryption is a security feature.  TLS is just one of many way to accomplish that.  So TLS is also a subset or a type under the security category.

This is my third time attempting to explain, so if you still don't get it, aargh! 

[carap]

1. When looking for a new coin I need to know whenever it is a coin or token (I don't buy tokens, I want miners since they help decentralization).

Probably I wasn't precise enough in explaining why I made this suggestion. When we are talking about privacy/security focused coins, its de-/centralization becomes an integral part of it. When I think about security I also assume the safety of my funds in the broad sense. I personally don't believe in coins that can't be mined, since it breaks the equality principle, up for me it means centralization, concentration in hands of specific group of people, issuers of that coin. IMO non-minable coins are closer to the dollar and FRS, rather than to bitcoin and crypto in general. May be it's only I who see things this way.

Probably I'm overestimating the importance of this aspect and you don't feel like adding an extra column just for that. But what if we expand it to the general column about Mining? There we can mention whenever the coin is minable, ASIC-resistant, botnet resistant, etc (or simply mention the current mining algo if any).
For example, ZCoin developers are working hard on their MTP-algo that is purposefully memory intensive making XZC ASIC/Botnet resistant.

SafeCoins, I'm interested to hear your opinion on that.

[SafeCoins]

KORE...the first coin to implement TOR nodes

My reach-out to the Kore community was deleted by the op, no reason given.   Unfortunate, and a first.   I have the features I am able to identify for this coin in the matrix, if there are more, please let me know.

thanks

[SafeCoins]

I think it is a great format to mention all possible numerous forks.

Thanks carap!  I appreciate the feedback and I will stick with this format.  The matrix is of course updated but I also think it's helpful to have a bit of a log.  Certainly doensn't mean I'm 100% right, or that it is the final word.  But that's the best understanding as of that timestamp.

[cryptomema]

Very well ,finally a good comparison between these privacy coins,XMR is too old and outdated we need something new and advanced like XSPEC.

[SafeCoins]

You've brought some valuable insight here, and while I prefer brevity where possible, you have forced me into a situation where it makes sense to have an additional column for
masternodes which are purely protection based.   Please have a look and let me know what you think.

It makes no sense now to have a Masternodes column under Security.  Get your head out of the privacy/masternodes box and think of what security means at the software and hardware levels in the real-world where transactions need to be hacker-proof.  You use TLS everyday on the web for vulnerable transactions (e.g. https).

Mixing is a privacy feature.  Masternodes is just one of many ways to accomplish that.  So Masternodes with that feature is but a subset or a type under the mixing category.

Traffic encryption is a security feature.  TLS is just one of many way to accomplish that.  So TLS is also a subset or a type under the security category.

This is my third time attempting to explain, so if you still don't get it, aargh!  

Okay

I'm doing my best to work with you on this.  I certainly don't know everything.  You bring up a lot of great points but I need to ask that you consider there may be more than one perspective on it.

Mixing:   Is it an Anonymity feature or a Privacy feature?   There is no perfect answer.   If implemented as intended, I have opted for "Anonymous" because the information on the transaction is actually (or is intended to be) Lost to the world, with the exception of the Sender and Receiver (who also have very limited info on it).    The information is, ideally, even lost to the network itself, and cannot be retrieved.   The theoretical loss of this transactional information....is why I put it as "Anonymous".      Now, I understand your perspective that the above explanation may or may not be entirely mathematically sound, and thus you see it more as obfusciation.    And you have a point, but it is clearly doing more at a practical level than just putting up a wall that can be taken down with the right credentials.

    I will leave mixing as "Anonymous" for now with consideration to the blur and feedback from others.


Masternodes:   Ok, so I will take masternodes out of security because I never entirely liked it there either.  It was only there because you insisted it was a form of "protection".   The problem with categorizing masternodes is that they can serve more than one purpose, depending on their implementation.

    I need to make one thing clear on here though, so there is no confusion:  Most masternodes have security as an objective, which is accomplished both by strengthening the network, and by mixing.     Zencash/Zclassic are actually perfect examples of this.    Their entire networks were both brought down to their knees earlier this year by a replay attack, which could have easily been prevented by the simplest of mixing techniques.    I might suggest that the general attitude of "zerocash solves everything" likely led to this security vulnerability.  I will say that both communities responded professionally, with updates, and affected investors were compensated for their losses.   Thus being listed on Bittrex.

So while I will take masternodes out of the security category, I do so making it clear that this is still a major purpose of most said implementations (although perhaps less relevant to this particular topic).  


"Traffic Encryption":   That would be a pretty good column....the only problem is that all cryptocurrency has some form of this.  I certainly like the TLS approach, to be honest.  



-------------------

So, this is a complicated reply.   But I need to keep that matrix as simple as possible.   So here's what I'll propose:

•     We both agree that masternodes don't really belong in Security, even if most implementations do provide that.      So that column is gone.    
•    Mixing to stay as "Anonymous" for now, but I remain open to alternatives and recognise in this thread that this is very debatable.
•    TLS, and Traffic Encryption:   For now, since all coins have this, I'm not creating a separate column because I want this to be simple, and quite frankly encryption methods aren't that.

          I WILL give ZenCash a "Yes" for Masternodes, and describe their implementation as "TLS Non-Mix".
          While I doubt you will be entirely happy with this, I do believe it is at least an improvement on properly describing Zencash's implementation.
          Colored green to emphasize that the TLS may be arguably equivalent, and/or better, than true mixing.   And Zencash would know, after its replay attack


It's not a perfect solution but it's an honest effort.    I know you see it differently, but I guarantee you if I did it exactly like you wanted there would be three times as many offended community members on here from coins that Haven't had replay attacks and have stood the test of time, and I'm not convinced the matrix would be any more accurate.

[soothaa]

Subbing to read and watch. I've been compiling a list like this myself.

[kokopopz]

Thank you for your time invested in this comparisson, much appreciated!!

I believe adding an extra feature "marketplace" would also be nice.
Afther all, these coins are made to be spent, so I think a platform for anomymous trade is a very good feature.

This especialy now the deep web is being overrun by LE and all major markets where shut down.

[j4y_naKomodo]

The following is an updated attempt to assess and evaluate:

  1.   Enhancements/Protocols:
  
    a. Anonymous Capabilities / Anonymity
    b. Privacy
    c) Security

  2.   The coins that currently implement these features


Every will be made to assume none of these coins are a complete solution (yet).  Not because they're bad, but because a lot of the other comparison threads out there have been polarized toward one coin as the "solution with all the best end to end features".  

I would really appreciate your thoughts and input on this work in progress, so that together, we can make it even more complicated and unreadable.

https://i.imgur.com/W1iG5Uq.png


Anonymous, Privacy, and Security features are clearly all related to one another, yet in my mind are distinct:
  
Anonymous features ultimately aim for the holding and transacting of a commodity which both requires and releases zero identifying information.
              Buy a pizza.  No receipt, no exchange of information, no record of the pizza or you.
                    There are obvious legal implications to this, causing it to be a "dark" feature.
                          However, this slander assumes that the governing body itself is not "dark", or corrupt.   In many places in the world, Anonymity is a matter of life and death.
                          As such, Anonymity is a double edged sword, aiding both sinister and altruistic efforts.
                          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)
              

Privacy features aim to give ownership of identifying information to individuals/entities who hold or transact a commodity.
              Buy a pizza, there's a record of it but that record is for you (and potentially the pizza shop) only.
                    There is a legal arguement for privacy features.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_law

Security:  If you can hack the thing, you need not worry about Anonymity and Privacy.  Those are out.



Some other attempts at this:  

Full list of anonymous coins
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1025878.0

 [DASH/XDN/XMR/SDC] Comparison between the most known anonymous coins
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=985039.0

Privacy getting important: Verge or Spectrecoin or DeepOnion??
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2397519.0;all

Which cryptocurrency is most anonymous?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2157374.0


https://zcoin.io/zcoins-privacy-tec


Wondering about this one:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2525344.0

I like what you are doing here and I appreciate the effort! Info dump on the coin I’m most knowledgeable about...

Komodo Platform is a privacy platform, zCash fork. Think Ethereum meets zCash. Think ‘the Linux of blockchain.’

All of the following features already exist, GUI always being improved
BarterDEX - dApp, Atomic swap decentralized exchange featuring 80+ bitcoin-protocol cryptocurrencies
Agama multiwallet - dApp, manage 80+ coins with one smart address
SPV electrum servers - no need to download entire blockchain to manage wallet or make atomic swaps
Jumblr - dApp, integrated zK-SNARK coin mixer, end-user can mix any 80+ coins gaining zK-SNARK privacy/anonymity
Decentralized ICO - create assetchain on Komodo Platform, invest and receive asset immediately, no 3rd party
Assetchains - native blockchain, notorized onto Komodo blockchain with dPoW
dPoW - notorizes assetchains onto Komodo and Komodo onto Bitcoin, granting Komodo and all assetchains a bonus level of security from Bitcoin’s hashrate

Summary: Manage compatible bitcoin-protocol cryptocurrencies (80+) with Agama multiwallet using one passphrase (wallet seed). One address is the root of individual, unique smart addresses for each featured coin. Plug the phrase into BarterDEX, and boom, your funds are available to trade directly with your peers via Atomic swap. You can pair any of the 80+ featured coins with each other (6400+ pairs?) Electrum servers for coins allow you to manage your funds and trade without downloading the blockchain. Jumblr is integrated with Agama. Jumbl (mix) ANY of the 80+ featured coins with zK-SNARK-enabled KMD, providing anonymity and privacy to every featured coin.

Links
Komodo Website: https://Komodo platform.com/en
Slack: https://komodoplatform.com/en/slack-invite
November AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/komodoplatform/comments/7eqtq4/komodo_team_november_ama_please_post_question/
October AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/komodoplatform/comments/76iut8/second_monthly_komodo_ama/
September AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/komodoplatform/comments/6zf2sk/komodo_platforms_first_monthly_reddit_ama/
--- WHITEPAPERS ---
Jumblr WP: https://komodo.ocloud.de/index.php/s/xAygy0RlNWGHEMy#pdfviewer
BarterDEX WP: https://komodo.ocloud.de/index.php/s/lwdiBny0IkH3vxa#pdfviewer
dPOW WP: https://komodoplatform.com/en/technology/whitepapers/delayed-proof-of-work-dpow
Decentralized Fiat Currencies WP: https://komodoplatform.com/en/technology/whitepapers/decentralized-fiat-currencies
Monaize (first dICO) Lightpaper: https://www.monaize.com/assets/pdf/monaize_lightpaper.pdf

[Miner2525]

It's not a perfect solution but it's an honest effort.    I know you see it differently, but I guarantee you if I did it exactly like you wanted there would be three times as many offended community members on here from coins that Haven't had replay attacks and have stood the test of time, and I'm not convinced the matrix would be any more accurate.

I think maybe I took the TLS too far out of context.  The point of the SecureNodes seems to be for "communication and publishing privacy".  May or may not be that novel.  What other privacy coin nodes/masternodes require SSL certificates for security?

[SafeCoins]

Subbing to read and watch. I've been compiling a list like this myself.

Thanks, let me know if you think there should be changes here.   Will do my best

[SafeCoins]

Thank you for your time invested in this comparisson, much appreciated!!

I believe adding an extra feature "marketplace" would also be nice.
Afther all, these coins are made to be spent, so I think a platform for anomymous trade is a very good feature.

This especialy now the deep web is being overrun by LE and all major markets where shut down.

Thank you kokopopz,

I think you're the third person to suggest "marketplace".... So ok...I'll add it haha...but I could use some help coming up with the right "name" for it.

First of all we have to know what the objective is.    I'll throw one out:   To allow private, anonymous, peer-to-peer , and "legal" exchange of goods.   (?)

"legal" is an aweful term...everything's legal somewhere, and everything is illegal somewhere else.   By "legal", I'm implying that it is legal in most developed countries.   And, hopefully, would be the most minimal risk to most users.

Now of course, even the most compliant solution will have legal implications in some places, and as such it should be built to protect the users.   Ie., an otherwise marketplace for Venezuelans to get basic medicine.

Things like account balances can be dangerous.

My concern with the terms "marketplace" and "exchange" is that these are things which are often shut down.    Maybe we have to use that term.  If anyone can think of a better one let me know

[SafeCoins]

I think maybe I took the TLS too far out of context.  The point of the SecureNodes seems to be for "communication and publishing privacy".  May or may not be that novel.  What other privacy coin nodes/masternodes require SSL certificates for security?

I think it could be a unique, or very rare feature...I like it.   Encrypted transactions is of course implied in all the coins, even bitcoin, if you exclude the masternodes part of it.

I think it's a great way of mitigating risks of using masternodes.   And just generally, TLS seems like a great idea.

I'd like to do a comparison but I'd have to get a better sense of what kind of encryption each coin uses in its transactions and with its masternodes.    The threads in here are littered with info on their hashing algorithms for mining, but far less on transaction specific information.   That would be really good to have.

[SafeCoins]

I like what you are doing here and I appreciate the effort! Info dump on the coin I’m most knowledgeable about...

Komodo Platform is a privacy platform, zCash fork. Think Ethereum meets zCash. Think ‘the Linux of blockchain.’

All of the following features already exist, GUI always being improved
BarterDEX - dApp, Atomic swap decentralized exchange featuring 80+ bitcoin-protocol cryptocurrencies
Agama multiwallet - dApp, manage 80+ coins with one smart address
SPV electrum servers - no need to download entire blockchain to manage wallet or make atomic swaps
Jumblr - dApp, integrated zK-SNARK coin mixer, end-user can mix any 80+ coins gaining zK-SNARK privacy/anonymity
Decentralized ICO - create assetchain on Komodo Platform, invest and receive asset immediately, no 3rd party
Assetchains - native blockchain, notorized onto Komodo blockchain with dPoW
dPoW - notorizes assetchains onto Komodo and Komodo onto Bitcoin, granting Komodo and all assetchains a bonus level of security from Bitcoin’s hashrate

Summary: Manage compatible bitcoin-protocol cryptocurrencies (80+) with Agama multiwallet using one passphrase (wallet seed). One address is the root of individual, unique smart addresses for each featured coin. Plug the phrase into BarterDEX, and boom, your funds are available to trade directly with your peers via Atomic swap. You can pair any of the 80+ featured coins with each other (6400+ pairs?) Electrum servers for coins allow you to manage your funds and trade without downloading the blockchain. Jumblr is integrated with Agama. Jumbl (mix) ANY of the 80+ featured coins with zK-SNARK-enabled KMD, providing anonymity and privacy to every featured coin.

Links
Komodo Website: https://Komodo platform.com/en
Slack: https://komodoplatform.com/en/slack-invite
November AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/komodoplatform/comments/7eqtq4/komodo_team_november_ama_please_post_question/
October AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/komodoplatform/comments/76iut8/second_monthly_komodo_ama/
September AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/komodoplatform/comments/6zf2sk/komodo_platforms_first_monthly_reddit_ama/
--- WHITEPAPERS ---
Jumblr WP: https://komodo.ocloud.de/index.php/s/xAygy0RlNWGHEMy#pdfviewer
BarterDEX WP: https://komodo.ocloud.de/index.php/s/lwdiBny0IkH3vxa#pdfviewer
dPOW WP: https://komodoplatform.com/en/technology/whitepapers/delayed-proof-of-work-dpow
Decentralized Fiat Currencies WP: https://komodoplatform.com/en/technology/whitepapers/decentralized-fiat-currencies
Monaize (first dICO) Lightpaper: https://www.monaize.com/assets/pdf/monaize_lightpaper.pdf

Thank you very much naKomodo!

Much appreciated, those are some fantastic features.

[Bibi187]

I really appreciate to read your thread

I thing this last try is the good one!

A nice comparative table is always needed.

I will share this one where i can when i assume you finish it.

Let people know about it etc ...

Anyway thanks for your work.

[raven1322]

great work you've started here man! a table of comparisons is always nice to see, specially when newbies are flocking in and contemplating on where to place their money on.