Bitcoin offers a whole host of benefits when compared to traditional fiat currencies, unfortunately enhanced privacy is not one of them. Currently, a handful of cash represents a more private payment option than using Bitcoin’s very public ledger. For the privacy conscious, here are five cryptocurrencies that focus on anonymity.

Monero

Monero was launched in April 2014 as a fork of ByteCoin and uses its CryptoNote codebase. Monero currently provides some of the highest levels of anonymity and privacy available. The basic framework of Monero’s blockchain and transaction structure are the same as those used by Bitcoin, however, it utilizes ring signatures and address derivation.

Monero uses ring signatures and ring confidential transactions to obfuscate all the details relating to transactions. These include the amounts, origins, and destinations of all transactions. When coins are spent, the transaction is signed and time-stamped with a ring signature, this signature is verified against a group of public keys without revealing the actual private key used. The default obfuscation of all the transaction details means transactions on the Monero blockchain cannot be linked to a particular user or real-world identity.

Zcash

Launched in 2016, Zcash is an open-source cryptocurrency that offers privacy and selective transparency of transactions. Payments made with Zcash are published on a public blockchain, but the sender, recipient, and amount of a transaction remain private. Zcash uses advanced cryptographic techniques called zero-knowledge proofs, to guarantee the validity of transactions without revealing key information about them.

Zcash uses a zero-knowledge proof construction called a zk-SNARK (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge). These constructions allow the network to maintain a secure ledger without revealing the parties or amounts involved. The process involves encrypting the transaction metadata and zk-SNARKs are used to prove the validity of all transactions. In addition to aiding anonymity, this also helps reduce transaction verification costs compared to smart contracts.

Dash

While best known for being a cryptocurrency geared for everyday use, Dash is also a viable option for those interested in private transactions. In addition to providing transparent payment options, Dash allows anonymity with its PrivateSend feature that utilizes the concept of CoinJoin.

Dash offers a decentralized mixing service within its platform called PrivateSend that allows transactions to be formed by multiple parties and paid out to multiple parties and the merging of funds together means that they cannot be uncoupled afterwards. Here, funds are mixed together and investigators cannot be sure of the sender, amount, or destination. Successfully mixing payments using the PrivateSend feature requires at least three participants.

Pivx

Launched as a fork of Dash, Pivx is the acronym for Private Instant Verifiable Transaction and the Pivx team pride themselves on providing advanced privacy options. Pivx contains an in wallet mixing mechanism based on CoinJoin. With Pivx, the mixing takes place in a decentralized fashion facilitated by the network of masternodes. This provides an additional layer of privacy as gaining control of 50% of the current masternodes would result in under a 0.5% chance of de-anonymizing an individual transaction that was mixed via eight rounds of obfuscation.

Despite being a Dash fork, PIVX has added staking, moved over to the Quark algorithm, and is upgrading the CoinJoin feature to a Zerocoin protocol that will enhance its ability to provide anonymous transactions.

Verge

Verge came into life on February 15, 2016 after it officially rebranded from its original name of Dogecoindark, which was a fork of Dogecoin. Verge models itself on the original Bitcoin blockchain and operates as a decentralized currency based on an open-source platform. There is no central control over the coin and it is completely untraceable. Verge uses multiple anonymity-centric networks such as Tor and I2P. This keeps user IP addresses obfuscated and transactions private.

In addition to using anonymity-centric networks, Verge also utilizes multi-algorithm mining support that improves security and provides the equal distribution of coins to miners. Verge differs from other privacy coins as most other platform log user IP addresses and hide or mask transactions on their network. Verge operates a transparent ledger but protects user identities and locations by using Tor and I2P.