Privacy coin
A cryptocurrency designed to hide transaction details such as sender, receiver or amount.
A privacy coin is a cryptocurrency with built-in features that hide who paid whom and how much. On Bitcoin and Ethereum, anyone can follow payments on the public ledger; privacy coins make that analysis much harder.
Designs differ. Monero (XMR) hides sender, receiver and amount in every transaction by default. Zcash (ZEC) offers optional shielded transactions based on zero-knowledge proofs. Dash (DASH) has an optional mixing feature called CoinJoin, though its regular transfers are public.
Privacy coins face regulatory pressure. Several major exchanges have delisted them in some or all regions, and the EU's AML Regulation will stop crypto service providers from keeping accounts that use "anonymity-enhancing coins" from 10 July 2027. The rule targets providers; it does not ban people from holding such coins in their own wallets.
