comparison
KIRITE exists in the context of prior art in blockchain privacy. This page compares KIRITE's approach against existing and defunct privacy protocols.
protocol comparison
| feature | KIRITE | Elusiv (defunct) | Tornado Cash | Aztec |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| chain | Solana | Solana | Ethereum | Ethereum L2 |
| amount encryption | yes (L1 native) | partial | fixed denominations | yes |
| sender-receiver unlinkability | shield pool | compliance pool | mixer | shielded pool |
| stealth addresses | yes | no | no | no |
| proof system | Bulletproofs + Sigma | zk-SNARKs | Groth16 | PLONK |
| trusted setup | none required | required | required (ceremony) | universal (one-time) |
| custody model | non-custodial | non-custodial | non-custodial | non-custodial |
| multi-asset | any SPL token | limited tokens | ETH only (+ forks) | any ERC-20 |
| proof generation time | <1ms | ~2s | ~20s | ~10s |
| status | active development | shut down (2024) | sanctioned (OFAC) | active (Ethereum) |
why not just use tornado cash?
Tornado Cash pioneered on-chain privacy mixing, but it has fundamental limitations:
- Fixed denominations — you can only deposit 0.1, 1, 10, or 100 ETH. Arbitrary amounts leak information through deposit/withdrawal patterns.
- No amount encryption — deposit amounts are visible. Privacy comes only from the fixed-denomination anonymity set.
- Trusted setup — the Groth16 proof system requires a trusted setup ceremony. If the ceremony is compromised, fake proofs can drain the pool.
- OFAC sanctions — Tornado Cash was sanctioned in August 2022, creating legal risk for users and developers.
- Ethereum only — no Solana implementation exists.
why not Elusiv?
Elusiv was the closest existing privacy protocol on Solana, but it shut down in 2024:
- Compliance-first approach — Elusiv required compliance checks, which created a trusted intermediary and reduced the anonymity set.
- Limited token support — only supported a handful of tokens.
- No stealth addresses — recipient addresses were still visible.
- Centralization risk — the compliance layer was a single point of failure (and ultimately, the reason it shut down).
KIRITE's differentiators
no trusted setup
KIRITE uses Bulletproofs and Sigma proofs, which do not require a trusted setup. This eliminates a critical trust assumption that exists in Groth16-based systems (Tornado Cash) and early PLONK implementations.
solana L1 native cryptography
KIRITE builds on Solana's Confidential Balances token extension — cryptographic primitives that are verified by the Solana runtime itself. This is not a custom ZK VM or off-chain computation. The trust assumptions are identical to Solana consensus.
three-layer privacy
Most privacy protocols address one or two dimensions of metadata leakage. KIRITE is the first Solana protocol to combine all three:
- Amount encryption (Confidential Transfer)
- Sender-receiver unlinkability (Shield Pool)
- Recipient anonymity (Stealth Addresses)
sub-millisecond proof generation
Solana's Confidential Balances proof generation runs in under 1 millisecond on standard hardware. Compare this to 20+ seconds for Groth16 (Tornado Cash) or 10+ seconds for PLONK (Aztec). This enables a seamless user experience indistinguishable from normal Solana transactions.
lowest fees
KIRITE charges a flat 0.1% protocol feeon private transfers. Compare this to Tornado Cash relayer fees (0.3-0.5%) or typical DEX swap fees (0.25-0.3%). Privacy shouldn't be a premium feature.
configurable privacy levels
Unlike fixed-delay protocols, KIRITE lets users choose their own privacy-speed tradeoff: instant withdrawal (low privacy), standard 10-minute delay (recommended), or maximum 1hr+ delay (highest anonymity set). No other privacy protocol on Solana offers this flexibility.
KIRITE combines amount encryption, sender-receiver unlinkability, and recipient anonymity into a single Solana-native protocol — with no trusted setup, sub-ms proof generation, 0.1% fees, configurable privacy levels, and support for any SPL token.