Privacy Cryptocurrencies are becoming quite popular given the emergence of user’s understanding of privacy to information, transactions, and data. A lot of cryptocurrencies claim to be anonymous and untraceable when in fact public records are left behind sharing previous transactions, along with balances of cryptocurrencies in the transactor’s wallet.

Privacy Coins are a segment of cryptocurrencies which offer anonymity at a much higher level than other Cryptocurrencies.

So, we’ve asked a few enthusiasts around the space to tell us their opinion about which is the are the best ones to use. Below is a list with a few great one that you can use anytime with ease. 

Which are the best privacy coins? 

Monero (XMR)

Monero is the most known and stable privacy coin given its experience it holds since it was created way back in 2014. Monero’s anonymity is strong by ensuring it is entirely anonymous within the blockchain. It utilizes ring signatures to make it impossible to track transactions to a particular user as it employs a group of signers.

Monero’s Ring Confidential Transactions (RingCT) uses cryptography to show input and output are equal so that the actual transaction figures are not revealed. The stealth addresses are unique for each transaction thus tracking the address is of no use as it is disposed of and created new for a new transaction by the same user.

Monero has established to be used to purchase various goods and services.  For example, Monero is used by CoinPayments which is a payment gateway for multiple cryptocurrencies. It allows Monero along with significant cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum to be used for online purchases of any products. Monero has also tied up with a lot of companies to create Project Coral Reef. This way, Monero proves its useful for merchandise shopping and breaking the myths that its only use-case its on the dark web. 

Monero is until now, the most used and one of the best privacy coins that are in the cryptocurrency world. The fact that the cryptocurrency is from 2014 makes it the most reliable option if you’re looking for a private crypto.

Grin (GRIN)

Grin started as an idea in 2016. The project was proposed by Tom Elvis Jedusor in 2016 and gained attention in the cryptocurrency world. Unfortunately for the team, the cryptocurrency managed to  get live in January 2019 – a bit after the high returns ICOs era. The good thing is that a lot of people were interested in Grin only for the MimbleWimble protocol.

Basically, MimbleWimble is a protocol way more scalable and with the same privacy or probably a better one compared to Monero or ZCash. The most interesting thing about the protocol is the fact that it validates the transactions without knowing any of the values transacted – like zero-knowledge proofs of Zcash and RingCTs of Monero. Though it has the same usage, Grin is far more scalable and the MimbleWimble protocol is already used by Grin and Beam.

The bad part for investors is that Grin uses a linear supply schedule. So, the team rather want their cryptocurrency being used than being hodled. Even like this, after a decade the inflation rate would be close to 0%. These features makes Grin one of the best privacy coins and a top option if you’re asking yourself what is the best crypto to mine.

ZCash (ZEC)

Zcash made a noise in 2016 with influential personalities in the cryptocurrency space backing the privacy coin. It utilizes the Zerocoin protocol and zero-knowledge proof cryptography called zero-knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs).

Zcash’s technology zk-SNARKs allows users to encrypt data stored on the network. The only issue with this coin is the 20% miner’s tax that goes back to the Zcash team which the cryptocurrency community thinks is quite a hefty commission.

Zcash’s technology is well appreciated, with the likes of financial powerhouses like JPMorgan (JPM) opting the use of the technology for Quorum. Quorum is a project by JPMorgan (JPM) that deals with an enterprise-ready distributed ledger, and smart contract platform. The creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin has praised zk-SNARKs technology and claimed ‘Zcash is cool‘. According to Buterin, Zcash can help Ethereum scale to 500 transactions per second from the present 15 transactions per second.

Zcash has recently been removed from Coinbase UK, though its CEO made it clear that Zcash is compatible with the UK regulations & KYC/AML requirements. Zcash also had a friendly fork back in July 2019 – from which Ycash was born.

Dash (DASH)

Dash is one of the oldest privacy coins, dating back to 2014. It’s known for its speed of transaction and low cost. Dash follows the decentralized model quite extravagantly being an autonomous decentralized organization (DAO).

The masternode users of Dash vote on how the DAO’s funds are used. A method called CoinJoin is used to make the transactions private as possible. This method joins transactions together making it impossible to trace the parties involved.Unlike Monero, Dash doesn’t have a cutting edge privacy.

But what makes it special is the implementation of the hybrid PoW/ PoS operational and governance structure alongside with the team efforts to become the ‘Digital Cash’. The most interesting thing about DASH is the fact that it was the first cryptocurrency to use masternodes. From an investing point of view, masternodes earn 45% of the block reward for every block. The approximate ROI someone would get now by creating a masternode for DASH would be a 6.90% annually. 

Dash’s credibility has made it public for online betting with sites such as DashBets along with buying expensive products and jewelry from Huxworth. It has even broadened into purchasing precious metals through websites such as Goldmoney. These reasons alongside with a lot other, make DASH one of the best privacy coins that you can use in 2019. 

PIVX (PIVX)

PIVX stands for Private Instant Verified Transaction which is a privacy-focused digital currency that is open source. It was launched in 2016 and it uses a Proof of Stake consensus with high regard to its community. The added benefit of users earning passive income through holding and staking the coins has made it an interesting model for privacy coin lovers. No wonder it surged to 54,118.75% after rebranding efforts. The debate about fungibility is argued with PIVX being the first in the line of Zerocoin protocol making it genuinely fungible.

Fungibility in cryptocurrency is the fact of a coin being able to be traced back to where it came from or no. Fungibility can be argued as an essential factor in the privacy debate for cryptocurrencies.

With PIVX having many followers worldwide, the way it has been exposed for usage is unique. A small brewery in the Czech Republic called Radniční pivovar Jihlava brews the PIVX beer which won Czech Light Lager award last year amongst 153 samples. If you are in Cancun and you hold PIVX, you can use the privacy coin to pay for delicious pizzas and chocolate based beverages at La Tradicional Churreria. The owner of the restaurant decided to use PIVX instead of other cryptocurrencies because it’s instant and helps in avoiding legal taxation issues. In South Africa, a popular cafe called East London which sells South Africa’s traditional Biltong (dried meat), Knives, Drinks, and homemade pies have chosen PIVX to be used. Tourists who stop by to grab a drink or munch on a bite can pay in PIVX instead of the South African Rand. The owner decided on PIVX instead of the more popular Bitcoin as its cheaper and faster for transactions compared to the slow speed and the high fees of Bitcoin.

NavCoin (NAV)

NavCoin has grown in popularity in 2018 thanks to its tremendous growth rate last year of more than 50,000 users. The NavCoin is based on the NavTech system which is a combination of the traditional Bitcoin blockchain and a NAV subchain to ensure anonymity and decentralization. It takes a total of only 30 seconds for an instant transaction, with an easy set up for online payments through Coinpayments.

A growing concern for NAV is the RSA encryption. RSA encryption is one of the strongest cryptography, but the disadvantages downplay NAV. For example, RSA generates both the private and public key together, and so if you lose one, you lose both. RSA is also known to increase transaction size, which does not affect the overall security and privacy. One of the best thing about NavCoin is the fact that it uses proof-of-stake protocol. This allows users to earn a 5% interest per year from staking their NAV. But, in order to receive the reward you need to set up a staking node and block some of the funds for a certain period. 

Thanks to the easy setup for online payments to be received in NAV many of the merchants are online stores. Some of the merchants include an ambulance service called Mile High Ambulance, and a honey company which derives its honey from Portuguese bees called DrApis.

Image Source – The Bue Diamond Gallery