Lethe Network — v0.1.0 — Testnet
A lightweight, auditable privacy coin. Every transaction shielded. No trusted setup. Compliance-ready for exchange listings.
The Problem with Zcash
Zcash proved private transactions work. Lethe fixes the three things that kept it from being widely used.
Zcash has transparent addresses. Most transactions use them. The shielded pool stays small, so shielded users stand out. Lethe has no transparent mode — the entire network is the anonymity set.
Zcash's Sprout and Sapling required a trusted ceremony. If anyone kept their randomness, they can print unlimited coins silently. Lethe uses Plonky3 STARKs — mathematically transparent, no ceremony needed.
Exchanges won't list coins they can't do KYC for. Lethe lets users generate a zero-knowledge proof that their address is not on a sanctions list — without revealing the address itself.
Protocol
Value exists as encrypted notes. Each note has a value, owner, and randomness. No balances are stored on-chain — only cryptographic commitments.
Every note commitment is appended to a global Merkle tree. The root is public. The contents are not.
To spend, you reveal a nullifier and a zero-knowledge proof: "I own a note in this tree, and its value covers the transaction." No one learns which note.
Recipients scan the chain with their viewing key. Encrypted notes appear as plaintext. No server sees your balance — only your local wallet does.
Compliance
The reason privacy coins can't get listed on major exchanges isn't technical — it's regulatory. Exchanges need to know their users aren't sanctioned. Lethe solves this without breaking privacy.
"I can prove my address is not in this Merkle tree of 10,000 sanctioned addresses — without telling you which address is mine."
The proof is a zero-knowledge non-membership proof. The exchange verifies it on-chain. Your identity stays private. This is the Semaphore pattern applied to sanctions compliance.
Technology
No novel cryptography. Each component is battle-tested and independently auditable.
FRI-based STARKs. No trusted setup, no ceremony, mathematically transparent. Rust-native and fast.
Rust-like domain-specific language for ZK circuits. Clean, readable, easy to audit independently.
BN254 scalar field. Efficient inside circuits — far cheaper than SHA-256 in zero-knowledge proofs.
Battle-tested Rust library for elliptic curve arithmetic. Used by major ZK projects worldwide.
The same P2P stack as Ethereum and Filecoin. Gossipsub for transaction and block propagation.
Lightweight native desktop app. Keys stored encrypted locally. No server dependency. Fully verifiable.
Lethe Wallet
Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Verify your download.
Verify SHA256 checksums and signatures →