# Privacy Protocols Ranked by Shielded Value

> Privacy protocols ranked by shielded value held in Railgun, Privacy Pools, Tornado Cash and Zcash, with deposits and withdrawals over a chosen window.

Markdown copy of https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/privacy-protocols-ranking

**Question:** Which privacy protocols hold the most shielded value, and how much flows through them?

- Kind: Table in Voltfin Strata
- Topic: [Security and risk](https://voltfincrypto.com/topics/security)
- Chains: Multi-chain, Ethereum, Zcash
- Status: Planned. The data is not published yet, so this page states no figure; each figure will open its receipt when it is.

Privacy protocols let users hold and move funds without a public link between sender and receiver, by pooling deposits in contracts or shielded pools. This table ranks them by the value they hold, with deposits and withdrawals over a chosen window, so their size and use can be compared on the same terms.

Pools differ in design. Tornado Cash mixes fixed denominations of a few assets. Railgun shields ERC-20 tokens inside its contracts on several EVM chains. Privacy Pools adds proofs that a withdrawal is not tied to deposits flagged as illicit. Zcash shields value in the protocol itself. Each row reads the pool's own contracts or chain state, values tokens at the block of each read and links the reads behind it.

Shielded value measures what sits inside the pools. It does not reveal who holds it, and the table never tries to link deposits to withdrawals; flows are counted at the pool level, from the public events alone.

## Blueprint

One row: One row per privacy protocol per chain, on the latest complete day

- **Protocol** (`protocol`): The privacy protocol or shielded pool, linked to its contracts or its chain.
- **Chain** (`chain`): The chain the pool lives on; a protocol on several chains has one row per chain.
- **Design** (`design`): Fixed-denomination mixer, shielded token pool, association-set pool or protocol-level shielded pool.
- **Assets** (`assets`): The tokens or coins the pool accepts.
- **Shielded value** (`shielded_value`, USD): Value held in the pool at the day's last block, valued at that block's prices.
- **Deposits, 30 days** (`deposits_30d`, USD): Value deposited or shielded over the last 30 days, valued at each deposit block.
- **Withdrawals, 30 days** (`withdrawals_30d`, USD): Value withdrawn or unshielded over the last 30 days, valued at each withdrawal block.
- **30-day change** (`change_30d`): Change in shielded value against the same row 30 days earlier.
- **Depositing addresses** (`depositors_30d`): Distinct public addresses that deposited or shielded in the last 30 days.
- **Receipt** (`receipt`): The block, balance reads and events behind the row.

## How it will be measured

- Contract pools are measured by the token balances their contracts hold at the last block of each day, read with balanceOf and native balance calls.
- Deposits and withdrawals come from each protocol's own events, such as Deposit and Withdrawal on Tornado Cash pools or Shield and Unshield on Railgun; Privacy Pools emits its own deposit and withdrawal events.
- Zcash shielded value is read from the chain's value pool totals for its Sprout, Sapling and Orchard pools at each day's last block.
- Token amounts are valued at oracle or DEX pool prices at the block of each read, and a protocol on several chains has one row per chain.

## Data it needs

- `privacy_pools_daily` (to build): Deposits into and withdrawals from privacy pools and shielded pools per protocol and day, and shielded supply where measurable.
- `native_prices_daily` (to build): Reference prices of major assets read from on-chain oracle feeds (Chainlink latestRoundData) at each day's last block, with each round's update time.
- `dex_swaps_daily` (to build): Swap counts and volume per DEX, pool and chain per day, decoded from Swap events, valued with stablecoin legs and oracle prices.
- Source: Railgun Shield and Unshield events and the token balances of its contracts
- Source: Privacy Pools deposit and withdrawal events on Ethereum
- Source: Tornado Cash pool Deposit and Withdrawal events per denomination
- Source: Zcash value pool totals for Sprout, Sapling and Orchard at day-end heights
- Source: Oracle and DEX pool prices at the block of each read

## Questions

### What is a privacy protocol in crypto?

A privacy protocol lets users deposit funds into a shared pool and later withdraw or transfer them without a public link to the original deposit, using zero-knowledge proofs or mixing. The pool's total balance stays public, which is what this table measures.

### What is shielded value?

Shielded value is the amount held inside a privacy pool or shielded pool, where individual balances are hidden. The total is public: a contract's token balance on Ethereum and other EVM chains, or a value pool total on Zcash.

### How do Privacy Pools differ from Tornado Cash?

Both pool deposits and use zero-knowledge proofs for withdrawals. Privacy Pools adds association sets: a withdrawal can prove its deposit belongs to a set that excludes deposits flagged as illicit, so users can separate themselves from stolen funds without revealing which deposit is theirs.

### Can privacy protocol transactions be traced?

Deposits and withdrawals are public, with their amounts and addresses, but the proofs hide which deposit a withdrawal comes from. Patterns such as matching amounts and timing can weaken that, which is why this table counts flows without linking them.

### What is Railgun?

Railgun is a privacy system on Ethereum and several other EVM chains that lets users shield ERC-20 tokens into a private balance, transfer or swap them privately and unshield them back to a public address. The balances its contracts hold are its shielded value.

## Glossary

- **Zero-knowledge proof**: A proof that a statement is true, such as owning a deposit in a pool, without revealing which deposit it is.
- **Shielded pool**: A pool whose individual balances are encrypted or hidden while the pool's total value stays public.
- **Association set**: In Privacy Pools, a set of deposits approved by a provider, which a withdrawal can prove its deposit belongs to.
- **Fixed denomination**: A pool that accepts only one deposit size, so every withdrawal from it looks the same.

## Related apps

- [Railgun Volume: Shielded Deposits and Withdrawals](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/railgun-volume)
- [Zcash Shielded Supply: ZEC in Sapling and Orchard Pools](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/zcash-shielded-supply)
- [Stolen Crypto Tracker: Where Hacked Funds Went](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/stolen-crypto-tracker)
- [Crypto Address Checker: Flagged, Sanctioned or Hacked](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/crypto-address-checker)
- [North Korea Crypto Hacks: Lazarus Group Theft Tracker](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/north-korea-crypto-hacks-tracker)
- [Wallet Drainer Tracker: Phishing Losses by Month](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/wallet-drainer-tracker)

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