Nocturne Launches on Mainnet to Bring Private Accounts to Ethereum

[PRESS RELEASE – NEW YORK, United States, November 15th, 2023]

Nocturne, a protocol enabling on-chain private accounts, today announced the successful deployment of Nocturne v1 to Ethereum mainnet. This marks a significant milestone in the journey towards a more private and accessible Ethereum. For the first time, users will have a compatible and easy-to-use product resembling a private onchain account.

Nocturne v1 is a step towards compatible onchain privacy that functions simply as another account rather than a distinct tool or ecosystem. Users will find transacting with Nocturne similar to using a smart contract wallet, with the added benefit of privacy. Nocturne v1 is currently out-of-the-box compatible with any DeFi protocol that represents state via output tokens (e.g. Uniswap swap tokens, Aave aTokens, Compound cTokens, etc). There are plans to later extend this compatibility to arbitrary protocols.

“With Nocturne v1’s launch, we’re moving away from the notion of a ‘privacy tool.’ Privacy should be embedded at the account layer and the v1 launch is the first step in making this possible,” said Luke Tchang, CEO and co-founder of Nocturne. “Our goal is to ensure that everyone, from individual users to large institutions, can transact securely without exposing their financial history to the world. This is more than a product; it’s a commitment to making Etherereum more accessible and enabling secure and private money over the internet.”

Nocturne is built on the belief that privacy on public blockchains will only become mainstream if it’s seamlessly integrated with the existing user experience. Nocturne’s objective is straightforward: to create private user accounts on L1/L2 that are fully compatible with existing Ethereum accounts. To read more about private accounts, please see Nocturne’s recent blog post.

Privacy: The Keystone for Ethereum’s Growth

Though DeFi and other onchain activities have surged in popularity, privacy concerns have prevented broader acceptance and use of crypto as money. Recognizing that the typical user may be uneasy with the idea of their financial dealings being public, and that institutions demand confidentiality for their transactions, Nocturne addresses these critical barriers head-on. Privacy isn’t just a feature—it’s foundational to the broader adoption of crypto.

Nocturne’s Future Vision

As they continue building new versions, Nocturne’s long-term vision is to make the experience so seamless that by default, every Ethereum user automatically has a private account which mirrors their public account. In short, a seamless parallel account layer for privacy.

Nocturne’s plans for achieving its longer-term vision include:

• Transition to a more permissionless protocol by migrating to proof of innocence, as described by Vitalik and Ameen Solemani in the Practical Privacy & Compliance paper.
• Bring Nocturne accounts closer to usable as general wallets by extending Nocturne’s protocol compatibility to arbitrary smart contracts.
• Improve the compatibility of Nocturne accounts with EOAs and smart accounts through a scheme that allows for public wallet authorization to be leveraged within Nocturne for security.

How To Access

Nocturne v1 is live and can be accessed through a dedicated private vault UI, allowing users to discreetly manage their assets. The current UI capabilities include deposits, transfers to new burner addresses, and private swaps and staking. To get started, visit app.nocturne.xyz.

About Nocturne Labs

Nocturne Labs is a forward-thinking blockchain technology company committed to addressing the most critical privacy and user experience challenges within the Ethereum ecosystem. With a pioneering protocol for private accounts, Nocturne enables users to transact safely with built-in privacy. This marks a substantial stride in advancing the usability of public blockchains. Backed by notable investors such as Bain Capital Crypto, Polychain Capital, Bankless, and Vitalik, Nocturne is led by a team of experienced developers dedicated to enabling a more secure and accessible Ethereum. For more information, visit https://nocturnelabs.xyz/.