An anonymity-focused altcoin is outperforming the rest of the crypto markets as rumors of a European ban on privacy coins circulate.
Secret (SCRT) is a privacy-centric chain built on the Cosmos (ATOM) network with end-to-end encryption and smart contracts called “Secret Contracts.”
Its network aims to allow users to make any coin or blockchain private by encrypting details like token balance and sending/receiving wallet addresses once swapped for Secret Tokens.
The project also uses “Secret Bridges” to turn coins from other blockchains into Secret Tokens by “parking” them in a smart contract on the origin chain, and then minting the equivalent amount on the Secret Network.
While the rest of the digital asset markets consolidated near local lows, SCRT suddenly went parabolic on Wednesday, from $0.64 to $1.29 in less than a day, representing 101% in gains.
At time of writing, SCRT is trading at $0.91, still up 42% in the last 48 hours, but 91% down from its all-time high of $10.38.
Privacy coins have faced an increasing amount of pressure from regulators in Europe, as well as in the US, including from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
FATF seeks to enforce the “travel rule,” which recommends that governments force cryptocurrency exchanges, banks, over-the-counter (OTC) desks and hosted wallets share identifying information about people involved in crypto transactions worth more than $10,000.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Ethereum-based crypto mixing service Tornado.cash weeks before the developer behind the open source protocol was arrested in The Netherlands, sparking criticism from proponents of crypto privacy.
Crypto think tank Coin Center has since sued the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the sanctions.
Says Coin Center’s executive director Jerry Brito,
“Not only are we fighting for privacy rights, but if this precedent is allowed to stand, OFAC could add entire protocols like Bitcoin or Ethereum to the sanctions list in the future, thus immediately banning them without any public process whatsoever. This can’t go unchallenged.”
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Featured Image: Shutterstock/klyaksun/Natalia Siiatovskaia
