How Firo's Privacy Technology Works
Firo uses multiple layers of cutting-edge cryptography to make your transactions completely untraceable — from protocol-level anonymity to network-level privacy.
The Lelantus Protocol
Lelantus is Firo's core privacy protocol, developed by Firo's cryptographer Aram Jivanyan. It works through a "burn and redeem" mechanism:
Burn (Anonymize)
You "burn" your coins, destroying them on the public ledger. This removes any link to your address or transaction history.
Privacy Pool
Your burned coins join an anonymity pool of tens of thousands of others. There's no way to determine which burned coins belong to whom.
Redeem (Spend)
When you want to spend, you prove you burned coins without revealing which ones. Brand-new coins are created with no traceable history.
Unlike older protocols (Zerocoin, Sigma), Lelantus requires no trusted setup and supports flexible amounts — you can burn any denomination, not just fixed ones.
Lelantus Spark
Lelantus Spark is the next evolution of the Lelantus protocol, introducing several major improvements:
Hidden Amounts
Transaction amounts are fully concealed. Neither the sender, receiver, nor any observer can see how much was transferred on-chain.
Spark Addresses
New address format that can be publicly shared (e.g. for donations) while keeping all received funds completely private. Spark addresses start with "sm1...".
Direct Private Transfers
No more separate burn-and-redeem steps. You can send private coins directly to another Spark address in a single transaction.
View Keys
Optional view keys let you selectively disclose your transaction history for compliance or auditing — privacy with flexibility.
Dandelion++ (Network Privacy)
Even with protocol-level privacy, network surveillance can attempt to link transactions to IP addresses. Firo implements Dandelion++ to defend against this:
- Transactions are first propagated through a random "stem" path of nodes
- Only after passing through several hops does the transaction "fluff" out to the whole network
- This makes it extremely difficult to determine which node originated a transaction
Together with Lelantus Spark, Dandelion++ provides end-to-end privacy — your identity is protected both at the protocol level and the network level.
How Firo Compares
| Feature | Firo (Spark) | Monero | Zcash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy Mechanism | Lelantus Spark (burn & redeem) | RingCT + Stealth Addresses | zk-SNARKs (Sapling/Orchard) |
| Anonymity Set Size | 65,000+ (global pool) | 16 (ring size) | All shielded txns |
| Trusted Setup | No | No | Yes (ceremony) |
| Hidden Amounts | Yes | Yes | Yes (shielded) |
| Network Privacy | Dandelion++ | Dandelion++ | None built-in |
| View Keys | Yes | Yes | Yes |
For a more detailed comparison, see our Firo vs Monero and Firo vs Zcash pages.
Experience Firo's Privacy
Download a wallet and start making private transactions today.