CryptoNote

CryptoNote is a company creating a blockchain-based protocol that allows users to anonymously use decentralized cryptocurrencies. The company was founded by Nicolas van Saberhagen and was launched on October 17, 2013.

CryptoNote allows decentralized and anonymous transaction through the implemention of a ring signature cryptographic protocol that allows users sign a message on behalf of a group. Individual signatures can only prove the message was sent by one anonymous person within the group because all possible signatures are coming from users that are indistinguishable from each other within the group.

CryptoNote offers the following features: untraceable payments through ring signature technology, unlinkable transactions through using the Diffie-Hellman exchange protocol, double-spending proof using key images that make it impossible to restore corresponding secret keys, blockchain analysis resistance through non-repeating one-time addresses and mixed keys using ring signatures, egalitarian Proof-of-Work (PoW) by the CryptoNote consensus mechanism acting as a voting system, and adaptive blockchain parameters because CryptoNote does not use any hard-coded constants.