Ring CT (Confidential Transactions)

Understanding Ring CT (Confidential Transactions)

Ring CT (Confidential Transactions) is a privacy feature utilized in Monero to conceal the amount of each transaction. Unlike regular confidential transactions, Ring CT not only hides the transaction amounts but also ensures the confidentiality of the transaction amount itself.

By incorporating cryptographic proof, Ring CT allows for the inclusion of confidential transactions that verify the equality between the sum of the input amounts and the sum of the output amount, all without disclosing the actual numbers involved.

While the transaction amounts remain undisclosed, it is still possible to determine the addresses that sent and received the cryptocurrency.

In addition to safeguarding transaction amounts, Ring CT also protects other aspects of privacy. The use of ring signatures makes Monero transactions untraceable, and the implementation of stealth addresses obscures the destination of funds.

The introduction of Ring CT occurred in block #1220516 in January 2017. By September of the same year, this feature became mandatory for all transactions conducted on the Monero network.

Ring CT incorporates an enhanced version of ring signatures known as multi-layered linkable spontaneous anonymous group signatures. This advanced technology allows for efficient concealment of transaction amounts, origins, and destinations, while still maintaining verifiability and trustlessness in coin generation.