Zano

Zano (ZANO) is an open-source, privacy-first Layer 1 blockchain designed to make transactions, digital assets, staking, and decentralized applications confidential by default. Launched in 2019, Zano uses protocol-level cryptography to conceal sender and recipient addresses, transferred amounts, and asset types. The network combines private payments with Confidential Assets, decentralized trading, anonymous staking, and tools for building a broader privacy-focused digital economy.

Zano was launched in May 2019 following development by a team with roots in CryptoNote and the earlier Boolberry privacy project. Co-founder and core developer Andrey Sabelnikov previously worked as lead developer on the original CryptoNote reference implementation, technology that influenced privacy cryptocurrencies including Monero. Co-founder Pavel Nikienkov oversees project management and product development.

Zano is not a direct Boolberry fork. Its developers describe the network as a substantially rewritten codebase created to expand beyond private payments into assets, applications, staking, and decentralized financial infrastructure. The project did not conduct an initial coin offering or raise traditional venture funding. Development has instead been financed largely through a 3.69 million ZANO premine established for development, marketing, partnerships, and repayment of early development financing.

Privacy is enforced by default on standard Zano transactions. The protocol combines d/v-CLSAG ring signatures to obscure senders, stealth addresses to conceal recipients, and Pedersen commitments with Bulletproofs+ to hide transaction amounts. Asset identifiers are also blinded, preventing outside observers from determining which Confidential Asset was transferred.

Zano enforces a ring size of 15 for regular transactions rather than allowing users to choose whether to enable privacy. The network also supports auditable wallets for situations where a user or organization needs to provide selected transaction information to a third party. These features place Zano within the broader privacy cryptocurrency sector while providing optional disclosure for accounting or compliance purposes.

Zano currently uses a hybrid consensus mechanism that alternates between Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake blocks. Its PoS component, Zarcanum, allows users to participate in staking without publicly revealing their balances. There are no validator or masternode requirements, minimum staking amounts, or mandatory lock-up periods. Full-node staking requires an online and synchronized wallet.

The protocol currently issues a fixed block reward of 1 ZANO, with the full reward going to the miner or staker producing the block. Transaction fees are burned. ZANO has no fixed maximum supply, resulting in continuing issuance whose percentage inflation declines as total supply increases. The project is researching a transition to pure Proof of Stake through a next-generation consensus design called Zenith, with implementation planned after its research phase.

Following the Zarcanum network upgrade in 2024, developers can issue Confidential Assets directly on Zano. These tokens inherit the network's privacy properties, including concealed addresses, amounts, and asset types. Potential implementations include private stablecoins, wrapped cryptocurrencies, and other tokenized assets. One ecosystem example is fUSD, a privacy-focused stablecoin issued as a Confidential Asset.

Zano Trade provides decentralized exchange functionality for ZANO and Confidential Assets. Trades settle through Ionic Swaps, a peer-to-peer exchange mechanism designed to prevent either participant from gaining an asymmetric advantage while keeping settlement data confidential. The ecosystem also includes aliases, wallet authentication through Zano Companion, desktop and mobile wallets, developer APIs, and cross-chain infrastructure.

Hard Fork 6 reached its activation height of 3,833,000 in August 2026 and introduced Gateway Addresses, an account-style address format intended primarily for exchanges, bridges, and other services. Gateway Addresses reduce integration complexity while standard user transactions retain Zano's default privacy model. Development around the upgrade and related integrations remained ongoing in September 2026.

Zano's roadmap also includes an EVM-compatible Execution Layer designed to support Solidity smart contracts while keeping the primary Layer 1 focused on privacy. A public testnet is targeted for 2026, followed by a planned mainnet release. The longer-term Zenith upgrade would transition consensus from the existing hybrid PoW/PoS architecture to pure Proof of Stake.

Zano faces many of the risks associated with privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, including regulatory scrutiny, exchange availability, liquidity constraints, cryptographic implementation risk, and evolving rules concerning anonymous transactions. Confidential Assets and cross-chain infrastructure introduce additional smart-contract, bridge, and asset-issuer risks. Planned components such as the Execution Layer and Zenith remain under development and should not be treated as currently deployed functionality.