Searching for Alpha: Nocturne

Nocturne is an Ethereum-based privacy protocol that enables users to essentially shield transactions by depositing assets into a set of smart contracts and receiving them into “stealth” addresses, in which ownership over these addresses is verifiable using zk (zero-knowledge)-proofs.

The protocol closely resembles Aztec Network, particularly its product Aztec Connect, both of which were covered in an earlier research piece. Their resemblances come from how both enable private DeFi transactions through zk-proofs, as well as the use of notes, elliptic curve commitments and spending and viewing keys in their mechanisms. Nocturne has also implemented similar rate limits for compliance purposes.