Solero Whitepaper

Solana-speed transactions with Monero-grade privacy.

Abstract

Solero is a next-generation blockchain protocol that combines the speed and efficiency of Solana with the privacy guarantees of Monero. By implementing ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions on top of Solana's high-throughput infrastructure, Solero enables private-by-default settlements with near-instant finality and minimal fees.

By merging Solana's parallelized runtime (400ms block times, 65,000+ TPS) with Monero's battle-tested privacy primitives (RingCT, stealth addresses), Solero introduces a new paradigm for confidential high-performance transactions.

1. Motivation

Modern blockchain networks face a critical trade-off: high-performance chains sacrifice privacy, while privacy-focused chains sacrifice speed. Solana excels at throughput but exposes all transaction data publicly. Monero provides robust privacy but struggles with scalability and speed.

Solero bridges this gap by asking:

What if we could execute Monero-grade privacy protocols at Solana speed? Instead of choosing between performance and privacy, Solero implements privacy-preserving cryptography directly within Solana's high-throughput execution layer.

This model ensures: Ring signatures for sender anonymity. Stealth addresses for recipient privacy. Confidential transactions hiding amounts. All at Solana-speed with sub-second finality.

2. Design Philosophy

Solero follows three fundamental design principles:

A. Privacy by Default

Every transaction is private unless explicitly opted out. Users shouldn't have to choose between convenience and confidentiality.

B. Solana-Native Performance

Privacy features are implemented as Solana programs, leveraging Proof of History for ordering and parallel execution for throughput.

C. Cryptographic Integrity

All privacy mechanisms use well-established cryptographic primitives from Monero's proven architecture: RingCT, MLSAG signatures, and Bulletproofs.

3. System Overview

At its core, Solero consists of four primary components:

  • Privacy Module – implements ring signatures, stealth addresses, and RingCT within Solana programs.
  • Transaction Layer – manages private UTXO-style transactions with confidential amounts and sender/recipient obfuscation.
  • Proof System – generates and verifies zero-knowledge proofs (Bulletproofs) for transaction validity without revealing amounts.
  • Network Consensus – leverages Solana's PoH and validator network for fast finality while maintaining transaction privacy.

Each module is coded in Rust, optimized for Solana's Sealevel runtime, and designed for seamless integration with existing Solana DeFi primitives.

4. Privacy Architecture

Solero implements a three-layer privacy system inspired by Monero's CryptoNote protocol, adapted for Solana's parallel execution model:

Ring Signatures (Sender Privacy)

Each transaction is signed using a ring of possible signers (typically 11-16 participants), making it cryptographically impossible to determine the actual sender. The signature proves one member of the ring authorized the transaction without revealing which one.

Stealth Addresses (Recipient Privacy)

One-time addresses are generated for each transaction using Diffie-Hellman key exchange. The recipient can detect and spend funds using their private view key, but external observers cannot link transactions to the same recipient.

RingCT (Amount Privacy)

Transaction amounts are hidden using Pedersen commitments and proven valid using Bulletproofs. Validators can verify that inputs equal outputs without learning the actual amounts involved.

Combined, these three mechanisms provide comprehensive transaction privacy: who sent, who received, and how much was transferred all remain confidential.

5. Transaction Flow

A typical Solero transaction proceeds through the following steps:

  1. User initiates transaction with recipient's public address and amount
  2. Wallet generates one-time stealth address for recipient
  3. Transaction amount is hidden using Pedersen commitments
  4. Ring signature is constructed using decoy outputs from the blockchain
  5. Bulletproof is generated to prove amount validity
  6. Transaction is submitted to Solana network
  7. Validators verify cryptographic proofs (ring signature + Bulletproof)
  8. Transaction is finalized in ~400ms with Solana's consensus
  9. Recipient scans blockchain with view key to detect incoming funds

All of this happens at Solana speed – sub-second finality with fees under $0.01.

6. Technical Goals

  • Achieve Monero-grade privacy with Solana-grade performance
  • Maintain transaction fees under $0.01 regardless of network load
  • Support 10,000+ private transactions per second at scale
  • Ensure compatibility with existing Solana wallets and infrastructure
  • Enable privacy-preserving DeFi applications (private DEX, lending, etc.)

7. Implementation

Solero core is written in Rust using the Anchor framework for Solana program development. Privacy primitives are implemented using the Curve25519 elliptic curve (compatible with both Solana and Monero) and Bulletproofs for range proofs.

Public release includes:

  • Solero Privacy SDK (Rust + TypeScript)
  • Reference wallet implementation
  • Developer testnet with faucet
  • Block explorer with privacy-preserving UI
  • Integration guides for DeFi protocols

8. Security Model

Solero's security relies on the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) on elliptic curves and the security of Solana's validator network. All cryptographic primitives have been formally analyzed and match Monero's security assumptions.

Key security properties:

  • Sender anonymity within ring size (information-theoretic)
  • Recipient unlinkability (computational DLP assumption)
  • Amount confidentiality (computational commitment scheme security)
  • Double-spend prevention (Solana consensus + key image tracking)
  • Resistance to timing analysis attacks

9. Future Work

  • Cross-chain privacy bridges to Ethereum and other networks
  • Privacy-preserving smart contracts using zk-SNARKs
  • Mobile wallet with hardware security module support
  • Decentralized exchange with hidden orderbooks
  • Integration with major DeFi protocols (lending, derivatives)
  • Research into post-quantum privacy primitives

10. Conclusion

Solero demonstrates that privacy and performance are not mutually exclusive. By combining Solana's architectural innovations with Monero's cryptographic expertise, we enable a new generation of applications that respect user privacy without sacrificing speed or cost-efficiency.

Solero represents the future of confidential finance: fast, affordable, and private by default.