Helius Launches Solana Privacy Rings on Mainnet
Helius switched on Solana Privacy Rings on mainnet on Nov. 10. The permissionless default Ring hides assets and amounts but keeps sender and recipient addresses visible. Decrypt, Ore and Aurora Intents are live; compliance-focused Custom Rings target Q4 2026.
Amounts hidden. Addresses exposed. Helius switched on Solana Privacy Rings on mainnet on Nov. 10, bringing encrypted balances and confidential transfers to Solana while sender and recipient addresses stay publicly visible. The Solana Foundation summed up the approach as "Public by default, private by choice."
The default Ring is permissionless. It encrypts the assets and amounts moved, supports SOL, SPL tokens and Token-2022 tokens, and runs on zero-knowledge proofs that verify within a single native Solana transaction.
How it works
The system is self-custodial. Per the Helius product page, "Helius generates proofs and relays your transactions," and "We never hold your keys or touch your funds." Developers integrate through APIs. The Foundation's documentation lists Privacy Rings as beta.
Privacy is partial by design. Moving funds from a public wallet into a private balance reveals the source, asset and amount. A withdrawal reveals the destination, asset and amount. Transfers inside the Ring hide assets and amounts.
Users decrypt balances with a viewing key, either locally or by delegating it. Delegated access lets a provider read balances and history with no spending authority.
Integrations and audits
Three integrations are live: Decrypt (a money account), Ore (a mining and staking app) and Aurora Intents, which moves funds cross-chain into confidential balances. Backpack, DFlow, Jupiter, Squads and Titan are still working on integrations, Helius said.
Certora, ZK Security and OtterSec audited the core programs and ZK circuits. Formal verification is expected to finish by the end of 2026. Engineers from the Solana Foundation, Blueshift and Zcash took part in the trusted setup ceremony.
Helius acquired Light Protocol in June 2026. That team pioneered Solana's original ZK syscalls.
Custom Rings and compliance
A second tier, Custom Rings, is under audit and targeted for mainnet in Q4 2026. Operators can configure approved participants, blocked recipients, freezes, extra signatures, emergency pauses and auditor access. Custom Rings can offer either confidentiality or anonymity. Companies using them remain responsible for customer checks, restrictions and reporting.
That design tracks an argument SEC Chairman Paul Atkins made in Dec. 15, 2025 remarks: zero-knowledge proofs and selective disclosure could let users demonstrate compliance. He spoke for himself, not the commission.
Context
The launch lands amid a broader privacy push on Solana. Solana's Nov. 9 list of 11 startup requests named privacy among areas for stablecoin builders. On May 26, Umbra announced confidential vesting with Streamflow using Arcium's encrypted computation. Helius is not alone in the field.
The caveats: beta status, visible addresses, formal verification still pending, and the inherent uncertainty of new cryptographic systems regardless of audits. The release also adds to institutional-facing activity on Solana, a day after Formation Securities' notice to the SEC about a tokenized stock venue.
