Solana can now hide transfer amounts too: Helius launches Privacy Rings on mainnet, institutional version will support compliance auditing and whitelisting.

Helius launched Solana Privacy Rings on the Solana mainnet, a permissionless privacy layer that encrypts asset types and transfer amounts on-chain while keeping wallet addresses public, using concise zero-knowledge proofs verified in milliseconds. The shielded pools support native SOL, standard SPL tokens and Token-2022 extensions, with deposits and withdrawals visible on the public ledger but transfers, private fiat on-ramps and off-ramps cryptographically shielded; developers can integrate via a simple API to build confidential swaps, staking and yield-bearing apps. Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz framed privacy as the ultimate scaling boundary, arguing institutions and individuals will not expose their full financial histories on-chain. The launch also lays groundwork for Custom Rings, institutional-grade programs planned to offer configurable confidentiality, independent auditor viewing keys, selective disclosure and on-chain whitelists, blacklists, asset freezes and multi-sig approvals, currently in audit. The move matters because Solana's fully public ledger has hindered payroll, corporate treasury and institutional DeFi adoption despite 150-millisecond settlement and sub-cent fees. Next to watch: the Custom Rings audit timeline and whether private balances can attract institutional volume without fragmenting liquidity from public pools.