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What is COTI?

COTI brings programmable privacy to Ethereum with fast transactions. Discover how it balances confidentiality with regulatory compliance.

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In a blockchain ecosystem where transparency is often the default, privacy remains one of Web3’s most complex challenges. COTI, short for Currency Of The Internet, positions itself as one of the fastest and lightest privacy layers in Web3, designed to enable confidential financial transactions without sacrificing speed, usability, or regulatory compliance. Built as an Ethereum Layer 2 computing platform, COTI allows businesses, institutions, and end users to work with private data while still benefiting from blockchain security. 

On this occasion, we will find out what COTI is, how its technology works, and why its approach to privacy, scalability, and compliance is gaining interest across decentralized finance, enterprise applications, and regulated industries.

What Is COTI?

COTI (Currency Of The Internet) is a Layer 2 privacy infrastructure built on Ethereum that enables programmable, confidential transactions and smart contracts. Originally launched in 2017 as a payment-focused network, COTI has evolved significantly, with its V2 upgrade shifting the protocol toward advanced privacy and computing capabilities. Today, COTI functions as application software and a blockchain tool designed to support private financial activity, regulatory-compliant data sharing, and scalable business processes.

By combining Ethereum compatibility with privacy-preserving computation, COTI allows developers and institutions to build decentralized finance applications, stablecoin systems, and enterprise services where sensitive information such as balances, prices, and user identities remains protected.

How Does COTI Work?

At the core of COTI’s technology is a cryptographic methodology known as Garbled Circuits, a form of secure multiparty computation. In simple terms, Garbled Circuits allow a computer program to process encrypted data without ever revealing the underlying inputs, variables, or attributes. This means transaction logic can execute privately while still producing verifiable results.

Compared to traditional privacy solutions like zero-knowledge proofs, COTI’s approach prioritizes efficiency and speed. Garbled Circuits enable computation that is up to 3,000 times faster than ZK-SNARK-based systems, with significantly lower latency and lighter storage requirements. This performance makes COTI suitable for real-world services that require fast payments, pricing logic, and scalable user experiences.

From an architectural perspective, COTI operates as a Layer 2 network that processes transactions off-chain for privacy and efficiency, then settles final results on Ethereum. This design leverages Ethereum’s security and decentralization while avoiding congestion and high fees. Because the platform remains EVM-compatible, developers can deploy familiar Solidity smart contracts and integrate COTI into existing Web3 workflows.

Privacy within COTI is programmable. Data can remain fully private, selectively disclosed for audits, or shared with regulators and institutions when required. This balance between privacy policy enforcement and regulatory compliance is central to COTI’s value proposition.

Key Features and Benefits

COTI’s primary feature is programmable privacy, allowing developers to define who can access specific information within a financial transaction or business process. This is particularly relevant for banks, fintech platforms, and subscription business models that must protect customer data while meeting compliance standards.

Speed and scalability are also central benefits. By processing data off-chain and minimizing computational overhead, COTI supports high transaction throughput and responsive mobile app experiences. Its architecture is designed for efficiency, making it suitable for payments, loyalty programs, digital wallets, and enterprise computing platforms.

COTI’s design also supports governance and transparency. While transaction details remain private, the system can provide verifiable proofs and disclosures when required, supporting risk management, consumer protection, and institutional adoption.

What Problems Does COTI Solve?

Public blockchains expose transaction data by default, creating challenges for businesses, healthcare providers, banks, and end users who rely on confidentiality. This transparency can reveal pricing strategies, bank account balances, credit limits, or sensitive medical and financial information.

COTI addresses this problem by enabling private financial transactions that remain auditable and compliant. In decentralized finance, it allows users to trade, lend, or manage stablecoins without exposing balances or strategies. In enterprise environments, it supports confidential bookkeeping, treasury management, and supply chain data sharing.

COTI’s technology has also attracted institutional interest, including collaboration with central banks and enterprises exploring regulated digital currency systems. Its ability to balance privacy, speed, and compliance makes it relevant for real-world asset tokenization, healthcare data management, and enterprise application integration.

The COTI Token

The COTI cryptocurrency is the native digital asset that powers the network. It is used to pay transaction fees, participate in governance, and stake within the ecosystem. COTI exists across multiple networks, including its native Trustchain and Ethereum as an ERC-20 token, allowing flexibility in how users access and store it.

With a total supply of approximately 2.6 billion tokens, COTI supports incentives for network participants while aligning long-term usage with demand for private computation and financial services. The token plays a central role in maintaining network security and aligning stakeholder interests.

How to Get Started with COTI

COTI is available on several major cryptocurrency exchanges. Most platforms support the ERC-20 version of COTI, which can be stored in compatible cryptocurrency wallets, including hardware and software options.

For users interested in building or integrating with the network, COTI provides developer tools, documentation, and technical support resources. These allow businesses and programmers to deploy private smart contracts, payment systems, and decentralized applications using familiar Web3 development workflows.

Conclusion

COTI represents a practical approach to blockchain privacy, combining fast computation, scalable architecture, and regulatory-aware design. By leveraging Garbled Circuits and Ethereum Layer 2 technology, it enables confidential financial transactions and data processing without sacrificing efficiency or compliance. As privacy becomes increasingly important across decentralized finance, enterprise services, and regulated industries, COTI’s balance of speed, governance, and usability positions it as a relevant infrastructure layer in the evolving Web3 landscape.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal, financial or other professional advice or a recommendation of any kind whatsoever and should not be relied upon or treated as a substitute for specific advice relevant to particular circumstances. We make no warranties, representations or undertakings about any of the content of this article (including, without limitation, as to the quality, accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose of such content), or any content of any other material referred to or accessed by hyperlinks through this article. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete or up-to-date.

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