COTI (Currency of the Internet) is a project focused on blockchain payment solutions and privacy infrastructure, aimed at addressing the high costs, low efficiency, and privacy deficiencies of traditional financial systems through innovative technology. Since its establishment in 2017, COTI has evolved from an initial payment network to an EVM-compatible Layer 2 protocol, with the core mission of providing fast, low-cost, and privacy-first financial infrastructure for businesses and individuals.
Core Positioning: From Payment Network to Privacy Infrastructure
COTI was originally positioned as a decentralized payment network, utilizing a DAG-based Trustchain protocol to support high throughput transactions (100,000 TPS), and launched the COTI Pay gateway service for merchant payments. However, with the upgrade of privacy demands in the blockchain industry, COTI completed a strategic transformation in 2025:
- V2 Mainnet Launch: The Layer 2 mainnet was launched in March 2025, focusing on Web3 Provides "on-demand privacy" features, supporting cross-chain confidential transactions;
- Addresses institutional adoption barriers: meets corporate compliance requirements (such as GDPR) through encryption technology, avoiding sensitive data exposure on public ledgers.
Technical Breakthrough: Garbled Circuits Redefining Privacy Standards
COTI’s privacy capabilities stem from its collaboration with Soda Labs to develop Garbled Circuits technology, achieving an order of magnitude breakthrough compared to traditional solutions:
- Speed Advantage: 1,800 – 3,000 times faster than Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), with resource consumption comparable to regular transactions;
- Decentralized Design: No need for Trusted Hardware (TEE), privacy protection is achieved through multiparty computation, avoiding single point risks;
- Flexible Privacy Policies: Allows customization of data visibility (e.g., hiding transaction amounts while disclosing participant identities), adapting to compliance audit requirements.
Application Scenarios: Empowering the Trillion-Dollar Market
Tokenized Asset (RWA) Privacy Layer
In August 2025, COTI joined the Tokenized Asset Coalition (TAC) as its default privacy infrastructure. Institutions can selectively hide position or beneficiary information when trading bonds, real estate, and other RWAs through COTI, promoting the on-chain movement of trillion-dollar markets.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
- European Central Bank Cooperation: Selected as a Digital Euro Pioneer Partner in May 2025 to test cross-border privacy payment solutions;
- Israel Pilot: Developing a confidential cross-border transaction verification prototype for the digital shekel.
Artificial Intelligence and Web3
As a founding member of the Saudi AI and Blockchain Center (SAAIBC), promote the implementation of privacy-preserving AI agents and compliant financial tools in the Middle East.
Token Economics: Deflationary Model and Governance Empowerment
COTI token (maximum supply of 2 billion) plays multiple roles in the ecosystem:
- Functional Consumption: Pay network transaction fees, burn tokens to use privacy services;
- Governance Rights: Holders can participate in protocol upgrade voting and node elections;
- Staking Incentives: Collateralize to generate stablecoins (such as Djed) or run nodes to earn rewards.
The mainnet will introduce a new token model in 2025: an initial annual inflation rate of 0.45%, gradually decreasing to 0.50% over ten years, with transaction fees deposited into the community treasury to support token burn deflation.
COTI Latest Ecosystem Updates
- TAC Integration: Collaborating with Polygon, Hedera, and others to provide on-chain OTC privacy trading solutions for the Luxembourg fund;
- Expansion in Africa: Joining the African Tokenization Committee and collaborating with Aureus.Money to develop a compliant RWA platform;
- Developer Incentives: A $100 million fund continues to support the construction of ecosystem applications.
Summary: The Scarcity Value of Privacy Infrastructure
COTI fills a crucial gap in Web3 through obfuscation circuit technology: achieving compliant privacy on a transparent blockchain while balancing efficiency and decentralization. Its applications have expanded from payments to cutting-edge fields such as CBDC, RWA, and AI, becoming a core infrastructure adopted by institutions. With the launch on Coinbase and the deepening of TAC cooperation, its token economy and network effects are entering an acceleration phase. Future challenges lie in cross-chain privacy standardization and regulatory adaptability, but COTI’s early practices have already earned it a unique ecological niche.
