OnionCoin 🧅

Privacy-first cryptocurrency natively built on the Tor network

Overview

OnionCoin is a cryptocurrency designed from the ground up to operate entirely within the Tor network, providing unprecedented privacy and censorship resistance. Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies that can optionally use Tor as a proxy, OnionCoin's entire architecture is built around Tor hidden services.

Key Features

🕵️ Native Tor Integration

• Every node runs as a .onion hidden service
• P2P communication exclusively via Tor circuits
• Impossible to geolocate or censor nodes

⏰ Temporal Obfuscation (Unique!)

OnionCoin leverages Tor's inherent latency variability as a privacy feature:

• Fuzzy timestamps: Transactions use time ranges (2-6 hours) instead of precise timestamps
• Zero-knowledge time proofs: Prove transaction was created within a range without revealing exact time
• Random delays: Strategic delays at multiple propagation stages
• Mixing pools: Batch and shuffle transactions before broadcast
• Makes timing analysis and transaction correlation extremely difficult

🌸 Dandelion++ Propagation

• STEM phase: Forward through 1-4 random hops with delays
• FLUFF phase: Broadcast to network
• Hides transaction origin both temporally and topologically

🔒 Privacy by Default

• Ring signatures: Hide sender among decoys (Monero-style)
• Stealth addresses: Each transaction generates new recipient address
• Confidential transactions: Amounts hidden with Bulletproofs
• No metadata leakage: Timestamp, IP, location all obfuscated

⚡ Proof-of-Contribution Consensus (REVOLUTIONARY!)

OnionCoin's consensus is unique: it rewards WORK, not just wealth

• Stake (40%): Still important, but uses logarithmic scale to reduce whale advantage
• Tor Relay Work (30%): Earn by relaying OnionCoin traffic through Tor! 🌐
• Bandwidth (15%): Network contribution matters
• Uptime (10%): Reliability is rewarded
• Storage (5%): Help store the blockchain

Minimum stake: Only 10 ONC! Even a Raspberry Pi Zero can validate!

💎 Native Blockchain Inheritance (WORLD'S FIRST!)

OnionCoin solves the $140B+ lost Bitcoin problem with inheritance built into the protocol

• Progressive unlock: Gradual release (10% → 35% → 70% → 100%) gives owner time to dispute if still alive!
• Heartbeat system: Send 0.00000001 ONC to yourself every 90 days to prove you're alive
• Shamir secret sharing: Split seed among 5 people, any 3 can recover
• Anti-scam protections: Dispute system, suspicious activity detection, max 3 disputes
• Privacy-first: Tor-only heartbeats, encrypted beneficiary lists
• Costs $0.14 for 10 years vs $10,000 for lawyers

NO OTHER CRYPTO HAS THIS! Read INHERITANCE.md for details.

Architecture

onioncoin/
├── core/        # Blockchain, transactions, blocks
├── crypto/      # Cryptographic primitives
├── timing/      # Temporal obfuscation (unique!)
├── network/     # Dandelion++, P2P over Tor
├── consensus/   # Proof-of-Contribution (UNIQUE!)
├── inheritance/ # Native inheritance system (WORLD'S FIRST!)
└── wallet/      # User wallet interface

How It Works

Transaction Flow

1. Create: Wallet creates transaction with fuzzy timestamp (T ± 2h)
2. Delay: Random delay (5-60 min) before broadcast
3. STEM: Forward through 1-4 Tor nodes with delays
4. Mix: Enter mixing pool, shuffle with other transactions
5. FLUFF: Broadcast to network after random batch delay
6. Confirm: Included in block by PoS validator

Result: Impossible to determine when/where transaction originated

Timing Obfuscation Example

use onioncoin_timing::{TimeRange, TimingMetadata, DelayStrategy};

// Create transaction with fuzzy timestamp
let now = Utc::now();
let seed = [42u8; 32];
let timing = TimingMetadata::new(now, &seed)?;

// Timing range: now ± 2-6 hours (random)
// Actual time: provable via ZK proof, but not revealed

// Apply strategic delays
let strategy = DelayStrategy::wallet_broadcast(); // 5-60 min
strategy.sleep().await;

Economic Model

Genesis Mining (Fair Launch)

• Phase 1 (6 months): 1,000,000 ONC distributed to Tor relay operators
• NO pre-mine, NO ICO: Completely fair distribution
• Early participants get 2x bonus (first month), then linear decay to 1x
• Anyone can join by running a Tor relay for OnionCoin traffic

Regular Emission

• Emission: 5 ONC per block (~262,800/year)
• Max supply: ~21M ONC (halving every 4 years)
• Block time: 10 minutes
• TPS: 5-10 tx/s (realistic for Tor bandwidth)

Validator Tiers

Tier	Min Stake	Hardware	Monthly Return
Micro	10 ONC	Raspberry Pi Zero	~0.1 ONC
Light	100 ONC	Raspberry Pi 4	~1 ONC
Standard	1000 ONC	Desktop/VPS	~10 ONC
Power	10000 ONC	Server 24/7	~100 ONC

Running a Node

# Install Tor
sudo apt install tor

# Run OnionCoin node (becomes a .onion hidden service)
cargo run --bin onioncoin-node

# Your node will have an address like:
# abc123def456.onion:9333

Why OnionCoin?

Existing cryptocurrencies:

• Can use Tor as proxy (optional)
• Metadata leakage (timestamps, IP correlation)
• Vulnerable to timing analysis

OnionCoin:

• Tor is the only network layer
• Timing is deliberately obfuscated as a core feature
• Transaction origin is cryptographically untraceable
• Rewards Tor relay work - first crypto to do this!

Use Cases

✅ Privacy-preserving payments ✅ Censorship-resistant transactions ✅ Anonymous donations ✅ Darknet markets (legitimate use) ✅ Surveillance-free commerce

Development Status

🚧 Prototype/Research Phase

This is a proof-of-concept implementation demonstrating:

• ✅ Temporal obfuscation protocols
• ✅ Dandelion++ over Tor
• ✅ Privacy-preserving transaction structure
• ✅ Proof-of-Contribution consensus (UNIQUE!)
• ✅ Proof-of-Relay system (REVOLUTIONARY!)
• ✅ Fair genesis mining

Not production-ready! Missing:

• Full cryptographic implementations (ring sigs, bulletproofs)
• Actual Tor integration layer
• Consensus finalization
• Network security hardening

Technical Specifications

Parameter	Value
Block time	10 minutes
Block size	2 MB
TPS	5-10 tx/s
Consensus	Proof-of-Stake
Min stake	1000 ONC
Timestamp range	2-6 hours
STEM hops	1-4 random
Mixing pool delay	10-30 minutes

Building

cargo build --release
cargo test

Contributing

This is a research/educational project. Contributions welcome:

• Cryptographic implementations
• Tor networking layer
• Performance optimizations
• Security analysis

License

MIT

Disclaimer

Educational/research project. Not financial advice. Use at your own risk.

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Built with privacy, for privacy. 🧅