Stealth Addresses
Generate unique one-time addresses for receiving payments. Each address is unlinkable to your identity or other stealth addresses, providing true payment privacy.
How Stealth Addresses Work
Traditional addresses are like posting your home address publicly—anyone can see all the mail you receive. Stealth addresses are like having a different PO Box for each sender that only you can access.
Traditional: Sender_A → Your_Address ←──┐ Sender_B → Your_Address ←──┼── All linked to you Sender_C → Your_Address ←──┘ Stealth: Sender_A → Stealth_1 ←── Only you know this is yours Sender_B → Stealth_2 ←── Unlinkable to Stealth_1 Sender_C → Stealth_3 ←── No connection to others
Key Components
Master Seed
A secret seed that generates all your stealth keypairs. Encrypted and stored locally.
Meta Address
A shareable address that senders use to generate unique stealth addresses for you.
Scan Key
Allows you to scan the blockchain and identify payments made to your stealth addresses.
Payment Flow
Share Your Meta Address
You share your stealth meta-address publicly (on your website, social media, etc.). This doesn't reveal anything about your actual wallet.
Sender Generates Unique Address
The sender uses your meta-address to derive a one-time stealth address that only you can spend from.
Payment Sent
The sender sends SOL to the stealth address. To blockchain observers, this looks like a random address with no connection to you.
You Scan and Claim
Using your scan key, you identify payments made to your stealth addresses. You can then sweep funds to any wallet you choose.
Technical Implementation
SHADE v1 uses a simplified deterministic stealth address model:
// Address Generation
master_seed = encrypted_storage.get('stealth:master_seed')
index = next_unused_index()
stealth_keypair = derive(master_seed, index)
// Each index produces unique keypair
stealth_address_0 = derive(seed, 0).publicKey
stealth_address_1 = derive(seed, 1).publicKey
// ... unlinkable to each otherFuture versions will implement full ECDH-based stealth addresses for enhanced cryptographic privacy.
Use Cases
Freelance Payments
Receive client payments without revealing your main wallet or total earnings.
Donations
Accept donations publicly while keeping your treasury private.
Payroll
Pay employees to stealth addresses so salaries remain confidential.
Business Transactions
Receive vendor payments without exposing your corporate treasury.