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What Is RAILGUN?

RAILGUN (ticker RAIL) is a privacy system for Ethereum and other EVM blockchains built with zero-knowledge cryptography. Unlike privacy coins such as Monero or Zcash, RAILGUN is not a separate blockchain. It is a set of smart contracts deployed directly on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, and Arbitrum, so users get privacy without leaving the chain, using a bridge, or trusting a custodian. Users "shield" tokens into the RAILGUN contract, receive a private 0zk address, and can then transfer tokens and interact with DeFi while their balances, transaction history, and counterparties stay encrypted.

RAILGUN launched on Ethereum in July 2021. There is no company or named founding team behind it; the protocol was built by a group of largely pseudonymous contributors known as Railgun Project contributors, and control rests with the RAILGUN DAO, which has governed the protocol since launch. Each deployment is governed on its own chain: RAIL holders on Ethereum, RAILBSC holders on BNB Smart Chain, and RAILPOLY holders on Polygon, while the Arbitrum deployment is secured by RAIL staked on Ethereum.

Technically, RAILGUN uses zk-SNARKs, the same family of zero-knowledge proofs pioneered by Zcash. When tokens are shielded into the contract, they join a shared pool in which all wallets and tokens become indistinguishable from one another, while each user retains sole control of their funds. Transactions from a 0zk address are submitted on-chain by independent broadcasters, so a block explorer sees only the broadcaster's address, not the user's. Because the system lives in smart contracts, private balances can do more than sit still: users can swap, lend, provide liquidity, and call other DeFi contracts from inside the shielded pool.

RAILGUN's answer to the compliance problem is Private Proofs of Innocence (Private POI), launched in late 2023. When tokens are shielded, the user's wallet generates a blinded cryptographic proof that the funds do not appear in datasets of illicit activity published by independent list providers, which at launch included Chainalysis, Elliptic, ScamSniffer, PureFi, and SlowMist. New shields also face a standby period, initially one hour, during which they can only be reverted back out, giving list providers time to flag stolen funds before they can move deeper into the pool. Crucially, the proofs are zero-knowledge: they demonstrate that funds are not on a blocklist without revealing anything about the user's balances or history. The design draws on the Privacy Pools research paper co-authored by Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin.

RAIL is purely a governance token; holding it is not required to use the privacy system and confers no privacy itself. RAIL has a maximum supply of 100 million on Ethereum, with roughly 57.5 million circulating. Holders stake RAIL through the DAO's governance system, where one staked RAIL equals one vote. Proposals must gather 500,000 sponsorship votes, pass a review and voting period, and reach a quorum of 2 million votes before approved code changes can be executed on-chain by any wallet.

RAILGUN has been at the center of the debate over on-chain privacy. In January 2023 the FBI stated that North Korea's Lazarus Group had used RAILGUN to launder more than $60 million in ether stolen in the 2022 Harmony Horizon Bridge hack. The project disputed the claim, saying suggestions that sanctioned entities had used RAILGUN were speculation without evidence, and pointed to Private POI, which is designed to block exactly this kind of actor; that system, however, was deployed after the period the FBI described. The protocol received a high-profile endorsement in April 2024 when Vitalik Buterin sent 100 ETH through RAILGUN and posted "Privacy is normal," noting that its privacy pools approach makes it much harder for bad actors to join the pool without compromising honest users. He has continued to use the protocol, and RAIL's price more than doubled in the days after his post.

Getting Started With RAILGUN

Getting started with RAILGUN means either using the privacy system itself or holding RAIL to take part in governance:

  1. Step 1: Set up a standard EVM wallet such as MetaMask, Rabby, or Frame and fund it with the base token of your chosen chain (ETH, BNB, or POL) plus the tokens you want to shield.
  2. Step 2: Choose a RAILGUN frontend. Railway Wallet is the most widely used app built on RAILGUN, available on desktop and mobile.
  3. Step 3: Generate a private 0zk address and shield your tokens into it. Your wallet will create a Private Proof of Innocence for the deposit automatically.
  4. Step 4: Transact privately: send shielded transfers, swap tokens, or interact with DeFi from your 0zk balance, then unshield back to a public address whenever you choose.
  5. Step 5: If you hold RAIL, stake it through RAILGUN governance to vote on proposals and earn a share of protocol fees.

How to Get a RAILGUN Wallet?

Two kinds of wallets matter here: a RAILGUN-compatible wallet for private 0zk balances, and a standard EVM wallet for holding RAIL and shielding funds in.

Railway Wallet

Railway is the best-known wallet built on the RAILGUN system, available as a web, desktop, and mobile app. It manages your 0zk address, handles shielding and unshielding, generates Private Proofs of Innocence, and supports private transfers and swaps.

Other RAILGUN Frontends

Because RAILGUN is an open protocol, independent teams run alternative frontends, including Terminal Wallet and Token Shielder. The official website maintains a current list of wallet providers.

Standard EVM Wallets

RAIL itself is an ordinary ERC-20 token, so MetaMask, Rabby, or Frame can hold it, and any of them can be paired with a hardware wallet such as a Ledger for cold storage of larger balances.

RAILGUN Resources

How to Buy RAILGUN?

RAIL trades mostly on decentralized exchanges, with listings on a handful of centralized venues.

Centralized Exchanges

RAIL is listed on exchanges including MEXC, XT.COM, CoinEx, and Poloniex, typically traded against USDT. It is not currently listed on the largest US exchanges, so availability varies by region.

Decentralized Exchanges

The deepest liquidity is on Ethereum DEXes, chiefly Uniswap and Sushiswap, where RAIL trades against ETH. Once acquired, RAIL can itself be shielded into the RAILGUN system or staked in governance.

Latest RAILGUN News

Privacy demand has driven strong growth for RAILGUN. The protocol passed $2 billion in cumulative shielded volume in October 2024 and roughly $4 billion by the end of 2025, with about $1.6 billion shielded in 2025 alone, its biggest year yet. Vitalik Buterin's repeated, public use of the protocol has kept it at the center of the conversation about making privacy a default part of Ethereum.

Development continues through DAO governance, with contributors working on expanding chain support and improving the wallet and broadcaster ecosystem. Because volume figures, supported chains, and governance parameters change over time, the official documentation and the project's Dune dashboard are the best sources for the current state of the protocol.