The Secret Network, in their own words, is the first blockchain with privacy-preserving smart contracts and is set to climb up the rankings in 2022 and beyond. Regular blockchains are public ledgers that allow any party to track all transactions, privacy isn't a luxury we currently have on most systems. While this does come with the advantage of transparency, privacy is an option we all deserve while transacting and will be an essential factor for cryptocurrencies to truly become mainstream. 

This is where the Secret Network comes in with the introduction of programmable privacy on secret contracts. While there are coins out there that offer privacy, namely Monero - there isn't a blockchain that offers programmable privacy and secret contracts like the Secret Network. Smart contract privacy in the form of secret contracts offers much wider utilization by allowing developers to build decentralized applications that allow complete privacy and greater security. This is will be one of the major attractions of the network for developers as we move closer to the Web 3.0.

Tor Bair, the founder of the Secret Network lays it out well;

"As an analogy — imagine trying to build a decentralized Facebook. Normal blockchains expose all data by default, a much worse outcome for user privacy and security. Only smart contract privacy allows you to build these types of complex applications without compromising the user experience and threatening their safety.”

The Secret Network will allow the Web 3.0 to flourish by allowing users to keep their data safe - it builds upon the fundamentals of blockchain and crypto by giving the control and power back to the user. You get to control when your data is allowed to be exposed and shared with the world, which in turn makes it much more valuable. 

Programmable privacy will give control to users and developers in the emerging world of de-fi along with attracting institutional investors who wish to participate in the crypto-sphere but want to keep all their sensitive data private. A whole range of Web 3.0 de-fi applications could thus be built on and be bridged onto the Secret Network to achieve these feats that are currently unavailable. Bridging is already available also, offering an option to bridge Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens over to the network along with BSC and its tokens. 

So, you can bridge or swap for an ERC-20 token on the Secret Network and it will become a completely private token, hidden from any public ledger and unable to be traced. For example, you can wrap BAT into sBAT (Secret Bat) which will essentially then be a Monero like token on the network. 

To then view your balance, you will need to create a 'viewing key'. Once generated, you can use this key to view your balance and share it with third parties if you wish to do so. Again, this network allows a user to take control of their data and choose how they want to share their information. This will also be essential for some contracts and audits for institutions, allowing for a financial system to operate on the network. 

De-fi on the Secret Network

One of the major advantages of building de-fi applications on a Secret Contract instead of a Smart Contract is that any finance application like a DEX will be private by default. All your financial data will be hidden from the world, protecting you from nefarious parties and front running bots. Coinmarket cap describes front running as an;

"act of placing a transaction in a queue with the knowledge of a future transaction. Front running on a blockchain platform normally happens when a miner, who has access to information on pending transactions, places an order that would earn him a profit based on a pending trade. For instance, on the Ethereum blockchain, front running can occur when bots are able to quote a higher gas price than a pending trade, thus, hastening its processing."

Without knowledge of transactions, parties won't be able to front-run any action. 

You'll be able to transact without anyone snooping on your private wallet. As mentioned previously, transparency can be a good feature of blockchain technology but there needs to be an option for privacy to achieve true mainstream adoption. The truth is that not everyone wants their wallet and transactions to be public. I wouldn't show my private bank account to anyone by choice, the Secret Network will give users this option in the crypto world. 

Secret NFTs

Another feature that may help the network expand and grow will be the implementation of Secret NFTs. Secret NFTs differ from regular NFTs since they are instilled with programmable privacy features that live on Secret Network. Therefore, these NFTs can be traded privately without any trace on the blockchain. 

Below you can find a comparison table that I grabbed from https://scrt.network/about/secret-nfts#private-ownership

As you can see, Secret NFTs give additional options and greater control over your property compared to regular NFTs. It'll also open up sealed auctions for pieces of art - allowing a collector to bid and collect NFTs without revealing his wallet. Again, this could be an attractive feature for institutional and wealthy investors who wish to remain anonymous, thereby potentially increasing trading volume greatly. Or it could be used in blockchain/NFT games to hide your assets from other players. Crypto games exploded in 2021, so this could be a cool expansion/feature to add in.

Perhaps more significantly, if NFTs expand to real-world applications like real estate - privacy will be essential. See below a screenshot from the Secret Network's site;

Conclusion

To conclude, the Secret Network offers a great way forward for Web 3.0 applications and an incredible amount of utility. It's revolutionary in the fact that it offers programmable privacy - a way to give users and developers control and a choice over their data.

It's built on the Cosmos SDK, which itself has seen a great increase in volume this year. $SCRT therefore could rise substantially in market cap in 2022 and beyond as Web 3.0 comes into fruition. It's only just breached the top 100, so you're still early if you're looking to invest.

In order to get your hands on $SCRT, you'll need to visit the Osmosis DEX and swap your Atom for it since it's built on Cosmos. 

If you need to pick up some Atom, you can find it on the following exchanges;

You can use my referrals to get additional benefits. 

https://crypto.com/app/g8atvv7crs 

https://www.kucoin.com/ucenter/signup?rcode=rJUBNZ7

https://www.coinex.com/register?refer_code=bhrxm