Ross Introduces Tacit Chain for Private TAC Payments on Ethereum

Independent developer Ross (z0r0z) introduced Tacit Chain on Sunday, Nov. 8, as a prototype Ethereum rollup for private payments using Tacit's TAC token, with transactions designed to conceal amounts and counterparties. Tacit is a confidential Bitcoin (BTC) decentralized finance project.

Users generate payment proofs on their own devices. A rotating leader groups payments into blocks, and Ethereum checks each block with one proof. The system hides amounts and counterparties on-chain, while deposits to and exits from Ethereum remain public.

Tacit Chain encrypts payment memos with ML-KEM, a post-quantum standard from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), alongside elliptic-curve cryptography. The rollup's payment proofs are not quantum-safe.

The chain has no protocol fee. A portion of each payment and a 0.1% exit fee go into a shared pool. Staking 1,000 TAC gives a user a place in the rotating leader schedule. If a leader does not post for 10 minutes, anyone can post the next block.

Ross described the design as Stage 2, the highest tier on a rollup risk tracker. The tracker had not issued an assessment by Nov. 9. By then, Tacit Chain had produced 27 blocks and held about 4,677 TAC, worth roughly $600. All blocks had come from Tacit's starter leader address, and no one had staked for a place in the rotation.