Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

What is Inkognito Network?

Inkognito Network is the first RPC provider that literally cannot track you. We combine the x402 payment protocol with zero-knowledge proofs to enable completely anonymous Solana RPC access.

How is this different from using a VPN with a regular RPC provider?

A VPN only hides your IP address. The RPC provider still sees:

Which wallets you're querying
Your transaction patterns
Your activity timeline
Correlations between queries

With Inkognito + ZK proofs, the server mathematically cannot link your queries together or identify you, even with your real IP address.

Is this legal?

Yes! Privacy is not illegal. Inkognito Network provides the same service as traditional RPC providers, just with better privacy. We comply with all applicable laws. There's nothing illegal about:

Checking your wallet balance privately
Querying blockchain data anonymously
Using cryptography for privacy

Who can see my activity?

Nobody. That's the point!

✅ You know what you're querying
❌ We don't know who's making requests
❌ Anyone else can't track your activity

The blockchain itself is still public, but your interest in specific addresses/transactions remains private.

Technical Questions

How do zero-knowledge proofs work?

ZK proofs let you prove a statement without revealing the underlying data. In our case:

Statement: "I own credits for account H" Proof: A 192-byte cryptographic proof Server verifies: The proof is valid Server doesn't learn: Which wallet bought the credits

The math is complex (Groth16 SNARKs on BN254), but the result is simple: provable privacy.

What is a commitment?

A commitment is your secret privacy key. It's a large random number that:

You use to buy credits (commit hash is stored on-chain)
You use to generate ZK proofs (proves you own the credits)
Never leaves your device (completely private)

Important: If you lose your commitment, you lose access to your credits!

How does the x402 protocol work?

HTTP 402 is a standard status code meaning "Payment Required":

You try to access a resource → Server returns 402
You make a payment → Server verifies it
You retry with proof → Server grants access

It's like HTTP 401 (Unauthorized) but for payments instead of authentication.

Can I recover my credits if I lose my commitment?

No. Commitments are like private keys - there's no recovery mechanism. This is intentional for privacy:

No email to recover
No "forgot password"
No customer support can help

Always back up your commitments!

What happens to my data?

Nothing is stored about you:

❌ No wallet addresses
❌ No IP logs
❌ No request history
❌ No usage patterns

The only data stored:

✅ On-chain: commitment_hash + credits remaining
✅ In Redis: Nullifiers (to prevent double-spending, expire after 2x session timeout)

How fast is it?

Very fast:

ZK proof generation: ~1-2 seconds (client-side, one-time per session)
ZK proof verification: <12ms (server-side)
RPC latency: Same as traditional providers (~50-200ms)

First request: Slow (generating proof) Subsequent requests: Fast (reuse session)

Privacy Questions

Is this really anonymous?

Yes, with proper usage:

✅ Payment unlinkability: Server can't link payments to usage ✅ Request unlinkability: Multiple requests can't be correlated ✅ Wallet unlinkability: No way to identify which wallet is querying

⚠️ You still need to:

Use Tor/VPN to hide your IP address
Not reuse deposit wallets for transactions
Generate different commitments for different apps

Can the government trace me?

On Inkognito's side: No. We don't have data to provide even if subpoenaed.

On the blockchain: Yes. The blockchain is public. We hide your interest in addresses, not the addresses themselves.

Best practice: Use privacy tools at multiple layers:

Network layer: Tor/VPN
RPC layer: Inkognito (✓)
Blockchain layer: Privacy mixers (if needed)

Can Inkognito de-anonymize me?

No. Even we cannot:

Link payments to usage (ZK proofs prevent this mathematically)
Identify which user made which requests
Correlate requests over time

The only way we could track you is if you told us your commitment (don't do that!).

What about timing attacks?

Timing attacks are possible if you're the only user making requests at a specific time. Mitigations:

Our server doesn't log timestamps
Use Tor for network-level protection
Don't make unique query patterns (e.g., querying the same 5 addresses every hour)

Should I use this for illegal activity?

No. Privacy ≠ Anonymity for crime. Inkognito is for:

✅ Protecting your financial privacy
✅ Preventing corporate surveillance
✅ Avoiding data broker profiling
❌ Not for illegal activities

We comply with all laws and discourage illegal use.

Pricing & Credits

How much does it cost?

Price per credit: 10,000 lamports (0.00001 SOL) 1 credit = 100 RPC requests (session-based)

Examples:

0.0001 SOL = 10 credits = 1,000 requests
0.001 SOL = 100 credits = 10,000 requests
0.01 SOL = 1,000 credits = 100,000 requests

How long do credits last?

Forever. Credits don't expire. They're stored on-chain and remain valid indefinitely.

Can I get a refund?

No. Credits are non-refundable. This is intentional for privacy - we can't identify who bought which credits to process refunds.

Can I transfer credits to someone else?

Not directly. But you could share your commitment with them (not recommended for privacy).

Better approach: They buy their own credits with their own commitment.

Do you offer bulk discounts?

Currently, no. The price is fixed at 10,000 lamports per credit for everyone. This prevents de-anonymization through pricing tiers.

Usage Questions

Can I use this in production?

Devnet: Yes, for testing Mainnet: Coming soon

Currently deployed on Solana Devnet. Mainnet launch planned for Q1 2025.

What RPC methods are supported?

All of them! Every standard Solana RPC method is supported:

Account queries
Transaction queries
Block queries
Program queries
And more

See our API Reference for the complete list.

Can I use this with my existing dApp?

Yes! Just replace your RPC endpoint:

Complete Example

1// Before
2const connection = new Connection('https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com');
3
4// After
5const client = new InkognitoClient({
6  endpoint: 'https://rpc.inkognito.network',
7  mode: 'zk',
8  commitment: yourCommitment,
9});

Do AI agents work with this?

Yes! AI agents can use Inkognito to make RPC calls without revealing:

Who owns the agent
What the agent is analyzing
The agent's trading strategies

Perfect for autonomous trading bots, analytics agents, and monitoring systems.

Can I use multiple commitments?

Yes! Recommended for privacy:

Different commitment per application
Different commitment per use case
Rotate commitments periodically

What if I run out of credits mid-session?

Your session remains valid until it expires, but you can't make new requests. You'll need to:

Buy more credits
Create a new session with the updated credit balance

Troubleshooting

I'm getting "Payment Required" errors

This means you don't have an active session. You need to:

Buy credits (if you haven't)
Create a session with your commitment
Include the session token in requests

ZK proof generation is slow

First-time proof generation takes 1-2 seconds. This is normal. Subsequent requests in the same session are fast.

Tips:

Use CDN-hosted circuits for faster loading
Pre-generate proofs when idle
Reuse sessions to avoid re-generating proofs

I lost my commitment!

Unfortunately, there's no way to recover it. Your credits are lost. This is the trade-off for privacy - no recovery mechanisms mean no tracking.

Always back up commitments:

Write them down
Store encrypted copies
Use a password manager

Transactions are failing

Check:

Are you on the correct network? (Devnet vs Mainnet)
Do you have enough SOL for gas?
Is your wallet connected?
Is the smart contract address correct?

How do I check my remaining credits?

Complete Example

1const session = client.getSession();
2console.log('Requests remaining:', session?.requestsRemaining);

Or check on-chain:

Complete Example

1// Query your credit account by commitment_hash
2const accountInfo = await connection.getAccountInfo(creditAccountPDA);

Security Questions

Have you been audited?

Smart contract audit is planned before mainnet launch. The code is open-source and available for community review.

What if there's a bug in the ZK circuit?

The circuit has been tested extensively, but bugs are possible. If found:

We'll fix it immediately
Deploy new circuits
Notify all users

The math behind Groth16 is sound - implementation bugs are the main risk.

Can someone steal my credits?

Only if they have your commitment. Keep it secret! It's like a private key.

Nullifiers prevent someone from reusing your ZK proofs, so even if they intercept a proof, they can't reuse it.

What happens if Inkognito shuts down?

Your credits are stored on-chain in a decentralized smart contract. Even if we disappear:

Your credits remain
Anyone can verify ownership
Community can fork the project

Comparison Questions

How is this different from PayAI?

PayAI uses x402 but doesn't have privacy. They can still track:

Which wallet made payments
Which requests came from which user
Usage patterns

Inkognito adds zero-knowledge proofs to break this linkability.

How is this different from Tor?

Tor hides your IP address. Inkognito hides your interest in specific blockchain data. Use both together for maximum privacy!

How is this different from privacy coins?

Privacy coins (Monero, Zcash) make transactions private on-chain. Inkognito makes RPC access private off-chain. Different problems, complementary solutions.

How is this different from a mixer?

Mixers break on-chain transaction links. Inkognito breaks off-chain query links. Again, complementary - you can use both.

Contributing

Can I contribute to Inkognito?

Yes! We're open source:

GitHub: github.com/InkognitoLabs
Issues: Report bugs, suggest features
PRs: Code contributions welcome

How can I support the project?

⭐ Star our GitHub repos
🐦 Share on Twitter
📝 Write about your experience
💬 Join our community
🛠️ Build with Inkognito

Still have questions?

Discord: Join our community
Twitter: @InkognitoNtwrk
GitHub: github.com/InkognitoLabs
Email: support@inkognito.network