Your Toolkit to Build Privacy Apps ​
Welcome to Nox ​
Nox is a privacy layer that enables confidential computations on encrypted data while preserving full DeFi composability. It combines on-chain smart contracts with off-chain Trusted Execution Environments (Intel TDX) to process encrypted data without ever exposing plaintext on-chain.
With Nox, you build confidential smart contracts and tokens that stay fully composable with existing DeFi protocols. Your contracts can process encrypted inputs, execute computations privately, and maintain hidden balances, without asking users to change wallets or developers to rewrite contracts.
Why Nox Matters? ​
DeFi is transparent by default. That's a feature for retail users. It's a blocker for institutional adoption.
Imagine you want to build:
- A lending protocol that doesn't expose collateral ratios to liquidation bots
- A yield vault that protects strategy positions from copy-trading
- A tokenized fund where investor allocations stay off the public ledger
- A payment system that hides transaction amounts while staying verifiable Your institutional users have the capital. But they won't touch a protocol that exposes everything.
With Nox, they will. You unlock the capital. They get the confidentiality. DeFi grows.
Key Concepts ​
Native composability
Nox implements the confidential token and remains fully ERC-20 compatible. Nox interacts with existing DeFi without custom logic, isolated pools, or liquidity fragmentation.
Developer-friendly
Write confidential smart contracts in standard Solidity using Nox privacy primitives. No new language to learn, no specialized toolchain to configure.
No special wallets
Users interact with confidential tokens through any standard Ethereum wallet. No custom client, no UX friction, no migration ask.
Production-ready
Built on Intel TDX-based TEEs. iExec has operated confidential computing infrastructure since 2017.
How Nox Works ​
Nox enables confidential DeFi through a distributed architecture built on three core concepts:
Handles: When you encrypt data using the JS SDK, Nox creates a unique 32-byte identifier called a handle. Think of handles as secure pointers. Your smart contracts reference confidential values through these handles without exposing the underlying encrypted data, which is stored securely off-chain.
Access Control Lists (ACL): Each handle is protected by an ACL that manages permissions on-chain. By default, only you can access your data. You can grant view permissions to specific addresses, smart contracts, or auditors. This enables selective disclosure: maintaining privacy while allowing authorized parties to verify transactions when needed.
Trusted Execution Environments (TEE): When your smart contract needs to process confidential data, the computation happens inside Intel TDX-based TEE enclaves. These hardware-protected environments ensure that even infrastructure providers cannot access the plaintext data during execution.
The Nox Toolkit ​
Solidity Library: Add privacy to your contracts using familiar Solidity syntax, no specialized wallets or off-chain steps required.
JS SDK: Encrypt sensitive inputs and handle decryption with a developer-friendly TypeScript SDK.
Confidential Smart Contracts: Build smart contracts that process encrypted data on-chain while maintaining privacy.
Confidential Tokens: Create ERC-7984 compliant confidential tokens with hidden balances and private transfers. Wrap existing ERC-20 tokens or build native confidential assets that maintain full DeFi compatibility.
Real-world Use Cases ​
With Nox, you can build a wide range of privacy-preserving applications that seamlessly integrate with the broader DeFi ecosystem:
- Yield with confidential vault: Build yield-generating vaults that protect strategy positions and capital allocations from copy-trading and MEV.
- cRWA with confidential tokenized equity: Enable confidential tokenized equity on-chain, protecting investor positions and allocations while maintaining regulatory compliance.
- Confidential value transfers: Create private payment systems, payroll, and confidential transfers that hide transaction amounts while remaining verifiable.
- Privacy-preserving DeFi primitives: Build lending, borrowing, and other DeFi primitives that process sensitive data without exposing it publicly.
- Tokens with hidden balances & amounts: Create ERC-7984 compliant tokens where balances and transaction amounts are hidden from public view.
- Selective disclosure workflows: Implement audit and compliance workflows where users control exactly who can access their data, enabling regulatory requirements without sacrificing privacy.
- Institutional-grade DeFi & RWAs: Enable institutional adoption by removing transparency blockers, making DeFi and RWA products ready for discretion-sensitive capital.
The next chapters guide you through our Hello World journey: how to protect sensitive data and build and deploy confidential smart contracts.
Start Building ​
Ready to get started? Here's what to explore next:
- Quick Start: Follow our Hello World guide to deploy your first confidential contract in minutes
- Explore Use Cases: Browse real-world examples to see what you can build with Nox
Support ​
Need help building with Nox? We're here to support you:
- Discord Community: Connect with other builders, ask questions, and get real-time support on our Discord server