When you work long enough with banks and financial institutions, you start hearing the same sentence; whispered, almost embarrassed:
We love blockchain… but we can’t use it. It’s too public.
For years, we’ve helped these institutions experiment with blockchain rails. They see the potential: instant settlement, programmable assets, global reach.
But every time we built something together, there came this inevitable pause. They’d look at me and say, “So… everyone can see the amounts? The counterparties? Even our clients’ wallets?”
And suddenly, the room would go quiet.
They weren’t rejecting blockchain, they were begging for privacy. Because they understood something that’s easy to forget in Web3: finance cannot function without confidentiality.
Private blockchains weren’t the answer either. They’re just centralized servers with a new name, silos pretending to be networks. Institutions knew that too.
So they were stuck in between: public blockchains that are too transparent, and private ones that aren’t really blockchains at all.
That’s when the idea for Moonlight began.
But it’s not just about banks.
It’s about people too.
I remember a friend telling me:
“I’d love to use my crypto for groceries, but I can’t. The store’s wallet is public: anyone who buys there can see who paid what. They could trace my transactions, my habits, my balance. Suddenly, I’m not anonymous anymore.”
That hit me hard.
Because what we call “pseudonymity” in blockchain often gives a false sense of privacy. One connection, a wallet seen in the wild, a transaction to a known address, and suddenly your entire financial life is open for analysis.
That’s not freedom. That’s exposure.
And no one, not a global bank, not a small business, not a human being buying bread, should have to choose between innovation and privacy.
So we built Moonlight, a privacy layer for Stellar that restores confidentiality where it belongs.
With Moonlight, transactions stay private but remain auditable. You can prove compliance without revealing everything. Institutions can finally use blockchain safely. Everyday people can pay without fear.
Because privacy is not secrecy: it’s dignity.
It’s the right to choose what you share, when, and with whom.
That’s why we built Moonlight.
Not to hide, but to protect what matters most.