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Glossary
The terms used across these docs, defined once.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Shielded pool | The smart-contract vault that holds all Noirpay balances as encrypted notes. Deposits and withdrawals are public; everything inside is not. |
| Note | One encrypted record of value (an amount of USDG or a tokenized stock) bound to a spending key. A balance is the sum of your notes. |
| Spending key | The key that opens your notes and signs spends. Held on your device, never by Noirpay. |
| Viewing key | A read-only key you issue for a scope and a date range. Revocable; can self-expire. |
| Shield / unshield | Moving money into / out of the pool. Both are screened. |
| Stealth address | A fresh, one-time receiving address derived from your handle for each payment. |
| Handle | Your human-readable payment name (like a username). Sharing it never reveals a balance. |
| Association set | The set of deposits a withdrawal proves it is associated with, used to show a clean withdrawal isn't linked to tainted deposits. |
| Attestation | A zero-knowledge proof of a statement about your account (balance above X, held N months) that reveals nothing else. |
| Edge screening | Sanctions and risk checks applied at the boundary of the pool, on every shield and unshield. |
| Time-decorrelated withdrawal | An exit that is scheduled and split so its timing can't be matched to an entry. |
| Vault | A sub-account: a separate shielded bucket under one identity (savings, trading, business, spending). |
| Note consolidation | Background merging of small notes so proofs stay fast and fees stay low. |
| Paymaster | The contract that pays gas on your behalf so you never hold ETH. |
| Seat | A per-user license for a company's finance staff on the business product. Noirpay's primary revenue. |
| Tier | An account level unlocked by holding $NOIR, which steps fees down. |