A user can shield USDC without owning one RAIL. That separation is the key to the token: private balances belong to users and their keys, while RAIL becomes consequential only when locked into the machinery that can rewrite the rules.
RAIL was deployed on Ethereum on 3 July 2021 at 0xe76c…a33d. Its code created a capped governance asset; the privacy system accepts other ERC-20 and ERC-721 assets rather than requiring RAIL as fuel. RAIL itself can also be shielded.
That design prevents the token price from gating privacy access. Buying RAIL does not itself confer ownership of other users’ assets deposited into the privacy pool.
Shielding publishes the source wallet, token and amount at the public edge, then converts the deposit into a hashed note in a shared Merkle tree. Internal sends use encrypted commitments and nullifiers.
The spender produces a zk-SNARK showing valid inputs and no reused nullifier. The chain can reject an invalid spend without learning the hidden route, balance or counterparties.
Unshielding returns an asset to a chosen public address. Privacy therefore has visible edges and a concealed interior, not an invisible blockchain from end to end.
Private Proofs of Innocence sits alongside the spending contracts. It recursively proves that a commitment’s path is absent from a selected provider’s dataset while keeping the path hidden.
Elliptic, SlowMist, PureFi, ScamSniffer and a Chainalysis Sanctions Oracle appear as list providers. Lists can differ by wallet, provider and jurisdiction; passing one is evidence about that list, not a judgment covering every law or later-discovered event.
A Broadcaster pays public-chain gas and quotes a premium. It does not need custody of the spending key, and self-broadcast remains available. Separately, the core takes a documented 0.25% shield/unshield deduction into treasury.
The Ethereum proxy exposes owner-only changes to fees, treasury, token blocklist and verification keys. Its implementation slot was active on review day. These controls mean it remains an owner-controlled proxy with governance-mediated authority, not ownerless or immutable code.
The owner read for both RAIL and the core proxy was 0xB6d5…B53B. Official governance says approved code actions are the route to execution; readers still need to inspect the proposal and call, not infer decentralization from the label.
One locked RAIL equals one vote. Sponsorship needs 500,000 votes, quorum needs 2,000,000, and review, voting, veto and execution each have explicit windows. Unlocking takes 30 days, during which voting power and allocations stop.
Active governors may claim a proportional share of the 2% treasury allocation released every two weeks, but they must meet participation conditions and pay gas. It is a protocol distribution, not fixed interest, equity or a legal claim on shielded deposits.
ABDK records its review of the contracts and circuits.
The capped ERC-20 governance contract begins on Ethereum.
Wallets prove against selected providers, including a sanctions oracle, rather than a universal legal list.
On 5 September 2026, totalSupply was observed at 60,000,000 RAIL against the 100,000,000 cap. This is a dated snapshot, not an issuance event on that day.
RAIL and the proxy share owner 0xB6d5…B53B; the proxy points to 0xD662…6A0C.
Last evidence review: 2026-09-05
RAIL is an ERC-20 governance token for RAILGUN’s Ethereum and Arbitrum deployments. RAILGUN itself is a non-custodial smart-contract privacy system for existing assets. Users do not need RAIL to shield or privately spend tokens. They lock RAIL to vote, delegate, propose changes and, if eligible, claim Active Governor Allocations. RAIL itself may also be shielded.
The difficult line is between privacy, assurance and control. A zk proof can validate ownership without exposing a private path; PPOI can prove non-inclusion against chosen datasets; neither determines whether a transaction is lawful. Meanwhile governance-approved calls can alter verifier keys, fees, treasury and token eligibility.
Users shield public assets into encrypted notes committed to a Merkle tree. A spend proves valid notes and unused nullifiers without publishing the private balance. A Broadcaster can submit the transaction for a premium, or the user can self-broadcast. PPOI adds list-specific recursive proofs beside the core. Locked RAIL supplies one vote per token and conditional treasury allocations.
No. Privacy comes from RAILGUN contracts and zk proofs; RAIL is not required to use them.
Voting and delegation power plus eligibility for conditional Active Governor Allocations, subject to participation and claim rules.
No. It proves non-inclusion against the particular public lists selected by a wallet or user.
A Broadcaster submits a proof and receives a premium; the documentation does not give it the user’s spending key or private path.
Official governance describes proposal and execution gates; the live owner address controls upgrade-related contract functions after that path.
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