# The Problem
Each year $17 trillion in consumer payments are still made in physical cash and equivalents. The privacy provided by this means of transaction, however, is globally under attack, as cash gradually becomes outlawed by governments driven to surveil their citizens.
# The Solution
As we careen toward a cashless society, cash payments will go digital, and there are currently no reliable privacy-preserving alternatives available. Veil is a cryptocurrency project providing the solution—a physical cash alternative.
# The Roadmap
Veil is not just another privacy coin. It’s a long-term initiative to not only provide a physical cash alternative, but also the broader context components in which it can thrive.
- 1. $VEIL (2020, Operational) — The first step is the surveillance-free cryptocurrency, $VEIL, based on industry-standard privacy technology, RingCT, and delivered in a user friendly wallet that allows $VEIL holders to earn rewards similar to a traditional bank savings account.
- 2. $VSD (2022, Research Phase) — While cryptocurrency ascends from a nascent technology to broad adoption, price volatility is the main impediment to its use in commerce. USD Stablecoins solve this problem; however, no private stablecoin presently exists. Veil is researching the feasibility of a decentralized stablecoin called the Veil Stable Dollar ($VSD), based on a similar security mechanism as MakerDAO, and using only prime privacy coins (such a Veil, Monero, Zcash, etc.) as collateral.
- 3. VEIL (2024, Research Phase) — While Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) provide a certain level of internet privacy today, they are not sovereign. The Veil Encrypted Interoperability Layer, will provide truly decentralized privacy to communication devices, ensuring the highest level of privacy to support private, encrypted cash societies.
# The Team
Veil is an open-source project, supported by the team members at the Veil Foundation, as well as contributors around the world.