COTI began as a fintech-focused Layer 1 blockchain using a novel DAG-based “Trustchain” architecture optimized for high-throughput payment processing — achieving thousands of TPS without Proof of Work by organizing transactions as a directed graph rather than a linear chain. COTI’s most visible early product was ADA Pay (a payment processing system for Cardano) and a native stablecoin issuance platform. In 2023–2024, COTI pivoted dramatically with COTI V2: an Ethereum Layer 2 built around garbled circuits — a cryptographic technique for confidential computation that enables smart contracts to execute over encrypted data, enabling private DeFi where transaction inputs and outputs are hidden even from validators. COTI is used as the gas token and staking collateral on both the legacy chain and V2.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | COTI |
| Price | $0.01 |
| Market Cap | $39.26M |
| 24h Change | +6.1% |
| Circulating Supply | 2.77B COTI |
| Max Supply | 4.91B COTI |
| All-Time High | $0.67 |
| Contract (Ethereum) | 0xddb3...55c5 |
How It Works
COTI Legacy (Trustchain DAG):
Rather than blocks, COTI organizes transactions as a DAG. Each new transaction validates two previous transactions, so network throughput scales with usage — the more transactions submitted, the faster earlier transactions confirm. “Trust scores” are assigned to addresses based on behavior history, with low-trust addresses required to validate more transactions.
COTI V2 (Confidential Ethereum L2):
COTI V2 is an Ethereum rollup with a unique differentiator:
- Garbled circuits — A cryptographic technique where computations are encrypted such that the evaluator learns only the output, not the inputs. Applied to smart contracts: a contract can compute on private input data, producing public results, without exposing the underlying data.
- Use cases — Confidential DeFi positions (hidden trade sizes), private voting, sealed-bid auctions, medical data computation
- Ethereum security — V2 settles to Ethereum, inheriting its security
Transition:
COTI token holders migrate from the legacy DAG chain to the new Ethereum L2 as V2 adoption grows.
Tokenomics
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Max Supply | 2,000,000,000 COTI |
| Legacy chain | Used for gas, staking, node operation |
| V2 Ethereum L2 | COTI as L2 gas token |
| Staking treasury | % of fees distributed to COTI stakers |
| Node requirements | Treasury nodes stake COTI to process transactions |
Use Cases
- Gas — COTI pays transaction fees on COTI network (V1 and V2)
- Staking — Treasury nodes stake COTI to validate transactions and earn fees
- Stablecoin issuance — COTI used as collateral in COTI’s stablecoin issuance systems
- Confidential computing — V2 COTI enables private smart contract execution
History
- 2017–2018 — COTI founded; Trustchain DAG concept developed
- Sep 2019 — COTI mainnet launches
- 2021 — ADA Pay partnership with Cardano announced; COTI provides payment infrastructure
- 2021 — COTI reaches all-time high market cap during bull run
- 2022 — Bear market significantly reduces COTI price
- 2023 — COTI V2 pivot announced: Ethereum L2 with garbled circuit confidential computing
- 2024 — COTI V2 testnet launches; migration planning for token holders
- 2024 — Developer ecosystem begins exploring confidential DeFi applications on V2
Common Misconceptions
“COTI is just a payments DAG like IOTA.” While COTI uses DAG architecture, its application focus, trust-score system, and V2 evolution toward confidential computing are entirely distinct from IOTA’s industrial IoT target market. The technical similarities are superficial.
“COTI V2 is vaporware — real privacy on Ethereum isn’t possible.” Garbled circuits are a well-established cryptographic technique (originated in the 1980s by Yao). The challenge is performance; COTI V2’s work is on making garbled circuit execution fast enough for practical DeFi use — an engineering challenge, not a theoretical impossibility.