# Penumbra

> Penumbra: Shielded DEX chain. Technology: zero-knowledge proofs.

Part of the Soda Labs Privacy Hub, a neutral directory of the on-chain privacy
landscape: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub

## Key facts

- Entry type: Privacy project
- Category: Shielded DEX chain
- Technology: Zero-knowledge proofs (ZK)
- Website: https://penumbra.zone
- Tags: ZK, DEX, Cosmos
- Canonical page: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/penumbra

## Overview

Penumbra is one of the most elegant designs in the field: a fully shielded Cosmos chain where every action is private, staking and trading included. Its DEX batches swaps so trades clear at a shared price and no individual order is ever exposed, and the specification is openly published and holds up to reading. The company that built it wound down in 2025 after the lead developer moved on, and the network now runs as a community project, with liquidity that reflects that.

## About Zero-knowledge proofs

One party proves a statement about hidden data is true without revealing the data the statement is about. Compared side by side with the other approaches at https://www.sodalabs.xyz/taxonomy.

## Sources

- [Protocol spec](https://protocol.penumbra.zone)
- [Protocol source](https://github.com/penumbra-zone/penumbra)
- [Penumbra Labs, 2025](https://penumbralabs.xyz/)

## Related entries

- [Namada](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/namada): Multi-asset shielded L1
- [Aleo](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/aleo): Privacy L1
- [Aztec](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/aztec): Privacy L2
- [Hinkal](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/hinkal): Private DeFi layer
- [Miden](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/miden): Client-side proving chain (upcoming)
- [Mina](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/mina): Succinct blockchain