Solflare has added a Private Mode to its Solana wallet that hides balances and the size of payments between users. Solflare announced the feature on 15 November 2026 as "live now in your wallet", with the privacy protocol underneath supplied by Helius hSOL$87.16+3.7%.
On a public blockchain, anyone who looks up a wallet address can normally see every token it holds and every amount it sends. According to Solflare's Private Mode page, Private Mode encrypts the balance and the assets you hold, and payments between Private Mode users hide which token moved and how much. It runs from the same Solana address, with no second wallet to set up. Solana's official account described it as "private balances and payments, 100% self-custodial".
What Solflare Private Mode hides, and what stays public
Solflare Private Mode hides amounts and assets while identities stay public. Sender and recipient addresses remain visible on-chain, so an observer can see that one wallet paid another without seeing what or how much. Solflare lists the split this way:
- Hidden: your Private Mode balance, the assets in it, and the token and amount of each private payment.
- Visible: who paid whom, plus the deposit into Private Mode and the withdrawal back out.
The deposit and withdrawal are regular Solana transactions, so Solflare's page notes that the amount you move in is visible. It works like a sealed envelope: the postal service knows the sender and the address, but not what is inside.
How encrypted wallet payments work on Helius Privacy Rings
Using Private Mode takes three steps on Solflare's page. You move funds from your public balance into Private Mode through portfolio settings, pay other Solflare users who have Private Mode switched on, and withdraw back to your public balance whenever you need to. Each private payment completes in one Solana transaction.
Helius supplies that protocol. Its Privacy Rings went live on Solana mainnet on 10 November, as we covered at launch. Helius' mainnet post says the default "confidential" Ring encrypts assets and amounts while keeping wallets visible, lets each user read their own balance with a viewing key, and runs directly on Solana with no separate network or sequencer. Private Mode's behaviour matches that confidential design, though Solflare's page says only that Helius provides the underlying protocol.
The privacy comes from zero-knowledge proofs: a short piece of maths that proves a payment is valid, for example that the sender has the funds, without revealing the amount. On its privacy page, Helius says it "generates proofs and relays your transactions. We never hold your keys or touch your funds."
Limits on private balances: Solflare-only recipients, no swaps or staking
Private payments go only to other Solflare users who have Private Mode set up, according to Solflare's page. Solflare's page also says "swaps, staking, Earn and dApps currently work with your regular public balance", which means private funds must be withdrawn to the public balance before they can be traded or staked.
Solflare lists the cost as a "privacy + network fee". The page does not publish the size of the privacy fee.
Helius privacy protocol audits: what each company says
Helius and Solflare describe the audit status differently. Helius' mainnet post says the programs and ZK circuits "have been audited by three independent security audit firms", naming Certora, OtterSec and ZK Security, and that formal verification is still in progress, with completion expected by the end of 2026. Solflare's Private Mode page says "Helius's independent security audits of the protocol are underway, with results to be published once available."
Private Mode vs Solflare Private Send, routed through Houdini
Private Mode is Solflare's second privacy feature this year, and it protects the opposite half of a payment. In March 2026, Solflare launched Private Send through a Privacy Aggregator, with Houdini Swap as its first provider. Private Send breaks the visible link between sender and recipient while amounts stay public, and the provider sets the fee, which Solflare shows up front without adding its own.
Private Mode reverses that trade: the addresses stay public, the amounts and tokens are hidden, and the payment settles in one Solana transaction instead of routing through an outside service.
Solflare was not among the live integrations Helius listed at the 10 November mainnet launch, where Backpack, Jupiter and Squads were named as integrating. Five days after mainnet, Solflare has put encrypted balances into an everyday consumer wallet. The points to check from here are the published audit results Solflare's page promises, the size of the privacy fee, and whether swaps and staking come to the private balance.
