Umbra Gateway
The Problem
Helios solves trustless state verification, and keeps RPC calls local (as possible) but every eth_getProof call still goes to centralized RPC providers who collect:
- Your IP address
- Which addresses you're querying
- Request timing and patterns
- Transaction correlation data
There is no privacy-preserving RPC alternative.
The Solution
A two-component privacy infrastructure:
1. Anonymized RPC Gateway
- Tor hidden service (
.onionendpoint) - x402 micropayments (pay-per-request in USDC on Base)
- Proxies to execution nodes without logging
- Chainalysis Oracle compliance check (sanctions screening for US deployment...eventually)
2. Privacy Wallet Client
- Electron desktop app
- Embedded Helios (WASM) for trustless verification
- Arti (Rust Tor) toggle for all RPC traffic
- x402 payment client for RPC access
- WalletConnect v2 for dApp connectivity (eventually)
Architecture
User Wallet (Electron) Anonymized RPC Gateway (.onion)
┌──────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Helios WASM │ │ 1. Receive JSON-RPC │
│ Key Management │─────Tor────│ 2. x402 payment validation │
│ x402 Client │ │ 3. Chainalysis check │
│ WalletConnect │ │ 4. Proxy to execution node │
└──────────────────┘ └────────────────────────────┘
Key Differentiators
| vs Infura/Alchemy | vs Raw Tor | vs Nym alone |
|---|---|---|
| No metadata collection | x402 monetization model | Production-ready (Arti 1.0) |
| Sanctions compliant | Compliance layer | Toggleable privacy levels |
| Privacy-first design | Sustainable infrastructure | Integrated wallet UX |
Tech Stack
- Gateway: Rust (axum + arti + x402)
- Client: Electron + React + @a16z/helios WASM
- Privacy: arti-client (Tor), nym-sdk (Nym mixnet)
- Payments: x402 protocol on Base (USDC)
- Compliance: Chainalysis Sanctions Oracle
Quick Start
# Gateway
cd gateway && go run main.go
# Client
cd client && npm install && pnpm dev
Conclusion: Currently, all privacy plays ultimately depend on the RPC layer. Solving RPC privacy is foundational—the other ideas can build on top of this infrastructure.

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