Create a Token Mint

How to create a mint with Confidential Transfer extension

The Confidential Transfer extension enables private token transfers by adding extra state to the mint account. This section explains how to create a token mint with this extension enabled.

The following diagram shows the steps involved in creating a mint with the Confidential Transfer extension:

Create Mint with Confidential Transfer Extension

Confidential Transfer Mint State

The extension adds the ConfidentialTransferMint state to the mint account:

Confidential Mint State

#[repr(C)]
#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Default, PartialEq, Pod, Zeroable)]
pub struct ConfidentialTransferMint {
    /// Authority to modify the `ConfidentialTransferMint` configuration and to
    /// approve new accounts (if `auto_approve_new_accounts` is true)
    ///
    /// The legacy Token Multisig account is not supported as the authority
    pub authority: OptionalNonZeroPubkey,

    /// Indicate if newly configured accounts must be approved by the
    /// `authority` before they may be used by the user.
    ///
    /// * If `true`, no approval is required and new accounts may be used
    ///   immediately
    /// * If `false`, the authority must approve newly configured accounts (see
    ///   `ConfidentialTransferInstruction::ConfigureAccount`)
    pub auto_approve_new_accounts: PodBool,

    /// Authority to decode any transfer amount in a confidential transfer.
    pub auditor_elgamal_pubkey: OptionalNonZeroElGamalPubkey,
}

The ConfidentialTransferMint contains three configuration fields:

authority: The account that has permission to change confidential transfer settings for the mint and approve new confidential accounts if auto-approval is disabled.
auto_approve_new_accounts: When set to true, users can create token accounts with confidential transfers enabled by default. When false, the authority must approve each new token account before it can be used for confidential transfers.
auditor_elgamal_pubkey: An optional auditor that can decrypt transfer amounts in confidential transactions, providing a compliance mechanism while maintaining privacy from the general public.

Required Instructions

Creating a mint with Confidential Transfer enabled requires three instructions in a single transaction:

Create the Mint Account: Invoke the System Program's CreateAccount instruction to create the mint account.
Initialize Confidential Transfer Extension: Invoke the Token Extension Program's ConfidentialTransferInstruction::InitializeMint instruction to configure the ConfidentialTransferMint state for the mint.
Initialize Mint: Invoke the Token Extension Program's Instruction::InitializeMint instruction to initialize the standard mint state.

While you could write these instructions manually, the spl_token_client crate provides a create_mint method that builds and sends a transaction with all three instructions in a single function call, as demonstrated in the example below.

Example Code

The following code demonstrates how to create a mint with the Confidential Transfer extension.

Confidential transfers depend on the ZK ElGamal Proof program, which is enabled on mainnet and devnet. A stock solana-test-validator does not enable it, but a mainnet-forking local validator such as Surfpool does. Run the example against one of those (the code uses devnet) with a funded payer, and replace the placeholder mint and account addresses with your own.

Rust



fn main() -> Result<()> {
    let rpc_client = RpcClient::new_with_commitment(
        String::from("https://api.devnet.solana.com"),
        CommitmentConfig::confirmed(),
    );

    let payer = load_keypair()?;
    let mint = Keypair::new();
    let decimals: u8 = 2;

    // Allocate space for a mint that carries the ConfidentialTransferMint
    // extension, then fund it for rent exemption.
    let space =
        ExtensionType::try_calculate_account_len::<Mint>(&[ExtensionType::ConfidentialTransferMint])?;
    let rent = rpc_client.get_minimum_balance_for_rent_exemption(space)?;

    // The auditor ElGamal key lets the issuer decrypt transfer amounts for
    // compliance. Persist this key. Pass `None` to create a mint with no auditor.
    let auditor = ElGamalKeypair::new_rand();
    let auditor_pubkey: PodElGamalPubkey = (*auditor.pubkey()).into();

    let create_account_ix = system_instruction::create_account(
        &payer.pubkey(),
        &mint.pubkey(),
        rent,
        space as u64,
        &spl_token_2022::id(),
    );

    // The confidential-transfer extension must be initialized before the base
    // mint and cannot be added later.
    let init_confidential_ix = initialize_confidential_transfer_mint(
        &spl_token_2022::id(),
        &mint.pubkey(),
        Some(payer.pubkey()), // authority that can update confidential settings
        true,                 // auto-approve new accounts
        Some(auditor_pubkey),
    )?;

    let init_mint_ix = initialize_mint_base(
        &spl_token_2022::id(),
        &mint.pubkey(),
        &payer.pubkey(), // mint authority
        None,            // freeze authority
        decimals,
    )?;

    let blockhash = rpc_client.get_latest_blockhash()?;
    let transaction = Transaction::new_signed_with_payer(
        &[create_account_ix, init_confidential_ix, init_mint_ix],
        Some(&payer.pubkey()),
        &[&payer, &mint],
        blockhash,
    );
    let signature = rpc_client.send_and_confirm_transaction(&transaction)?;
    println!("Created confidential mint {}: {signature}", mint.pubkey());
    Ok(())
}

fn load_keypair() -> Result<Keypair> {
    let keypair_path = dirs::home_dir()
        .context("could not find home directory")?
        .join(".config/solana/id.json");
    let bytes: Vec<u8> = serde_json::from_reader(std::fs::File::open(keypair_path)?)?;
    let mut secret = [0u8; 32];
    secret.copy_from_slice(&bytes[0..32]);
    Ok(Keypair::new_from_array(secret))
}

Typescript



const client = await createClient()
  .use(signerFromFile(join(homedir(), ".config/solana/id.json")))
  .use(
    solanaRpc({
      rpcUrl: "https://api.devnet.solana.com"
    })
  );
const payer = client.payer;

const mint = await generateKeyPairSigner();

// The auditor ElGamal key lets the issuer decrypt transfer amounts for
// compliance. Persist it; omit `auditorElgamalPubkey` to create a mint with no
// auditor.
const auditor = await deriveElGamalKeypairForOwnerMint({
  signer: payer,
  owner: payer.address,
  mint: mint.address
});

const plan = getCreateMintInstructionPlan({
  payer,
  newMint: mint,
  decimals: 2,
  mintAuthority: payer,
  extensions: [
    {
      __kind: "ConfidentialTransferMint",
      authority: some(payer.address),
      autoApproveNewAccounts: true,
      auditorElgamalPubkey: some(auditor.elgamalPubkey)
    }
  ]
});

const result = await client.sendTransaction(plan);

console.log(
  `Created confidential mint ${mint.address}: ${result.context.signature}`
);