This tutorial walks through native token transfers between public and private accounts using the Authenticated-Transfers program. You will create and initialize accounts, fund them with the Pinata program, and run transfers across different privacy combinations. By the end, you will have practiced:
1. Public account creation and initialization.
2. Account funding through the Pinata program.
3. Native token transfers between public accounts.
4. Private account creation.
5. Native token transfer from a public account to a private account.
6. Native token transfer from a public account to a private account owned by someone else.
---
The CLI provides commands to manage accounts. Run `wallet account` to see the options available:
help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
```
## 1. Public account creation and initialization
> [!Important]
> Public accounts live on-chain and are identified by a 32-byte Account ID. Running `wallet account new public` generates a fresh keypair for the signature scheme used in LEZ.
> The account ID is derived from the public key, and the private key signs transactions and authorizes program executions.
> The CLI can create both public and private accounts.
### a. New public account creation
```bash
wallet account new public
# Output:
Generated new account with account_id Public/9ypzv6GGr3fwsgxY7EZezg5rz6zj52DPCkmf1vVujEiJ
```
> [!Tip]
> Save this account ID. You will use it in later commands.
### b. Account initialization
To query the account’s current status, run:
```bash
# Replace the id with yours
wallet account get --account-id Public/9ypzv6GGr3fwsgxY7EZezg5rz6zj52DPCkmf1vVujEiJ
# Output:
Account is Uninitialized
```
In this example, we initialize the account for the authenticated-transfer program, which manages native token transfers and enforces authenticated debits.
1. Initialize the account:
```bash
# This command submits a public transaction executing the `init` function of the
# authenticated-transfer program. The wallet polls the sequencer until the
# transaction is included in a block, which may take several seconds.
wallet account get --account-id Public/9ypzv6GGr3fwsgxY7EZezg5rz6zj52DPCkmf1vVujEiJ
# Output:
Account owned by authenticated-transfer program
{"balance":0}
```
> [!NOTE]
> New accounts start uninitialized, meaning no program owns them yet. Any program may claim an uninitialized account; once claimed, that program owns it.
> Owned accounts can only be modified through executions of the owning program. The only exception is native-token credits: any program may credit native tokens to any account.
> Debiting native tokens must always be performed by the owning program.
## 2. Account funding through the Piñata program
Now that the account is initialized under the authenticated-tansfer program, fund it using the testnet Piñata program.
wallet account get --account-id Public/9ypzv6GGr3fwsgxY7EZezg5rz6zj52DPCkmf1vVujEiJ
# Output:
Account owned by authenticated-transfer program
{"balance":150}
```
## 3. Native token transfers between public accounts
LEZ includes a program for managing native tokens. Run `wallet auth-transfer` to see the available commands:
```bash
Commands:
init Initialize account under the authenticated-transfer program
send Send native tokens from one account to another with variable privacy
help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
```
We already used `init`. Now use `send` to execute a transfer.
### a. Create a recipient account
```bash
wallet account new public
# Output:
Generated new account with account_id Public/Ev1JprP9BmhbFVQyBcbznU8bAXcwrzwRoPTetXdQPAWS
```
> [!NOTE]
> The new account is uninitialized. The authenticated-transfer program will claim any uninitialized account used in a transfer, so manual initialization isn’t required.
> Private accounts are structurally identical to public accounts, but their values are stored off-chain. On-chain, only a 32-byte commitment is recorded.
> Transactions include encrypted private values so the owner can recover them, and the decryption keys are never shared.
> Private accounts use two keypairs: nullifier keys for privacy-preserving executions and viewing keys for encrypting and decrypting values.
> Share `npk` and `vpk` with anyone who wants to send you tokens. The account ID for a given payment is determined by the sender when they create the transaction. Run `wallet account sync-private` after receiving a transfer to discover new account IDs under your key.
## 5. Native token transfer from a public account to a private account
> [!Important]
> Sending tokens to an uninitialized private account causes the authenticated-transfer program to claim it, just like with public accounts. Program logic is the same regardless of account type.
> When sending to a private account, use the recipient’s `npk` and `vpk`. The sender chooses an identifier for the payment; the recipient’s account ID is derived from `(npk, identifier)` and is only known after the recipient syncs.
> The syntax matches public-to-public transfers, but the recipient is identified by `npk` and `vpk`. This runs locally, generates a proof, and submits it to the sequencer. It may take 30 seconds to 4 minutes.
wallet account get --account-id Private/HacPU3hakLYzWtSqUPw6TUr8fqoMieVWovsUR6sJf7cL
# Output:
Account owned by authenticated-transfer program
{"balance":17}
```
> [!Note]
> The last command does not query the network. It works offline because private account data is stored locally. Other users cannot read your private balances.
> [!Caution]
> Private accounts can only be modified by their owner’s keys. The exception is initialization: any user can initialize an uninitialized private account. This enables transfers to a private account owned by someone else, as long as that account is uninitialized.
## 6. Native token transfer from a public account to a private account owned by someone else
> This command creates a privacy-preserving transaction, which may take a few minutes. The updated values are encrypted and included in the transaction.
> Once accepted, the recipient must run `wallet account sync-private` to scan the chain for their encrypted updates and refresh local state.
> [!Note]
> You have seen transfers between two public accounts and from a public sender to a private recipient. Transfers from a private sender, whether to a public account or to another private account, follow the same pattern.
