Anonymous Investing: Hiding the Identities of Stockholders

This paper introduces the concept of an eshare, or digital stockholder certificate, which allows investors in companies to buy and trade shares without revealing their identity or the size of their investment. In addition, the eshare protocols presented allow for publicly verifiable elections to be held with each share assigned one vote. Dividend payments to investors are also supported, again without revealing shareholder identities, even if a government taxation agency requires verifiable documentation of shareholder earnings. The protocols presented are based on certified anonymous public keys with trusteerevocable anonymity, which may be of independent interest.

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