CryptoNote is an application layer protocol that powers several decentralized privacy orientated digital currencies. Conceptually CryptoNote is an evolution of ideas behind bitcoin: both are similar in some ways yet different in many others.The main difference between the two technologies is that bitcoin (and most digital currencies) is less opaque than CryptoNote-based currencies due to CryptoNote's blockchain being almost anonymous, contrary to non-Cryptonote blockchains.