Don't confuse
Six pairs of things that sound alike and behave differently.
Private balance and wallet balance
The wallet balance is what Alice's Solana wallet holds. Anyone can read it on chain.
The private balance is what she holds inside Nimbus. Only her device can read it, after a sync. A deposit moves tokens from the first to the second, and a withdrawal moves them back.
The account signature and a transaction signature
The account signature is the one message Alice's wallet signs to open her private account. It never goes on chain, and it moves no money. Every key of her private account comes from it, so treat it as a secret.
A transaction signature approves one Solana transaction, such as a deposit. It is public once the transaction lands.
Reserved and pending
Reserved funds are held by a payment Alice started that has not settled yet. They come back once the payment can no longer land. Releasing a payment that never sent anything frees them at once.
Pending funds were paid to Alice, and are not spendable yet. A new deposit reads as pending until Solana finalizes it.
Both are part of her private balance, and neither can be spent right now.
Confirmed and finalized
Confirmed means a supermajority of Solana's stake has voted for the block. It is fast, and very rarely rolled back. The SDK waits for it by default.
Finalized means the block can no longer be rolled back. It takes several seconds longer. Pass
commitment: "finalized" to a payment to wait for it.
Registering and opening a session
Registering is a Solana transaction. Each wallet does it once, ever, before its first deposit. The wallet pays its network fee.
Opening a session signs a message on this device. It happens each time the user signs in, unless the signature is remembered. Nothing goes on chain, and it costs nothing.
Private Send and a deposit to someone else
A Private Send pays Bob from Alice's private balance. A relayer submits it. The chain shows neither Alice, nor Bob, nor the amount.
A deposit to someone else pays Bob from Alice's wallet. The chain shows Alice's wallet, the token and the amount. Only who receives it stays private.
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