Does RAILGUN use its own nodes?

The RAILGUN Privacy System sits at the application layer on the blockchains it is deployed on. As such, all consensus and transaction confirmation is performed by the chain itself. This is a huge advancement in crypto privacy technology as RAILGUN offers users Private Balances and transactions that is secured by the underlying blockchain's validators, as opposed to needing to bootstrap its own network of nodes, sequencers, or bridges which is inherently less secure.

RAILGUN on Ethereum is as decentralized and as secure as Ethereum and vice versa for other chains where RAILGUN is deployed. For instance, a balance change in RAILGUN on Ethereum cannot occur without being confirmed by Ethereum nodes with its tens of thousands of validators.

Deploying at the application layer also has the additional benefit of being immutable, permissionless, and censorship-resistant. These properties were inherited by the RAILGUN Privacy System immediately after it went live. No entity can restrict usage of it and RAILGUN is available to all in a fair and equal manner. Further, as the underlying code is immutable, RAILGUN cannot be removed from the networks it is deployed to and will be available fairly and equally.

Do Relayers perform consensus?

No, Relayers only pass encrypted information onto the underlying blockchain and pay gas on your behalf. They are purely messengers within the RAILGUN Privacy System and all validation occurs at the blockchain level.

Further, Relayers cannot decrypt transaction information. The only method to decrypt transaction information is with your private key.