Beam aims to offer a private, scalable, and easy-to-use cryptocurrency. All transactions on Beam are private by default and none of the cryptographic protocols used in Beam require a trusted setup. Like Bitcoin, scarcity is ensured by periodic halving.

Beam did not have an ICO nor premine. It is backed by a treasury, emitted from every block during the first five years. Beam is being implemented from scratch by developers with years of experience in modern C++ system programming. Beam wallets offer features such as:

- Atomic Swaps that enable the confidential exchange of BEAM with BTC, LTC, and QTUM

- Payment proofs that allow senders to prove payments despite the blockchain containing no values

- Lelantus that enhances privacy by breaking linkability

- Confidential Assets – that allow the user to issue tokens on top of Beam.

- Laser Beam that allows instant payments

- Opt-in read-only wallets that will allow compliant businesses to use Beam

Beam's vision is to become a confidential financial ecosystem that allows users to create and trade any digital assets and build financial services.