Sorry, but you are incorrect. It is using the exact same techniques of one time ring signatures (intractability) and stealth addresses (unlinkability). The code may be brand new but the cryptography techniques and math behind the one time ring signatures are the same (which include the zero knowledge proof) and were invented by cryptonote.

I could go and rewrite the code to do this stuff yet again (in fact I have done so for my own experimental purposes) but I wouldn't claim it to be anything other than a reimplementation of cryptonote. Someone else on the Monero project did it in python, and called it mininero.

If anyone is claiming otherwise they are either confused or trying to scam you (I don't suggest the latter necessarily, just pointing out the possibilities).