privacy

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini co-founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss stated in an interview that Bitcoin is a public, auditable blockchain where anyone can see transaction records, and this openness makes it unsuitable for privacy needs. Privacy coin Zcash is used for private transactions and payments, so the two can coexist. They mentioned that ideally, privacy should be built into Bitcoin, but currently, it is a practical model of Bitcoin storage and Zcash transactions. Bitcoin remains important, but the privacy exposure risk of public chains is greater in the face of artificial intelligence.The Winklevoss brothers stated that Zcash complements the missing privacy features of Bitcoin, serving as a privacy-focused Bitcoin, and the privacy value of ZEC has yet to be fully realized. If it reaches 10% of Bitcoin's market value, ZEC could rise fivefold, easily surpassing $5,000. They are optimistic about ZEC's price performance in the next 5 to 10 years, especially as privacy demand increases, and they described Zcash as a financial privacy protection tool in the era of artificial intelligence, an antidote against AI-driven surveillance and tyranny, and a hedge against artificial intelligence or quantum threats in the cryptocurrency space.

Arbitrum posted on platform X that the Fhenix mainnet has been launched, bringing FHE-driven privacy features to Arbitrum. Users can now switch transactions from public mode to private mode through Fhenix Dual Mode.

The Starknet Foundation announced the launch of the Bramble wallet, which integrates the STRK20 shielding feature, allowing users to hold privacy balances.Bramble is a wallet that only supports the Chrome browser, integrating privacy balances, Ledger hardware signing, and multi-signature account features, and provides recovery mnemonic phrases for backup.

Ethereum research forum researcher Pierre proposed a faster, aggregatable, and quantum-resistant privacy pool solution.This solution ports a Tornado Cash-like privacy pool to the hash-based SNARK system Flock, which may possess post-quantum security, and uses SHA-256. The solution replaces large circuits with small "single compression" circuits.

The Zakura team, which operates the Zcash network, released a technical article stating that they plan to allocate a unique viewing key for each ZEC exchange completed through NEAR Intents, in order to block future quantum computers from exploiting public refund addresses to piece together user payment histories. NEAR Intents supports cross-chain token exchanges, and when users exchange the privacy coin ZEC for USDC, the service will publish a Zcash address for the user on the NEAR public blockchain, which will be used to return any unused ZEC.The Zcash address contains a public key generated by the wallet's viewing key, which cannot be reverse-engineered by ordinary computers, but large quantum computers running Shor's algorithm could theoretically deduce the key from the address. Zcash wallets can generate multiple seemingly unrelated addresses, but they typically share the same viewing key. Once an attacker cracks it, they can associate all payments received by the account and read the amounts and notes. Zakura's solution allocates a unique viewing key for each exchange, while the spending key remains in the user's main account. Even if the future refund address is compromised, the attacker would only be able to see payments related to that specific exchange.This design also addresses a practical issue: wallets conducting hundreds of exchanges would generate hundreds of keys, requiring each key to scan the entire Zcash chain during backup recovery. Zakura's solution is a privately queryable database that uses private information retrieval technology, so when the wallet inquires about the refund destination, the database will not know the address being queried. Zakura claims that wallets built on its open-source library (including Vizor) will be able to add this feature in the coming weeks, and hardware wallets will follow after firmware support, ahead of the January quantum-resistant payment target set by Zcash developers this month.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted on the X platform that he has integrated zkAPI, Tor, additional obfuscation traffic, and local LLM prompt rewriting into a daemon compatible with the OpenAI interface, and created a "paranoid mode" wrapper for his AI agent tool pi. The relevant code has been open-sourced on GitHub.The main mechanism of this solution is as follows: each conversation uses a separate Tor line, with requests mixed in random obfuscation traffic; zkAPI is used to prevent identity leakage through payment links; all prompts are first rewritten by a local model, which the user can choose, with Vitalik himself using qwen3.8-flash-next. The outer layer of the proxy tool is wrapped in a bwrap sandbox, and then another layer of torsocks is added, ensuring that all network operations go through Tor.Vitalik stated that this solution is already quite usable, but the latency has significantly increased, especially slow when starting a new conversation. He pointed out that Tor is far from the best privacy solution in this scenario: obfuscation traffic can prevent passive eavesdropping, but if the LLM service provider colludes with the Tor entry node and actively manipulates timing, the protective effect will be greatly weakened.

On October 14, the stablecoin payment blockchain Tempo announced that the payroll payment platform Deel has become the first customer to use its Zones privacy system in a production environment, with contractor balances and payment histories no longer publicly accessible. According to the case study released by Tempo, the funds deposited by Deel's treasury department into its Zone remain visible on the public network, but which contractors received payments, how much each received, and what assets they hold are private; contractors can view their own balances, while Deel retains access for reconciliation and auditing.Each Zone maintains a private ledger connected to the Tempo public network through a portal that holds endorsed assets. According to Tempo's privacy documentation, operators can read the ledger, while deposits and withdrawals will leave records on the public network, including the amount of tokens and public network addresses. Operators can also restrict the participants and assets supported by the Zone and apply the transfer policies of the token issuers. Tempo demonstrated an example of private accounts using public financial products: after depositing into the Zone, accessing public Earn products, and then bringing the positions back to the Zone, their balances and holdings remain private.This launch adds privacy features to Deel's existing wallet, which was opened to qualified contractors in over 80 countries in August. Tempo stated that this integration does not change Deel's existing customer wallet and treasury infrastructure, with embedded wallet service provider Privy supporting Zones through its API.

On October 13, 2026, the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub released the second phase report of the Aurum project, themed "Exploring Privacy-Enhancing Technologies for Digital Cash." This phase implements a privacy-protecting digital cash prototype based on the existing Aurum codebase, helping policymakers understand how relevant technologies can alleviate the dilemma between privacy and compliance in digital cash.The prototype adopts the principles of privacy by design and default privacy, demonstrating practices that lie between complete anonymity and complete transaction transparency, and achieving customizable features to meet business needs in compliance and operations. The project indicates that privacy can be embedded in the design of digital cash through technology, rather than solely relying on institutional guarantees, thereby reducing unnecessary exposure of personal and transaction data while maintaining compliance and system integrity.Privacy-protecting designs can assist central banks and policymakers in understanding the relevant considerations and trade-offs. The prototype's functionalities demonstrate policy flexibility between privacy, transparency, compliance, and other attributes, which can be calibrated according to different policy choices and risk preferences. In addition to digital cash, central banks can further explore privacy-enhancing technologies in more use cases, with the report listing several usage experiences.

The Finance Committee of the French National Assembly has passed an amendment that proposes requiring the declaration of self-custodied wallet crypto assets with a year-end value reaching or exceeding €100,000 (approximately $112,000). Those who fail to declare may face fines of up to €10,000 (approximately $11,000). This regulation has not yet become law and may still be adjusted in the future.Harry Halpin, CEO of privacy infrastructure company Nym, stated that personnel from the French tax authorities are suspected of selling taxpayer data to criminals, and the new declaration requirements could threaten the safety of holders. Rand Hindi, founder of the privacy protocol Zama, urged French crypto asset holders to leave France, and those who cannot should hire security for their families.As this proposal emerges, France has seen several incidents of crypto asset robberies, kidnappings, and "ransom attacks" in recent years. The committee had also previously passed measures such as considering the exchange of crypto assets for stablecoins as a taxable sale and expanding the scope of the crypto asset exit tax, but the budget revenue portion was subsequently rejected by a vote of 31 to 3, and the related amendments need to be resubmitted.

PLabs released a technical paper on October 9, proposing a privacy stablecoin protocol based on Ethereum. This protocol allows anyone to deploy a Reserve Vault and NotePool supported 1:1 by reserve ERC-20 tokens, generating pUSDC as an example. The user's first on-chain credit is a privacy note, without the need to hold public USDC beforehand.The protocol separates the payer from the payee, mintage from becoming currency, and pre-minted notes can only circulate after an equivalent reserve is deposited in the same transaction. The circulating supply and reserve's 1:1 relationship is enforced by the contract, with ownership and transfers hidden on-chain. Only compliant administrators can execute freezes, and frozen reserves cannot be moved. The protocol is based on the Zcash Orchard note model, adopts the pERC20 standard, supports selective disclosure, and the security model covers abnormal scenarios involving operators, entry parties, and relayers.

Privacy infrastructure Hinkal announced on October 9, 2026, its participation in the Mastercard Crypto Partner Program. This program connects crypto and blockchain teams, Mastercard teams, and its global payment network, with members including stablecoin issuers, infrastructure providers, fiat exchange service providers, crypto card supporters, and blockchain and blockchain service providers. Mastercard positions it as a way to transform technological capabilities into compliant use cases for global commerce; some members can also access financial institutions within the card issuing and acquiring networks and receive regulatory and compliance support aligned with global standards.Related use cases include cross-border payments and remittances, B2B transactions, fund and settlement flows, stablecoin payments, and card projects that allow users to spend digital assets at regular merchants. Hinkal can provide embeddable privacy capabilities for wallets, payment platforms, and chains, allowing stablecoins to settle in private balances and transfer using zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring that the amount, sender, or receiver is not disclosed during on-chain transfer verification. This capability is already live on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, TRON, and other major EVM chains, accessible via SDK and API.Existing integrations include Private Send in Polygon Wallet, Hinkal Private Send in the Tether wallet development kit, Turnkey wallets that can enhance privacy features through Hinkal SDK, and Avvio running Hinkal private payments on its own interface.

Programmable privacy infrastructure Soda Labs has completed a $3 million seed round financing, led by NextBlock. Over the past two and a half years, Soda Labs has developed a cryptographic privacy solution that combines garbled circuits with multi-party computation (GC-MPC), relying on proven standard cryptography such as AES and SHA256. Its privacy engine runs on standard cloud CPUs without the need for dedicated hardware, enabling applications to achieve privacy computing while maintaining a connection to existing public blockchain infrastructure.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a certain address (t1hBootrMTnk9t2uYV3AWhMTswxphheEpEr) withdrew 1000 ZEC from Binance one hour ago, worth 1.33 million dollars.Shortly after, all 1000 ZEC were transferred into the Zcash privacy pool, making subsequent transfers private.

The founder of the Bitcoin smart contract layer Stacks, Muneeb Ali, announced five key focuses for the first 30 days after returning as CEO of Stacks Labs, including expanding institutional business development, simplifying the management structure, releasing a roadmap for the next two years, strengthening public communication with large STX holders, and clarifying the value capture mechanism of STX.Muneeb Ali also stated that institutional demand for Bitcoin Bonds is increasing, and the future roadmap will also cover institutional-level Bitcoin privacy and quantum-resistant technology. Stacks plans to assign all intellectual property rights to a non-shareholder foundation.

Bitcoin early contributor and cypherpunk Amir Taaki stated on X that he was deported after being questioned by Singapore police for 6 hours about "the work I am engaged in." The British-Iranian programmer claims that he has been in trouble with several countries since he went to Syria to fight alongside the Kurdish People's Protection Units years ago.Taaki mentioned that in the past year alone, he has been deported from Argentina and Mexico, and detained in Serbia and Japan. He stated that every time he encounters such situations, he asks for the reasons, but the authorities always claim it is just a random check, never providing specific reasons for his detention or questioning. "I am on a list, but I can't find any information about which country is sanctioning me."Taaki has long focused on Bitcoin privacy, being one of the first to implement CoinJoin and stealth addresses, creating libbitcoin, founding the UK's first Bitcoin exchange, and writing BIP 0001, which established the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal process. He is currently developing the crypto privacy protocol DarkFi.

Vitalik.eth posted on Farcaster revealing that he is conducting a personal experiment to generate personalized diet and exercise recommendations using personal health and travel data by combining local models with remote cutting-edge models while protecting privacy.The system employs a three-layer privacy protection architecture:Identity Layer: A local model (Qwen 3.8B) replaces the user to construct query requests, avoiding the exposure of writing style that could reveal identity.Payment Layer: Uses zkAPI to hide payment information.Network Layer: Hides IP addresses through Tor.The system is currently operational, but Vitalik pointed out three major shortcomings: Tor is inefficient and has high latency in unlinking requests; the local model runs at only 20-30 TPS, and a smooth experience requires over 100 TPS; the stricter the data protection, the more limited the assistance that the remote model can provide. The relevant code has been submitted to the Ethereum zkAPI repository.

According to data from Delphi Digital, NEAR launched NEAR Intents, achieving the highest transaction fee revenue of the year in September.Previously, NEAR set the perpetual contracts of the high-performance decentralized derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid to privacy mode by default. Users can deposit funds from other chains and participate in trading through token swaps on NEAR Intents. After the privacy feature went live, users tended to retain their funds during trading intervals, with their confidential balance exceeding 70 million dollars on the first day of launch. Delphi Digital stated that this could be an early signal of market demand converting into actual usage rates.

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR, stated that recently the activity of developers within the ecosystem has increased and the development threshold has further lowered, focusing on what kind of applications to build and how to establish distribution channels.In this regard, he proposed a series of potential construction directions, covering AI electronic pets that combine NEAR AI on-chain verifiable reasoning with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a universal checkout component that supports full-chain intent payments, a decentralized encyclopedia that combines prediction markets with AI-generated content, a privacy off-chain trading (OTC) market based on NEAR Intents and management of anti-liquidation lending and perpetual contracts, a cross-chain activity registration custody tool in the form of a staking deposit, privacy code review agents, enterprise equity structure management tools, Delta neutral strategy management, privacy tracking single transactions based on view keys, end-to-end encrypted medical auxiliary diagnostic systems, privacy voice transcription desktop applications, and AI benchmarking based on private test sets.Regarding product distribution, he suggested combining NEARLegion with community channels like X, achieving multi-chain wallet compatibility through Aurora Intent Connect to lower cross-chain thresholds, and actively expanding across communities and platforms like Product Hunt.

According to GMGN data, the privacy narrative token MASK on the Solana chain has a market capitalization exceeding 35 million USD, setting a historical high, with a 24-hour increase of over 70%. The current market capitalization is 34.91 million USD, with a trading volume of 2.7 million USD during the same period.MASK uses ZEC as the base pair and provides liquidity through the ZEC/MASK trading pair, aiming to offer ZK privacy services for any cryptocurrency activities. The prices of related tokens are highly volatile, and investment should be approached with caution.