Ethereum Foundation establishes 'Privacy Cluster' to strengthen on-chain privacy

Minseung Kang

Summary

The Ethereum Foundation said it established a 47-member Privacy Cluster to strengthen on-chain privacy.
The new team announced a roadmap of various privacy features, including Layer 1 confidential transfers, ZKP-based encryption research, and development of anonymous payments and wallets.
The move suggests that the adoption of user data protection and privacy-enhancing technologies on the Ethereum network could become an important issue for investors.

The Ethereum Foundation is reported to have formed a 47-member research team called the 'Privacy Cluster' to strengthen on-chain privacy technology.

On the 9th, according to The Block, a crypto asset (cryptocurrency) specialized media outlet, the newly established Privacy Cluster is led by Igor Barinov, the founder of Blockscout and xDai. The team is composed of cryptographers, engineers, and researchers, and aims to establish privacy as a "first-class property" of Ethereum.

The foundation said on its official blog, "Ethereum was designed as a foundation of digital trust," and "for this trust to be maintained at a civilizational scale, privacy must be at its core."

The foundation released a roadmap for strengthening privacy. Major items included △ Layer 1 (L1)-level confidential transfer functionality △ prevention of RPC node metadata exposure △ encryption research based on Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) △ development of tools related to anonymous payments, wallets, and digital identity (Identity).

Meanwhile, the 'Privacy Cluster' is expected to operate by expanding and integrating the foundation's 'Privacy & Scaling Explorations' team, which has been active since 2018.

The outlet added, "This measure is intended to respond to concerns that transaction transparency on the Ethereum network can lead to privacy infringements," and noted that it focuses on laying the technical foundation to protect user data from surveillance and collection.

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