News/Cointelegraph/ Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin Discloses Strategy for Enhanced Privacy
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has revealed an elaborate strategy aimed at improving the privacy of the Ethereum network. In a roadmap presented on April 11, Buterin proposed the integration of privacy tools into Ether (ETH) wallets and the establishment of privacy-centric norms and features within the Ethereum ecosystem and protocol.
The roadmap serves as a short-term solution, necessitating minimal changes to the core protocol while suggesting further long-term enhancements. Buterin advocates for the inclusion of privacy-boosting systems like Railgun or Privacy Pools in existing wallets. He suggests that transactions via these wallets should offer an option to “send from shielded balance”, effectively anonymizing the transaction, ideally enabled by default.
Buterin’s recommendations extend to substantial changes in the way decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized applications (DApps) are constructed, proposing a limitation of “one address per application.” He recognizes this as a significant convenience sacrifice, but argues that it is crucial for unlinking individual activities across various applications.
Buterin also highlighted the need for changes to the Ethereum protocol, including the implementation of fork-choice enforced inclusion lists (FOCIL) and the Ethereum improvement proposal (EIP) 7701, aimed at enhancing censorship-resistance and improving Ethereum account abstraction respectively.
In order to implement these changes effectively, infrastructure adjustments are necessary. A short-term solution proposed by Buterin is the use of a trusted execution environment (TEE), a secure area within a processor that guarantees code and data protection. In the long-term, Buterin recommends replacing TEEs with a private information retrieval (PIR) system, a cryptographic protocol offering anonymity to users retrieving specific items from a database.
Buterin’s comprehensive strategy to enhance Ethereum privacy underscores the importance of privacy in the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance.
