- Vitalik proposes a low-friction Ethereum privacy roadmap focused on wallets and UX.
- Shielded balances, RPC privacy, and address isolation top the agenda.
- Ethereum privacy tools like Railgun and Privacy Pools are to be natively supported.
Ethereum may soon offer better privacy without changing its core consensus setup. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin has released a simple roadmap that aims to enhance users’ privacy while keeping minimal changes to its Layer 1 protocols.
Buterin’s Plan: Make Privacy the Default in Ethereum Wallets
Buterin’s ideas center on improving Ethereum wallet user experience (UX). This includes adding privacy tools like Railgun and Privacy Pools and changing how users deal with dapps to stop easy on-chain activity tracking.
Instead of changing Ethereum’s base layer, Buterin suggests putting privacy defaults right into user wallets. This could mean options to hide balances easily, having “send from shielded” turned on automatically, and a simple interface flow that feels normal for everyday users.
Related: Deep Dive: Vitalik Buterin’s 2-of-3 Proof System for Ethereum Layer 2s
How “One Address Per App” Stop Ethereum Activity Linking
The plan suggests a “one address per application” standard. This aims to stop network watchers from easily connecting wallet activity across different dapps—a common privacy gap. While not full anonymity, it makes user activity tracking harder.
Beyond wallet changes, the plan includes looking into tech for hiding network traffic, known as “network-level anonymization.” This works somewhat like Tor or VPNs do for general internet use.
Ethereum’s New Privacy Features: Imixnet, PIR, FOCIL
Buterin also points to using imixnet-connected RPC providers and, longer term, replacing TEEs with “private information retrieval” (PIR). Tools like FOCIL and EIP-7701 could also lessen reliance on public broadcasters, simplifying censorship-resistant, private dealings.
Related: Pro-XRP Lawyer Deaton Predicts XRP Will Flip Ethereum by End of Year
Full anonymity might be distant, but Buterin’s plan offers steps developers can build now. The main aim stays: make privacy standard, not extra, without hurting Ethereum’s decentralization or ease of use.
As Ethereum readies its next stage, privacy might stop being just an optional add-on.
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