Ethereum is betting big on privacy.
In a major statement on October 8, the Ethereum Foundation announced an expanded effort to embed privacy into the blockchain, led by a new “Privacy Cluster” team of 47 engineers, researchers, and cryptographers.
“Privacy is the freedom to choose what you share, when you share it, and who you share it with,” the foundation said. “It’s essential for dignity, security, and digital trust.”
The Ethereum Foundation is a non-profit that supports the Ethereum ecosystem.
The initiative signals a turning point for crypto’s privacy debate.
On one side, Ethereum’s leaders are moving to make privacy a foundational feature of its ecosystem. On the other, courts in Europe and the United States are deciding whether writing privacy software can itself be treated as a crime.
In August, Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, a protocol designed to obfuscate the traceability of crypto transactions, was convicted of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Many feared it would chill development across open-source privacy software.
Storm has filed a motion to acquit.
In May last year, a Dutch court found fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev guilty on money laundering charges, sentencing him to 64 months in prison.