What Ethereum Will Look Like When It Implements Its New Privacy Focus - Ep. 959

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Ethereum Foundation last month said it was taking its privacy efforts a step further. It announced the Privacy Cluster, a group of 47 coordinators, cryptographers, engineers and researchers with one mission: to make privacy “a first-class property of the Ethereum Ecosystem.” At Ethereum DevConnect, the EF's Andy Guzman and Oskar Thorén join Unchained to discuss the formation of the group in the context of Zcash's recent resurgence, why privacy is important for crypto and the motivations behind Ethereum's recent push. They also delve into the difference between the current privacy push and past efforts, as well as how it could unlock new use cases and the reaction of institutions. Additionally, they talk about competition with Zcash, reveal implementation timelines and delve into the impact on crypto data analysis. Thank you to our sponsor ⁠Uniswap⁠! Guests: Andy Guzman, PSE Lead at Ethereum Foundation Oskar Thorén, Technical Lead of IPTF (Institutional Privacy Task Force) at Ethereum Foundation Links: Unchained: Ethereum Foundation Launches ‘Privacy Cluster’ Vitalik Unveils New Ethereum Privacy Toolkit ‘Kohaku’ Why the Privacy Coins Mania Is Much More Than Price Action With Aztec’s Ignition Chain Launched, Will Ethereum Have Decentralized Privacy? Timestamps: 🚀 00:00 Introduction 🥷1:33 What is the Ethereum Foundation Privacy Cluster? 🤔 3:49 Did Zcash's resurgence inspire the launch of the Privacy Cluster? 📽 6:29 How the Privacy Stewards of Ethereum has grown over the years 🔗 8:39 How the Institutional Privacy Task Force's got started 💡 10:10 Why privacy is important in crypto 🔮 13:54 What is driving Ethereum's recent privacy push 📝 15:21 Andy and Oskar discuss their backgrounds 🤔 16:48 The difference between Ethereum's current privacy efforts and past efforts like Tornado Cash 🤞18:43 How Ethereum's privacy push could unlock new use cases 🛣 25:09 Andy and Oskar outline different approaches to privacy 🤔 29:52 What are private reads and writes? 👀 35:16 Why Andy says adopting onchain privacy is a question of risk for institutions 🫆 36:39 Why private identities are important 🤔 40:13 What happens if identity proofs are stolen 📺 43:27 How the Ethereum Foundation wants to improve privacy experience 🧏 45:44 How the IPTF’s role is unique ⁉️ 47:51 What is Kohaku? 👀 51:02 Is Ethereum competing with Zcash? 💡 1:01:29 The Ethereum Foundation's thoughts on private viewing keys 🗓 1:03:44 Implementation timeline 🔮 1:05:50 How the crypto privacy push could impact blockchain data analysis 💥 1:08:46 Final thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey all, before we begin, I've got some exciting news to share. We've been working on something
0:05.9	a little wild behind the scenes. It's called Unchained On Air, a revamped live stream series and podcast
0:12.7	feed that takes you way beyond the headlines. It features sharp, maybe even controversial,
0:18.6	takes on major events, and the kind of on-chain intel that never makes it to your feed. Way more shows, way more often, each one laser-focused on a different slice of crypto and finance. First up is decks in the city, where the wallets are cold and the takes are hot, with Jesse Brooks, Catherineatherine kirkpatrick baws and v lee three powerhouse lawyers
0:40.8	gathering to dish about the latest from defy enforcement to token regulation and everything in between
0:46.5	it live streams every t t t t uneas uneasy money because what happens on chain never stays on chain with
0:57.0	Lucan Nets, Kane Warwick, and Taylor Monaghan. Three OG-DFI builders unpacking everything
1:03.2	happening on chain, from tokenomics to dows, from hacks to yields. It airs Wednesdays at 3pm
1:10.5	ET. And finally, Bits and Bips the interview,
1:14.7	an addition to our group chat show, in which our executive editor, Stephen Erlich, takes you
1:20.2	deeper with one-on-one conversations. This streams on Thursdays at 12 p.m. ET. To catch the live
1:27.1	streams, follow Unchained on X,
1:29.6	subscribe on YouTube, or find us on your favorite streaming platform now.
1:33.9	And don't forget to hit the bell icon so you never miss a show.
1:37.6	And if you can't make the live stream,
1:39.7	these episodes will show up in your podcast feed the very next day.
1:43.6	Thanks, as always always for your support.
1:46.2	One of the misconceptions that many people have even just like starting in the space is like
1:52.1	thinking that by default crypto is private, which is not. Or it's anonymous and it's not, right?
1:57.4	It's pseudonymous. So basically, whenever you do an action on blockings like Ethereum or Bitcoin or most of the other public blockchains,
2:05.7	those actions get recorded forever.
2:08.4	And that could be like legal risks, that could be personal risk,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Laura Shin, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Laura Shin and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.