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The Breakdown

Why Privacy Coins Aren’t Enough | The Breakdown

The Breakdown

Blockworks

Business, Investing

4.8806 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Privacy is back at the center of crypto’s narrative. This episode examines the limits of on-chain privacy, the role of KYC and the app layer, and how crypto onboarding has changed — before closing with Andrew M. Bailey of the Bitcoin Policy Institute. Enjoy! As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice. – Follow Blockworks Research: https://x.com/blockworksres Follow Andrew: https://x.com/resistancemoney Follow David: https://x.com/dcanellis — Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:20 The Limits of On-Chain Privacy 3:00 Reality of the App Layer 7:57 DAS Promo 8:44 From Self-Mining to KYC Funnels 11:14 The Future of Privacy in Crypto 14:49 Interview with Andrew M. Bailey — Disclaimer: Nothing said on The Breakdown is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Transcript

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0:00.0

So, it's a new year that means new narratives. Or in the case of privacy coins, it's very old

0:04.7

narratives made popular all over again. And sure, Zcash and Monaro come back around every

0:09.0

ball market, it's true. But a lot has changed since privacy coins were prominent in 2021,

0:13.3

let alone 2014 and 2015 when they first arrived. I've seen a theory going around that Zcash

0:18.5

and Minero are obsolete, but it's not true.

0:21.1

They just don't offer a complete picture on how to achieve true and lasting on-chain privacy.

0:26.1

Privacy coins present a decent solution to keeping transactions private and so on, but most users leak identity somewhere else,

0:32.6

especially when they move capital over from the old Fiat world into the new crypto space,

0:37.1

as in when they actually

0:38.2

convert their fiat into crypto and back again.

0:40.9

I have a theory.

0:41.9

If user privacy is a legitimate concern, we need to stop pretending that on-chain privacy

0:48.0

alone solves it.

0:49.3

And we really need to start looking outward rather than only inward to really make a lasting

0:53.7

difference.

0:54.3

This is the breakdown. Let's get to it.

1:05.5

Nothing said on The Breakdown is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens.

1:09.4

This podcast is for informational purposes only,

1:11.8

and any views expressed by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice.

1:15.4

Host and guests may hold positions in the company's funds or projects discussed.

1:19.1

First, let's look at what people are saying about the privacy narrative for crypto in 26.

1:24.1

Mailstream, CIO and PURPS pioneer Arthur Hayes predicted that this year's dominant narrative will surround privacy.

...

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