tl;dr
Renowned mathematician Vitalik Buterin proposed a privacy roadmap for Ethereum, aiming to enhance privacy without major changes to the network's core protocol. The roadmap focuses on practical improvements, such as integrating tools like Railgun and Privacy Pools into wallets, using different addres...
The proposed privacy roadmap by Vitalik Buterin aims to enhance privacy on Ethereum without major changes to the network. Buterin's roadmap focuses on practical, incremental improvements for privacy on Ethereum, including shielded balances, private send options, and one-address-per-app design. Recommendations include adopting new standards, using Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), and implementing privacy protocols without centralized relays. Users are urged to integrate privacy deeply into wallets, standards, and user habits now rather than waiting for long-term Ethereum upgrades. Renowned mathematician Vitalik Buterin proposed a privacy roadmap for Ethereum, aiming to enhance privacy without major changes to the network's core protocol. The roadmap focuses on practical improvements, such as integrating tools like Railgun and Privacy Pools into wallets, using different addresses for each application, and adopting new standards like FOCIL and EIP-7701. Buterin also suggested utilizing Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and Private Information Retrieval (PIR) for cryptographic guarantees and implementing "mixnets" to prevent metadata leaks. He emphasized the importance of integrating privacy into wallets and standards now, rather than waiting for long-term upgrades. The next major Ethereum upgrade is Pectra, scheduled for mainnet deployment on May 7. Privacy on Ethereum is still too weak because it is transparent by design. Buterin's roadmap focuses on fixing this through practical, incremental improvements that can be deployed without overhauling the network. Wallets like MetaMask or Rabby should integrate tools like Railgun and Privacy Pools, offering users a “shielded balance” and private send options as a default. Additionally, sending ETH or tokens between your own wallets should be private by default to support the one-address-per-app design. Adopting new standards such as FOCIL and EIP-7701 would allow privacy protocols to run without centralized relays, making them easier to maintain and harder to censor. Buterin suggested using Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) now and Private Information Retrieval (PIR) later for cryptographic guarantees to prevent data leaking to RPC nodes. He also suggested that wallets should rotate between multiple RPC nodes and send data through “mixnets” to prevent metadata leaks. Finally, he said that users should be able to upgrade or change their wallet security, such as private keys, without revealing connections between their different assets or activities. Vitalik urged integrating privacy more deeply into wallets, standards, and user habits now rather than waiting for long-term Ethereum upgrades. The next major upgrade on Ethereum is Pectra, which will introduce account abstraction, and it is scheduled for mainnet deployment on May 7.