Buterin Proposes 'Privacy Pools' to Enhance Blockchain Privacy, But Critics Question Feasibility

Vitalik Buterin and researchers propose new "Privacy Pools" as a way to build better crypto mixers and increase blockchain privacy.
The idea combines zero-knowledge proofs and allows groups to run their own private mixers, filtering out bad actors.
The concept aims for a balance between privacy and compliance, but not all support this "guilty until proven innocent" approach.
Critics like Zooko Wilcox argue mixers can't provide true privacy and disassociate tools enable "over-compliance".
There's debate whether concepts like this could work practically or be legal, but increased privacy is needed for blockchains like Ethereum.

coindesk.com

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9/6/2023

Financial privacy and regulation can co-exist with ZK proofs — Vitalik Buterin

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has published a research paper proposing privacy pool systems that use zero-knowledge proofs to allow users to prove dissociation from illicit funds, potentially enabling financial compliance on-chain in the future.