Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a streamlined proposal aimed at strengthening user privacy on Ethereum without necessitating major updates to the protocol itself.
In a forum post dated April 11, Buterin outlined an approachable layer-1 privacy roadmap, detailing incremental yet impactful measures that developers and wallet providers can implement immediately. His approach calls for integrating privacy-enhancing tools such as Railgun and specialized privacy pools directly into popular crypto wallets, rather than relying on standalone applications.
The main idea is to normalize privacy to the point where it becomes a default feature within Ethereum wallets. Buterin suggested wallets could readily offer shielded balances, enabling users to conduct private transactions without additional hurdles.
To support this vision, Buterin recommended adopting the technical standards FOCIL and EIP-7701, which streamline the use of privacy-oriented transaction tools like Tornado Cash and Railgun, effectively removing dependency on centralized relays.
Another major point of Buterin’s roadmap emphasizes improving user-level privacy practices. He advocated the widespread adoption of wallet apps generating distinct wallet addresses for each interaction with decentralized applications (dApps). This step would help prevent third-party observers from easily tracking user activities across various platforms.
Additionally, Buterin highlighted potential enhancements in the ways applications interact with the Ethereum network, initially via trusted execution environments as an interim measure before transitioning to private information retrieval—an advanced and potentially more secure approach that currently remains too resource-intensive for broad implementation.
Importantly, Buterin’s roadmap does not necessitate foundational blockchain changes, making it simpler to adopt. Still, he acknowledges that some steps may reduce user convenience in the short term, possibly limiting rapid widespread adoption.
Buterin’s proposal arrives amid challenging market conditions for Ethereum. The cryptocurrency’s price has dropped roughly 20% over the past two weeks, hovering around $1,547 as of April 11. Compared to other altcoins and especially bitcoin, Ethereum’s performance has lagged significantly over recent months, down 77% against BTC since its December 2021 peak.
Analysts have noted that Ethereum’s evolving and complex roadmap, combined with increasingly competitive pressure from simpler, user-friendly blockchains, has contributed to its declining market position. The current initiative, aiming to simplify privacy implementation without deep structural changes, appears partially aimed at addressing these adoption barriers and improving Ethereum’s usability for average crypto users in the near term.
