Ethereum Foundation has announced a significant expansion of its activities in the field of digital privacy by establishing a new unit called the Privacy Cluster, which brings together 47 experts in blockchain, cryptography, research, and coordination. The initiative aims to make privacy an integral part of the Ethereum ecosystem and ensure the protection of users’ personal data.
This is reported by Business • Media
Privacy Cluster: Strategy and Key Areas of Work
The Ethereum Foundation emphasized that privacy is the foundation of digital freedom and trust, and its implementation is critically important for the security of billions of dollars in assets and millions of transactions processed daily by the network. The organization’s statement highlights:
“Ethereum was created as a foundation of digital trust worthy of a civilizational scale. For this trust to remain reliable, privacy must become part of it,” the statement noted.
The Privacy Cluster is led by Igor Barinov. The cluster will cover several areas:
- Private Reads & Writes — ensuring private transactions, voting, and interactions without disclosing metadata;
- Private Proving — developing efficient proof mechanisms for verifying rights or assets without revealing personal data;
- Private Identities — advancing technologies for selective disclosure of personal information (zkID);
- Privacy Experience — enhancing user experience in private protocols;
- Institutional Privacy Task Force (IPTF) — creating connections between institutions, regulators, and public blockchains;
- Kohaku Wallet — implementing a new wallet with built-in protective mechanisms for privacy and accessible cryptography for a wide range of users.
Experience, Projects, and Future Updates
The Ethereum Foundation has been investing in privacy research since 2018 through its Privacy & Scaling Explorations (PSE) team, which has already implemented over 50 open projects: Semaphore (anonymous signaling), MACI (private voting), zkEmail, TLSNotary (zkTLS), and Anon Aadhaar (private national identification). All these initiatives will now operate as part of the new cluster, strengthening collaboration and the development of privacy technologies.
The organization noted that privacy protection encompasses all levels of the Ethereum technology stack: from applied cryptography to user experience. This includes promoting zero-knowledge proofs, integrating privacy and scalability features into the protocol, and adapting solutions for businesses through the Institutional Privacy Task Force.
The issue of digital privacy is becoming increasingly relevant at the political level. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin criticized the EU bill on controlling personal chats, emphasizing the importance of preserving private communications:
“We must have privacy in digital communications and actions, similar to what people have enjoyed for millennia — when they spoke in person or paid in cash,” he stated.
Buterin believes that ideas of total control and message interception create security risks and shape a society of constant surveillance.
Additionally, the Ethereum team is preparing for the implementation of a major network update called Fusaka, scheduled for December 3, 2025. This update will increase the throughput of blobs, positively impacting the scalability of the blockchain.