Blockchain privacy is a huge component of decentralized finance. It isn't stressed enough how important privacy and anonymity contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem. After the recent sanctions on Tornado Cash, there has been an uproar and offense taken by developers and users alike. Privacy has always been important, but now the narrative is becoming more transparent after seeing outside forces continue to push regulation and censorship on our community.
We have a right to privacy and without that, we can infer that we are being watched and tracked. Our individual rights are already attacked every day by websites and protocols that collect our data knowingly and unknowingly. Privacy isn't always easy to be obtained, which causes individuals to take drastic steps in making sure they don't leave a digital footprint.
We will go over some innovative privacy protocols that have a huge potential moving forward. These will be a variety of protocols that cover different sectors under the umbrella.
Namada Network
Namada Network is a sovereign chain that focuses on interchain privacy. They are focused on providing shielded transfers with any asset. It is a fractal instance launched by Anoma Network. Anoma is a "fabric of protocols and mechanisms for self-contained and self-sovereign coordination." They aim to deploy Multi-Asset Shielded Pools (MASP) which rewards users for keeping assets in the pool. The beauty of this is that the asset doesn't have to be from the platform it was created, thus enabling assets from a variety of Ethereum and IBC-compatible chains. The more users that deposit, the more privacy will be achieved. This is cool because it incentivizes privacy which can benefit users with rewards and privacy. Earning yield while protecting your privacy is like feeding 2 birds with one hand.
Using MASP, users can privately transact with fungible and non-fungible assets. Users will be able to use different assets, tokens, and NFTs in these pools. Another benefit is that when users send a transaction, the assets aren't revealed.
Namada also offers fast transaction speeds as well as low fees. After reading the docs and doing further research, it's safe to say the team is very passionate and determined to bring this forth. It will be alluring to see how users utilize the platform as they roll out their vertical integration.
Nucleo
Nucleo is the first protocol that offers private, auditable multi sigs on Ethereum. This allows private transactions, private DeFi, private fundraising, and more.
They are currently in private beta with Aztec Network and are also partnering with AleoHQ and Anoma. It's interesting seeing protocols team up to achieve a common goal. When key players work together it's easier to win the game.
They are working on establishing unique architectures that can provide cross-chain private transactions. They are also working on eliminating public transparency by providing programmable transparency. This is very beneficial for business operations and here's why
Public Transparency
When on-chain businesses interact with traditional businesses, sensitive information can be publicly known like revenue, transactions, operational costs, and other metrics. This allows competitors to front-run, undercut prices, and more. This publicly reveals sensitive information that should be private. Public transparency can also reveal things like contributor information which can potentially dox individuals and make them a target for phishing and exploits.
Where does Nucleo come in?
Nucleo comes in by making all of this information private to protect business operations and their assets as well. This will eliminate front-running by canceling the ability for competitors and users to publicly view these operations and make strategic moves based on what others are doing. This will also keep treasuries delta-neutral for when markets are down and tokens are tanking, giving hackers minimal ways to exploit and commit flash loan attacks. Lastly, this will help businesses create privacy-enabled fundraising opportunities where their contributors can remain anonymous so the public can't wallet watch.
This is a very smart innovation and this will help businesses feel more protected when navigating on-chain and conducting operations. This protocol is fairly new and we can expect it to do well considering what they offer and whom they are partnering with to execute.
Aztec Network
Aztec Network is familiarly known in the DeFi space. It is currently the only zero-knowledge roll-up built with a privacy-first architecture, allowing users to privately access their favorite apps. Users will be able to fund a new wallet privately, conduct private transactions within the network, and use DeFi protocols privately.
This is useful because there are programs that analyze and track wallets. With Aztec, users will be able to secure this information. Privacy is their biggest priority.
Aztec recently attracted attention when FTX frozen a user’s account for trying to send "stolen" funds through Aztec's network. Aztec was identified as a "mixing service" by FTX and Aztec responded by clearing up what happened and emphasizing that they will eliminate the ability for users to do such a thing. They state that they are primarily focused on privacy and are not operating as a mixing service.
Aztec has great potential and it will be interesting to see how they progress moving forward.
There are so many valuable privacy protocols that we didn't get to cover but we may shed more light on the upcoming newsletters. From toolkits to architecture and protocols, I believe the privacy train will be leaving the station very soon. Some honorable mentions I would like to include are Aleph Network, Flux, and AleoHQ. I'm eager to witness the growth while participating in these platforms. See you soon!