- Vitalik Buterin proposes wallet-integrated privacy tools and default shielded balances to improve Ethereum user anonymity on L1 without added complexity.
- The roadmap recommends one address per application and privacy-preserving send-to-self transactions to limit cross-application activity traceability.
- Plans include RPC protection with TEEs, future PIR use, proof aggregation, and enhanced keystore wallets for privacy-focused Ethereum development.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum cofounder, has outlined a simplified Layer 1 privacy roadmap to enhance Ethereum user privacy without major consensus changes. The plan focuses on four key privacy areas, aiming to improve on-chain payments, in-app activity, chain reads, and network anonymity.
Privacy Roadmap Overview
The proposal targets privacy for on-chain payments by integrating established privacy tools into current wallet infrastructures. It aims to offer shielded balance features. Users can send funds from these balances with enhanced privacy. The design will ensure a natural and user-friendly experience without separate privacy wallet downloads.
The roadmap also proposes partial anonymization of in-app activity. It recommends that applications adopt a default setting of one address per app. This change reduces public links between diverse activities. It may require some convenience sacrifices as users adapt to new workflows. The approach offers a practical solution to separate user identities across platforms.
Technical Proposals and Wallet Enhancements
The plan outlines methods for protecting on-chain reads through enhanced RPC privacy measures. Developers are urged to use Trusted Execution Environments as a short-term solution. The strategy involves connecting wallets to multiple RPC nodes. These nodes may connect through mixnets to reduce metadata leakage. Current technologies will be verified and hardened to protect user data during node interactions.
In addition, the roadmap recommends implementing specific protocol standards such as FOCIL and EIP-7701. The proposed standards enable privacy-preserving protocols to operate without relying on public broadcasters. These measures will support transaction censorship resistance. The plan expects that send-to-self features adopt privacy preservation by default, reinforcing the overall user privacy framework.
Future Directions in Ethereum Privacy
The roadmap advises that wallets transition to address separation by default. This design change prevents public links between activities across various decentralized applications. It also integrates privacy tools like Railgun and Privacy Pools directly into wallets. Future wallet designs will connect to different RPC nodes per decentralized application. Such design choices aim to reduce metadata leakage across the network.
Another key proposal involves proof aggregation protocols that combine multiple privacy transactions. This method reduces on-chain gas usage while preserving cryptographic proofs. The plan also calls for the development of privacy-preserving keystore wallets. With these wallets, users can upgrade account verification in one secure transaction. Future advancements may replace TEEs with private information retrieval technology. This shift offers stronger cryptographic guarantees for user interactions.
This Layer 1 privacy roadmap provides a clear framework for enhancing Ethereum security. The outlined measures address practical privacy challenges for on-chain payments, in-app activities, chain reads, and network interactions. The comprehensive approach reflects a careful balance between technical innovation and everyday usability for Ethereum users.
