A Privacy Strike Team for Institutions
The Ethereum Foundation pairs its cryptographic research team (PSE) of 50+ leading privacy researchers with its Institutional Privacy Task Force (IPTF) to deliver institutional-grade privacy on public rails
Neutral Privacy Stacks
Advancing Compliance
Production-Ready Pilots
Institutional Education
Privacy Building Blocks on Ethereum
Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK)
Prove policy checks (KYC, limits, SOW) without exposing raw data. Enable selective disclosure for regulators and counterparties while keeping transactions composable with Ethereum liquidity.
Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE)
Compute on encrypted data (risk, pricing, and netting). An early tech that's advancing quickly. FHE is best for highly-sensitivity analytics, where even intermediaries shouldn't see plaintext.
Trusted Execution Environments (TEE)
Hardware-attested confidential compute for low-latency workflows (matching, auctions). TEEs keep code and data sealed, then emit verifiable attestations suitable for audits and due diligence.
Privacy-Focused L2s
Confidential rollups settle on Ethereum while keeping counterparties, amounts, and logic private via ZK, FHE or TEEs. Get L1 security, liquidity, and auditability, plus access to selective disclosure.
Why Ethereum for Privacy
- Credibly Neutral, Audit-Ready
Prove compliance without exposing raw data. Unlock verification of KYC-checks, legitimate sources of funds, and transaction limits, with selective disclosure for regulators and auditors.
- Composability with Liquidity
Private flows can still plug into the liquidity on Ethereum and its L2s. Privacy is composable with stablecoin and real-world asset (RWA) rails, DEX liquidity, institutional custody, and more.
- No Vendor Lock In
Launch on Ethereum mainnet for maximum composability, or launch on Ethereum's L2s for lower settlement costs, with access to the same privacy tooling and vendor-neutral standards.
- Security at Scale
Privacy features inherit Ethereum's decentralization and resilience. Build future-proof products and services on a global foundation designed for maximum security and permanent availability.
Privacy Solutions in Production
Chainlink ACE
The Automated Compliance Engine provides policy enforcement and verifiable entity identity to automate KYC/AML and transfer rules directly in smart contracts.
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Railgun
Onchain ZK privacy system for private balances and private DeFi interactions on Ethereum and major L2s.
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Aztec Network
Privacy-first zkRollup with encrypted state and selective disclosure; building private smart contracts on Ethereum.
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Zama
Tools to build smart contracts that compute on encrypted data, so balances and logic stay confidential.
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