Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his team is moving closer toward making private stablecoin transactions possible on the Ethereum layer-2, Base, which could bring a much-needed boost to privacy on public blockchains.
โBase is building private transactions,โ Armstrong said in a post to X on Tuesday, noting that Coinbase acquired crypto privacy platform Iron Fish in March to deliver on that mission.
Many respondents asked whether the privacy solution would mandate Know Your Client checks; however, Armstrong didnโt address those concerns, stating that more details would be shared soon.
Privacy-shielded crypto transactions are sought after by some as they protect user financial data, shield transactions from public scrutiny, and lower the risk of being targeted by hackers or scammers.ย
However, some of the crypto industryโs leading privacy innovators have been fiercely prosecuted, including Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm. as well as the Samourai Wallet founders, KeonneโฏRodriguez and WilliamโฏLonerganโฏHill.
Iron Fishโs privacy solution isnโt fully privateย
However, Baseโs transactions may not be fully private if it is based on Iron Fishโs current implementation.
According to Iron Fishโs website, the platform uses zero-knowledge proofs and โview keysโ to keep transactions private, while still allowing data to be disclosed if a tax authority or other enforcement agency requests information.
Users receive these view keys when they create an account with Iron Fish, allowing them to pass on โread-only accessโ information to authorities should they come knocking on their door.
Iron Fishโs zk-proofs assist this effort by letting users prove something without revealing all of the information, just the necessary elements.
Related: Privacy is โconstant battleโ between blockchain stakeholders and state
Iron Fishโs crypto privacy solution leverages crosschain bridge ChainPort, which also employs aย real-time threat detection system to ensure that โonly clean fundsโ enter the Iron Fish network.
Iron Fish already supports privacy transactions
Iron Fish already offers privacy solutions on over 20 blockchains, including Base, where it enables a privacy version of wrapped USDC (USDC) through ChainPort.
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