Vitalik Buterin Insists Privacy Must Be a Baseline Requirement for Web3
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of ETH, has reiterated that privacy should not be treated as a premium feature in crypto infrastructure, but rather as a foundational requirement akin to digital hygiene. Following a major bank data breach, he emphasised that privacy must be a default expectation for users interacting within decentralised systems. Earlier in the year, he published an essay outlining a “maximally simple” Layer-1 privacy roadmap, arguing that wallet flows and application architectures must adapt so that private transactions become the norm rather than the exception.
Re-engineering user flows and infrastructure for privacy
Buterin’s roadmap proposes rethinking key components of blockchain interaction. Among his recommendations are wallet support for shielded balances with private sending enabled by default, a one-address-per-application model to reduce cross-app linkage, and eventual migration toward advanced cryptographic techniques such as private information retrieval or trusted-execution-environment-based RPC nodes. These measures aim to make confidentiality seamless for users without requiring them to navigate complex privacy settings.
He argues that switching the default behaviour from public-by-default to private-by-default is essential for protecting users from data exposure, profiling, front-running and third-party manipulation. In his essay, he stated that whoever controls user information wields disproportionate power, making decentralised privacy not only a feature but a prerequisite for a resilient and autonomous ecosystem.
Implications for developers, infrastructure and ecosystem design
For developers and infrastructure providers, including on-chain derivatives and decentralised trading platforms, Buterin’s stance signals significant architectural shifts. Platforms will need to integrate private data flows, shielded transactions, selective disclosure and advanced privacy audits as core elements of their systems. This shift may increase complexity for analytics, compliance mechanisms and regulatory reporting, especially in jurisdictions with strict oversight.
For sectors such as decentralised derivatives and prediction markets, default privacy could become a user expectation. Traders may look for platforms offering shielded balances, unlinkable transactions and pseudonymous interactions. Balancing regulatory transparency with user privacy may drive innovation in privacy-preserving compliance frameworks and zero-knowledge-based verification systems.
Looking ahead, the ecosystem will monitor progress on privacy-focused infrastructure such as the Kohaku framework and advancements in zero-knowledge cryptography. Wallet user-experience models are also likely to evolve, with private transaction flows becoming standard. As privacy becomes an embedded part of Web3 infrastructure, platforms that fail to prioritise confidentiality risk falling behind competitors that offer stronger privacy guarantees.
Ultimately, Buterin’s insistence on baseline privacy underscores a broader industry shift: decentralised systems must protect user autonomy and confidentiality by default, ensuring that Web3 does not replicate the surveillance models of traditional technology platforms.
