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Unchained

Zcash, Ethereum, Aztec, Canton and More: Which Chain Will Win the Privacy Race?

Friday · 1 hr 3 min
0:00-1:03:19

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Privacy is having a moment in crypto. As competition heats up, the pitfalls of the technology around the quantum threat, regulatory risk and more make the trajectory hard to predict.


A counterfeit bug sat undetected in Zcash's Orchard privacy pool for four years, capable of minting an unlimited supply of untraceable coins, illustrating the risks of one of the hottest crazes in crypto.

Joe Andrews, CEO of Aztec Labs, Jarrad Hope, founder of Logos, and Mert Mumtaz, cofounder and CEO of Helius, join Laura Shin to argue the bug is less alarming than what it reveals: cryptographic privacy is difficult to get right, and the industry is racing to get it right anyway, because institutions will not come onchain without it.

They cover Zcash's quantum-recoverable Ironwood upgrade and the turnstile proving the counterfeit coins never moved, Ethereum's sprawling privacy roadmap and the risk it arrives too late, Logos' mixnet built to protect validators from block relays now censoring transactions, and why all three see Canton's private stablecoins as little more than a bank with extra steps.

The fight over what actually counts as privacy on a blockchain is only getting started.


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Timestamps:

🔐 01:52 Why Joe, Jarrad, and Mert think privacy's crypto moment is now

💙 18:18 Cape: Get 33% off your first six months with code unchained at https://cape.co/unchained

⚖️ 19:14 Why Jarrad says the weak need privacy and the powerful need transparency

🔬 24:49 How zero knowledge proofs actually update encrypted state onchain

🕸️ 33:07 Why 43.7% of block relays now censor, and how Logos fixes it

🐛 36:32 The undetected Zcash bug that could have minted infinite fake coins

🔒 46:32 Mert explains how Zcash's Ironwood upgrade closes the counterfeit hole

🛤️ 51:44 Why Joe worries Ethereum's privacy roadmap might arrive too late

🏦 57:39 Why Mert calls Canton no more private than trusting JPMorgan

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