Optimism Bills 'Privacy Boost' as Turning Point for Enterprises on Ethereum

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In brief - OP Labs debuted a privacy offering that it says is expected to expand to additional blockchains in the coming weeks. - The technology, dubbed Privacy Boost, supports self-custody while enabling enterprises to build auditable environments that work with Know Your Customer rules. - The hope is that enterprises use the technology to build real-world applications, while incumbents are flocking to competitors like Canton. OP Labs debuted a privacy offering on Tuesday that’s aimed at bringing more enterprises to Ethereum’s ecosystem, starting with the OP Mainnet, the layer-2 scaling network it created. The network formerly called Optimism now supports “Privacy Boost,” OP Labs said in an announcement, describing the product as technology that enables private transfers and discreet interactions with decentralized finance applications—while supporting regulatory needs. Privacy Boost functions as a software development kit and interface allowing software programs to communicate and share data, also known as an API, OP Labs said. The hope is that enterprises use the technology to build real-world applications, the firm added. Additional networks are slated for an expansion of Privacy Boost in the coming weeks, it said. Renewed interest in digital assets like Zcash may underscore how privacy has returned to vogue within the cryptosphere. Still, for many traditional firms eager to experiment on-chain, the notion that transaction amounts, counterparties, and balances are fully public has always been unworkable, OP Labs co-founder and CTO Karl Floersch told Decrypt. “We were talking to a payments provider about their public-chain vision, and ultimately, compliance killed their architecture,” he said. “We can’t bring a bunch of these institutions on-chain until we have a very clear-cut solution for privacy.” In the announcement, OP Labs said its goal is to create a privacy layer that any protocol can plug into, signaling that its ambitions extend beyond its associated network, which already supports leading DeFi applications like lending protocol Aave. OP Labs’ latest offering comes as networks like Canton, where transaction visibility is limited to relevant parties, court financial incumbents. Last month, for example, Visa declared that it had become the first major payments company to join the DTCC-backed network. Privacy Boost supports self-custody through zero-knowledge proofs, a cryptographic method for proving that something is true without revealing the known information directly. The technology also leans on Trusted Execution Environments, or TEEs, that allow for fast and private transactions, OP Labs said. The offering’s TEEs can be tailored to Know Your Customer (KYC) rules—which enterprises often need to abide by—and audit requirements, the firm said. The team behind Starknet, an OP Labs competitor, has touted similar functionality in enabling “private Bitcoin transactions.” Floersch said a study conducted by OP Labs indicated that, even within crypto, privacy is ranked above other priorities for blockchains, such as fees or throughput. Addressing that gap has been historically difficult, considering that Ethereum was built on an ethos of transparency. OP Labs said Privacy Boost is the “synthesis” of years of engineering. Last month, the firm said that it was letting go of 20 employees to narrow its focus. Meanwhile, the price of OP Mainnet’s OP token has plunged about 83% to just over $0.12 in the past year, according to CoinGecko. For institutions, a lack of privacy exposes portfolio positions and trading strategies, OP Labs said. For consumer-facing applications, spending habits and transaction history become public for anyone with an internet connection to see. “Full transparency introduces legal, competitive, and operational risks,” OP Labs added. “Privacy is no longer an optional feature—it is a prerequisite for mainstream adoption.” That sentiment is far from new. Last year, Danny Ryan, president of Etherealize, an institutional marketing and product arm for Ethereum’s ecosystem, told Decrypt that Wall Street’s need for on-chain privacy would eventually yield similar fruit for crypto’s Average Joe.

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