Compilation of the original text: Bai Ze Research Institute

Compilation of the original text: Bai Ze Research Institute

Cryptocurrency is the only thing currently being developed that can actually combine the benefits of digitization with a cash-like respect for individual privacy.

——Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum

Why is the Web3 privacy space important now? Regulators are actively policing the centralized cryptocurrency market; analytics companies own and use users’ data without permission; regulations on privacy coins and sanctions on Tornado Cash are examples of what Web3 privacy needs to be advocated for.

Today, more than 300 companies around the world developing privacy solutions are responsible for the decentralized ethos of the original blockchain.

300+ projects are building privacy solutions,

Over $1 billion in funding provided to projects and ecosystems in 2022,

Privacy apps downloaded over 110 million times from Google Play,

There are more than 300 company job vacancies in this field,

There are 727,681 Zcash addresses in total,

4,300 contributors from 177 countries participate in Manta Network's trusted setup.

2023 will be the year privacy-related laws are pushed. Nonprofits such as the Alliance, Privacy Project Team, EEF, and Coincentral will advocate for "Privacy is a Human Right."

Edward Snowden, the protagonist of the Prism scandal and longtime privacy advocate, is already supporting the field.

There are more than 300 teams building privacy-enhanced decentralized applications (PEDApps).

There are at least 22 different categories of privacy solutions. Some examples:

DeFi: Shade, XATA, Sienna Network, Elusiv, CAPE, Dusk Network, RAILGUN, etc.

Payment currencies: Zcash, Monero, Iron Fish, MobileCoin, SILK, Zano, Oxen, etc.

Infrastructure: DarkFi, NuCypher, Espresso Systems, HOPR, Nulink, Integritee, Namada, etc.

Wallets: Sporran, Edge, Wasabi Wallet, Samourai Wallet, Zecrey Wallet, BlockWallet, Frame, Blockstream Green, etc.

L2: Polygon Nightfall, Zecrey, Obscuro, ZKCHAOS, StarkEX, Plebble, etc.

Hardware: Deeper Network, Motherbored, RoninDojo Tanto, DappNode, etc.

DID：KILT , Web3 ID, Polygon ID, Litentry, Findora CR,Holonym etc.

Storage: Skiff Drive, Sia, Swarm, SerenityShield, Züs

Developers focus on building

- Infrastructure (56+ solutions)

——DeFi Solutions (24+)

——Decentralized Identity (20+)

These teams explored more than 500 different privacy use cases.

But this is just the beginning of the Web3 privacy landscape.

For example:

For example:

• In the Web3 ID project, a user can prove that he is not a resident of a city without sharing his exact address.

• NFTs on the privacy network Secret have additional privacy features, NFT owners can keep their ownership status private, and artists and collectors can maintain financial privacy by delinking wallet balances from NFT art and collectibles.

Developers of privacy solutions have contributed extensively to the blockchain codebase.

• The top 10 privacy projects generated more than 43,000 Github commits

• 2 privacy services in the top 10 projects submitted by GitHub: Mina & Mask Network

2022 is the year that privacy networks provide significant funding for the ecosystem.

Oasis, NYM, Secret announce hundreds of millions of dollars to attract developers to build apps.

• NYM: $300 million

• Secret Network: $400 million

• Oasis: $160-235 million

Privacy projects are often missing in the broader blockchain ecosystem.

You might not believe it, but VCs love privacy!

Aleo raised a total of $270 million last year, and projects like Aztec and Espresso Systems closed new funding rounds in a bear market.

Crypto VCs are diversifying their privacy portfolios, investing in multiple projects simultaneously.

But this is only an investment in the "future" as privacy networks currently have low performance

Tornado cash and Aztec are privacy DeFi champions

Spotlight on Aztec:

• $16.28 million TVL (Total Locked Value)

• 1 million transactions processed since launch

The post-ICO (Initial Coin Offering), IDO (Token Offering on Decentralized Exchange), TGE (Token Generation Event) landscape of privacy projects is still active.

Fundraising through the issuance of tokens is a common practice in the cryptocurrency market. From Status to Secret (formerly Enigma) have successfully delivered products after the ICO and have continued to develop the technology.

As for Grants as an entry point to the ecosystem - most projects don't have them.

Instead of waiting into the future, you can access full-stack privacy now.

While web-level privacy is coming (1+ year) - dApps from wallets to messaging are available now.

Few of the privacy project companies have long-term roadmaps.
Exception: Electric Coin Co, the developer behind privacy coin leader Zcash, released a 30-year vision.

Decentralized governance is more mature in privacy coin leaders Zcash and Monero.

Comparing Mina with Zcash by improvement proposal:

• Zcash: 1000+ proposals

• Mina: 2 proposals

This is just the beginning of Web3 privacy.

2023 will be the year that use cases for Web3 privacy flourish, from gated access to DAOs to private NFT collections. AnonDAO and AnonNFT are being tested.

The blockchain quandary has emerged.

Blockchain Trilemma (Scalability-Decentralization-Security) → Blockchain Quadruple Dilemma (Scalability-Decentralization-Security-Privacy)

According to the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risk of Hype in Virtual Currency Transactions" issued by the central bank and other departments, the content of this article is only for information sharing, and does not promote or endorse any operation and investment behavior. Participate in any illegal financial practice.

risk warning:

According to the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risk of Hype in Virtual Currency Transactions" issued by the central bank and other departments, the content of this article is only for information sharing, and does not promote or endorse any operation and investment behavior. Participate in any illegal financial practice.