The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has unveiled a new initiative called “Privacy Cluster”, marking a significant step forward in enhancing privacy across the Ethereum ecosystem.
Announced this week, the Privacy Cluster aims to unify various privacy-related research and development projects under one umbrella. The initiative brings together 47 engineers and researchers, with Igor Barinov, founder of Blockscout, serving as the project’s coordinator.
A new era for Ethereum privacy
According to the EF, Ethereum’s vision has always been to serve as the foundation of digital trust, and ensuring privacy is a crucial part of maintaining that trust. The new Privacy Cluster will build upon the Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) team’s efforts, which have been ongoing since 2018.
The initiative is expected to improve user confidentiality while maintaining transparency and security—key pillars of Ethereum’s decentralized design.
Core projects and goals
The Privacy Cluster will focus on several core areas, including Private Reads/Writes, Private Proving, Private Identities, and Privacy Experience. It will also collaborate with the Institutional Privacy Task Force to explore large-scale privacy applications for enterprises.
A major highlight of the initiative is Kohaku, a privacy-focused wallet and open-source SDK designed to empower developers to build privacy-preserving dApps.
Advancing privacy technology
The EF noted that privacy research will expand into cutting-edge cryptographic tools such as zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), stealth addresses, and advanced scalability solutions. These innovations aim to strengthen Ethereum’s use cases in payments, governance, identity management, and real-world asset tokenization.
The Privacy Cluster’s formation underscores Ethereum’s continued leadership in privacy-centric blockchain development—balancing transparency with user confidentiality in a way that aligns with the future of decentralized finance and digital identity.
