Ethereum News Today: Buterin: Ethereum's Privacy Tech Needs User Experience Makeover

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has unveiled Kohaku, a privacy-focused framework aimed at enhancing onchain privacy and security for Ethereum users. Announced at the Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress 2 on November 16, 2025, Kohaku represents a significant step in the Ethereum Foundation's efforts to make privacy a core feature of the blockchain ecosystem. The initiative includes modular tools to enable developers to build secure, privacy-preserving wallets and may eventually incorporate advanced technologies like mixnets and zero-knowledge (ZK) browsers.

Buterin emphasized that while Ethereum has made strides in privacy infrastructure-such as elliptic-curve precompiles and zkSNARK protocols-the user experience remains a critical gap. During his keynote, he highlighted that "the cryptography works, but the user experience is failing," noting that everyday users still struggle to access meaningful privacy despite technical advancements. For example, using privacy protocols often requires separate seed phrases and lacks multi-sig options, complicating adoption. Buterin called this the "last mile" of privacy implementation, urging the community to focus on improving wallet-layer usability and network-level anonymity.

Buterin framed privacy as a fundamental right, stating, "Privacy is freedom... Privacy is order... And privacy is progress." He argued that privacy enables individuals to live without constant scrutiny from centralized or decentralized entities and is essential for fields like medicine and science. The Ethereum ecosystem, he said, must balance innovation with accessibility, ensuring that privacy tools are not reserved for "tech-savvy" users but integrated into mainstream applications like MetaMask and Rainbow.

Kohaku's design aligns with the Ethereum Foundation's broader commitment to privacy. Last month, the foundation launched the Privacy Cluster, a 47-member team of researchers and cryptographers dedicated to making privacy a "first-class property" of Ethereum. This follows the rebranding of the Privacy & Scaling Explorations team to the Privacy Stewards of Ethereum, signaling a shift from speculative research to solving concrete privacy challenges. The foundation has also prioritized features like "private voting" and confidential DeFi, aiming to address real-world use cases.

The Kohaku project is still in development, with its GitHub repository currently hosting protocols like Railgun and Privacy Pools, which allow users to obscure funds while maintaining compliance. A demo at the conference showcased how a Kohaku wallet could shield publicly visible funds using Railgun integration, illustrating the potential for default opt-in privacy in Ethereum-connected wallets.

As the blockchain industry grapples with regulatory scrutiny and scalability challenges, Ethereum's pivot toward privacy could position it as a leader in user-centric security. Buterin's vision, however, hinges on bridging the gap between advanced cryptography and seamless user experiences-a task that will require collaboration across developers, researchers, and the broader community.