Приватность станет основой будущего криптоиндустрии Translation: Privacy Will Become the Foundation of the Future of the Crypto Industry

Balaji Srinivasan, an entrepreneur, believes that the next eight years in the crypto industry will be marked by an emphasis on privacy. He segmented the industry’s history into three significant phases.

According to him, the period from 2009 to 2017 was dominated by the Proof-of-Work algorithm. The subsequent era, spanning from 2017 to 2025, is defined as the age of programmability, while the next stage of technological evolution will take place from 2025 to the early 2030s.

This perspective is shared by experts from the investment firms a16z Crypto and Coinbase Ventures, who have identified privacy as one of their primary focuses for 2026.

In October, entrepreneur Naval Ravikant referred to Bitcoin as a «hedge against fiat,» while the anonymous coin Zcash (ZEC) was described as a «hedge against the first cryptocurrency.»

Nick Tang from Finality Capital Partners remarked in a conversation with The Block that this statement has «catalyzed the market.»

In the past three months, the price of ZEC has surged by over 678%, according to CoinGecko. There has also been renewed interest in other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, including Monero (XMR), which saw its price jump by nearly 30% over the same period.

However, the rally of anonymous coins merely highlighted fundamental shifts. As financial activities move on-chain, the lack of privacy poses a significant challenge.

«Institutions and large traders cannot operate efficiently when their positions and strategies are visible to everyone in real-time. Regular users also do not wish to broadcast their financial lives,» remarked Jonathan King from Coinbase Ventures.

Randy Hindy, head of Zama, added that traditional finance will never adopt public blockchains without robust privacy features.

Experts agree that privacy will be a prerequisite for the widespread adoption of technologies.

Unlike previous cycles, the focus has shifted from private coins to applications that integrate data protection. Anirudh Pai, a partner at Robot Ventures, cited the perp-DEX Lighter and the crypto card Payy as examples.

Earlier, the adoption of these technologies was hampered by usability challenges and regulatory pressures. Anonymous cryptocurrencies were often linked to money laundering, and their functionality was limited to basic transfers.

«Users need confidential smart contracts, not just private coins,» emphasized Hindy.

Boris Revsin from Tribe Capital believes that privacy technologies will become a default feature. The lack of confidentiality will be seen as a vulnerability.

The main barrier for the sector remains regulatory uncertainty. Hindy and King are confident that developers will need to design systems that comply with regulations while maintaining transaction confidentiality.

Tang identified another barrier as usability: the average user is unlikely to pay extra for privacy when public transactions are cheaper and more convenient.