@jengreg

Privacy comes in two flavors: Anonymity: hides who Confidentiality: hides what. I learned this difference digging through Confidential ERC20 models. Before that, “privacy” on the blockchain, to me, meant nobody knows what I’m doing. Cover your tracks. Stay invisible. But that’s just anonymity - and it convicted me as to why, earlier on, so many traditional financial institutions kicked against blockchain adoption. While anonymity may feel like a “privacy” breakthrough, it also shuts out oversight completely, making it easier for bad actors to hide. Confidentiality, on the other hand, keeps the system open but shields the details — balances, amounts, sensitive info — so honest users and businesses can operate without financial exposure. A real-world example came in October 2024, when Circle (issuer of USDC) partnered with Inco Network to launch the Confidential ERC-20 Framework.

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