Vitalik Buterin unveils Kohaku, a privacy-focused framework for Ethereum

 On stage at Devcon, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin gave a live look at Kohaku, a suite of privacy-preserving crypto tools to enhance privacy and security in the Ethereum ecosystem.

The effort, led by the Ethereum Foundation and other key ecosystem stakeholders, represents Buterin’s significant embrace of privacy as a core aim for blockchain developers. 

“We’re in this very last mile stage,” Buterin said, noting that Ethereum “is still behind” where it could be in terms of user privacy. “It’s in this last mile stage where we need to put a lot of concerted effort into doing better. Same on the security side.”

Kohaku is an open-source initiative to enhance onchain privacy and security. It offers a modular framework of primitives to allow developers to build secure, privacy-focused wallets without relying on centralized third parties, and may evolve to include tools like mixnets for network-level anonymity and ZK-powered browsers. 

At the Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress, Buterin noted that Ethereum is on a "privacy upgrade path" to provide “real-world privacy and security.”

The Kohaku Github page notes that the project is a work in progress. Today, the repository includes software packages for protocols like Railgun and Privacy Pools, which enable users to complantly obscure their funds and provide “proof of innocence.”

Privacy Pools, for instance, developed by 0xbow, uses “association lists” that prevent bad actors from obscuring their funds. 

During a demo of a Kohaku wallet on Nov. 16, a user was able to shield publicly visible funds using a Railgun integration. The idea is to bring default opt-in privacy for any Ethereum-connected wallet, like MetaMask and Rainbow. 

“Privacy is freedom. It gives us space to live our lives in the ways that meet our needs without having to constantly worry about how our actions will be perceived by all kinds of centralized and decentralized coercive political and social entities,” Buterin said. 

Privacy buffs

In addition to Buterin’s increasingly vocal embrace of privacy as a fundamental right, the Ethereum Foundation has doubled down on its privacy R&D goals.

Last month, the Ethereum Foundation launched the Privacy Cluster, a 47-member team of researchers, engineers, and cryptographers focused on making privacy a “first-class property” of Ethereum. 

Further, in September, the Ethereum Foundation's Privacy & Scaling Explorations team rebranded to the Privacy Stewards of Ethereum, signifying its shift from speculative exploration of new tech to solving concrete problems. The team hopes to make headway into features like “private voting” and confidential DeFi.