The Ethereum Foundation has announced the launch of a new "Privacy Cluster," a dedicated team focused on enhancing privacy within the Ethereum ecosystem. This initiative underscores the Foundation's commitment to making privacy a core tenet of digital trust and security.

The Privacy Cluster comprises 47 researchers, engineers, and cryptographers from across the blockchain industry. This cross-ecosystem collaboration aims to integrate applied research, product development, and institutional coordination to establish privacy as a fundamental component of Ethereum's infrastructure. Igor Barinov, founder of Blockscout, will coordinate the Privacy Cluster's efforts. Andy Guzman will continue to lead the Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) team, focusing on early-stage research and development.

The Privacy Cluster will encompass several key initiatives:

• Private Reads & Writes: Enabling seamless and inexpensive private payments, votes, and interactions, allowing users and enterprises to browse, query, and authenticate without surveillance or metadata leaks.
• Private Proving: Developing efficient proofs for verifying eligibility, identity, or asset origin without disclosing unnecessary data.
• Private Identities: Protecting online identities through selective disclosure and zkID projects.
• Privacy Experience: Enhancing user experience to make privacy accessible and normal.
• Institutional Privacy Task Force (IPTF): Bridging institutions and Ethereum by translating regulatory and operational requirements into privacy specifications and helping institutions solve real-world use cases.
• Kohaku: A new privacy-preserving wallet and open-source SDK designed to make strong cryptography accessible.

The Ethereum Foundation emphasizes that privacy is crucial for protecting dignity and agency in digital life. It allows individuals to choose what they share, when, and with whom. For developers, privacy expands the design space, enabling safer applications and new product categories while reducing liability associated with data custody. Institutions benefit from privacy by maintaining compliance with security standards while making operational decisions. On a societal level, privacy safeguards democratic processes and collective trust by protecting the freedom to think, communicate, and transact without surveillance.

The Privacy Cluster builds upon the work of the Privacy Stewards of Ethereum (PSE), expanding on research and development efforts since 2018. The PSE team has already built over 50 open-source R&D projects, including Semaphore for anonymous signaling and MACI for private voting.

The Ethereum Foundation believes that Ethereum was created to be the foundation of digital trust. To maintain credible trust, privacy must be a core component. The Foundation, along with numerous Ethereum teams focused on privacy, is committed to supporting this cause. The Foundation views innovation in privacy as a collective effort, complementing hundreds of ecosystem projects and over 700 teams already working on privacy-focused infrastructure and applications.