Can there be better privacy on Ethereum and its ecosystem? A look at privacy on Base

A point that bears repeating is that blockchain networks today are not private. They’re pseudonymous. There’s no privacy on Ethereum by default–and most other blockchain networks do not count with the privacy guarantees that users would expect to see from a web3 environment. 

Every financial transaction on the most popular blockchains is reviewable on a block explorer, so doxxing and other practices can practically reveal a user’s entire financial history. The same thing applies to the rest of the ecosystem.

Ethereum’s Layer 2 (L2) solutions have focused on other (important) things–mainly around the scalability problem. However, they’ve inherited the same privacy paradigm that was first present on the main Ethereum chain. Every transaction on an L2 is also fully auditable by snoops and third parties.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular L2s on Ethereum’s ecosystem and see what their ecosystems are doing to provide users with increased privacy protections. In this article, we’ll focus on Base. Then we’ll look at what the optimal solution for privacy should look like.

What is Base?

Base launched as an Ethereum L2 developed by Coinbase, one of the leading centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s built on Optimism’s OP Stack and is designed to offer fast, low-cost, and secure transactions while inheriting Ethereum’s security and decentralization.

However, the focus of Base’s network, ecosystem, and community, has historically been on consumer applications, particularly those around SocialFi, NFTs, and DeFi. Popular web3 apps like Warpcast, Aerodrome, and Friend.tech have all been launched on Base as well as more established ones like Uniswap and Balancer that have adopted the L2 post-launch.

Many of these users who frequently interact with those applications are necessarily doing so privately. They are interacting with a version of web3 that is just as private as web2, if not less. 

Privacy on Base

Privacy on Base is still in its early stages, as most Layer 2 solutions prioritize scalability over privacy by default. However, some notable privacy-focused applications and tools are emerging, such as:

• Farcaster + ZK Proofs: Experimental ZK-based reputation and privacy features in the Farcaster social network.
• Civic: A tokenized identity solution that allows users to manage an onchain representation of their online identity.

• Umbra Protocol: Facilitates stealth payments for anonymous DAO contributions and payrolls.
• Brave Wallet: Part of the Brave browser, the wallet is philosophically aligned with its protection against ads and other privacy-invading online practices.
• 1RPC: An RPC relay system that eliminates data leaks and exposure when it comes to user interactions with the blockchain.
• MASQ Network: Provides web3 users with a decentralized VPN service on top of its own web3 browser.
• Venice: A private and uncensored AI application for web3 that’s powered by decentralized inference and doesn’t store user data.
• Veil Cash: A privacy protocol enabling verified depositors to achieve privacy and anonymity within a pool of trusted users.

What could be better in terms of privacy for Ethereum L2s such as Base?

As the Base ecosystem continues to grow, privacy is becoming increasingly important to its users. This is especially true for an ecosystem that’s so focused on consumer applications. There’s already support for such applications in the ecosystem–Coinbase has even acquired the team behind Iron Fish to support privacy on Base.

The demand for privacy is there–but most solutions still are either not complete enough, not usable enough, or simply––not fast enough.

There is room for improvement and innovation.

This is the idea behind taking Aleph Zero’s privacy layer and applying it to multiple chains and ecosystems. We’re building it to be faster than any other solution and much easier to use, so it appeals to the general consumer audience. For builders, this also means Shielder SDK which will be easy to integrate into apps and wallets without extensive cryptographic knowledge.

We’re here to abstract away the limitations of current privacy-enhancing systems and pave the way for adoption.

What is ‘better privacy’?

What would perfect privacy look like for Ethereum and its L2s? 

We think it should be:

• Fast, so it doesn’t slow down transactions.
• Easy to use, so it doesn’t get in your way.
• Client-side, keeping your data encrypted at all times.
• Work with all your favorite DeFi apps.
• Let you move privately between different blockchains.
• Allow you to be part of a privacy-focused economy.

It’s not about setting up a private ecosystem from scratch. It’s about adding privacy to what is already there.

And we’re here to deliver that.

Stay up to speed with Aleph Zero’s developments by joining the Aleph Zero community!