No more privacy coins? $BLANK may be the only solution for financial privacy
We’re not the first crypto privacy project out there. Pioneers like Monero, Zcash, Komodo, Dash, and others have paved the way for us and we know we are building on the shoulder of giants. For that, we thank you all. However, the crypto world is maturing and separate privacy blockchains seem to fall out of the picture. Privacy coins have a major flaw: Privacy features are inseparable from their native blockchain tokens and that is where $BLANK stands out.
How we got here
Privacy has always been a key factor in the world of finance. While traditional bank accounts require clients to go through lengthy KYC procedures required to implement the best possible AML methods, it comes at a high cost for the average consumer. Unbanked and underbanked populations are a big problem that affects an estimated 1.7 billion people globally, equating to roughly 31% of the world’s adult population.
A study from the Federal Reserve revealed that 22% of the adult population in the US is either unbanked or underbanked. And it gets worse in developing countries. More than half of the Sub-Saharan African population has no access to financial services and almost ¼ of unbanked individuals live in emerging Asian economies such as China and India.
The silver lining is that these numbers are slowly improving and that’s in part thanks to Bitcoin. While KYC is not required to join and interact with the Bitcoin network itself, it still represents a major barrier of entry for those looking to enter crypto and many also believe that financial privacy should be a universal right.
Contrary to popular belief, Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous. Bitcoin is pseudonymous by nature, and blockchain forensics companies like Chainalysis and others have shown time and time again that it is possible to track transactions and link addresses to the individuals and entities that own them.
Blockchain forensics allows individuals and cryptocurrency exchanges to track, and even sometimes recover, stolen funds from hackers. This has been known for quite some time and has led to the creation of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero and Zcash that provide true privacy.
Goodbye Privacy Coins
If it hasn’t become clear already how important privacy is in the world of finance, it will become undeniable evident in the years to come. With the inevitable rollout of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), we may be evolving towards a cashless future where every transaction is under government surveillance. Cryptocurrencies, and decentralized technologies as a whole, may play a big part in avoiding a dystopian future for humanity.
Financial privacy will become an increasingly rare and expensive commodity, but it remains unclear if that need for privacy will be fulfilled by the current privacy coins, also known as anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies.
The last few months have been rough for the major privacy coins Monero, Zcash, and Dash. Centralized crypto exchanges have deemed these coins too risky, and a trend to delist them has been ongoing. Major exchanges such as Bithumb, Shapeshifter, and Bittrex no longer list these coins, and the tendency is for other exchanges to follow suit. Claiming that anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies are closely related to illicit activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and ransomware attacks, cryptocurrencies exchanges in countries such as Australia, the Netherlands, and Japan are folding under the regulatory pressure of banking institutions.
If we factor all of this, it will come as no surprise why privacy coins are underperforming price-wise when compared to other cryptocurrencies. Not only does future delisting look probable, but it is also impossible for these coins to go up much in terms of price when they aren’t available for purchase.
Is this the end of privacy for crypto?
Most certainly not. Solutions are now being deployed which allow privacy functionalities to be added to any cryptocurrency. One of these solutions is Blank wallet.
This new project allows anyone to conceal any transactions, trades, and keep the origins and size of your wealth secret. This is done by hiding financial data by mixing transfers in a decentralized way within a pool of funds owned by Blank. This method concedes greater privacy levels with each subsequent transfer. Using smart contracts, audited by third-party experts, Blank offers transparency and reliability in its anonymity services.
The Blank project also has its own token but it is not a privacy cryptocurrency. This token is periodically used for fees and periodically burned to reduce supply and increase buy pressure, similar to the known BNB token.
Does DeFi need KYC?
There is no right or wrong answer, as it all comes down to a matter of opinion. The DeFi industry is mostly unregulated at this point in time, but as the market continues to mature and growing regulatory pressure from centralized authorities is to be expected. Solutions are already being developed, such as the case of analytics firm ConsenSys and the launch of the new compliance service to trace transactions of Ethereum tokens within the DeFi market.
Implementing KYC will help prevent money laundering and possibly minimize risks, but it will come at the cost of loss of privacy, decentralization, and fewer individuals being able to enter the space.
About Blank Wallet
Blank is the most private, non-custodial Ethereum browser extension wallet.
Blank allows the user to easily interact with privacy smart contracts on Ethereum to hide the amounts and the origins of cryptocurrency held, in a decentralized, non-custodial, and frictionless manner.
Blank solves the problem of privacy in crypto transactions. Each time you want to make a withdrawal, Blank will create a new wallet address for you with the amount of crypto that you requested. This address originates from the smart contract where everyone’s funds are pooled. All of this is achieved using cryptographic proofs to ensure that the user cannot be linked with the original depositing address.
With crypto transactions increasing, on-chain transaction privacy is being highly discussed to keep you safe from exposing yourself. Blank has developed a system that adds the ultimate protective layer to your crypto transactions while facilitating every function that other wallets offer.
Anyone can easily install Blank and start reaping the privacy benefits in no time at all. Besides the smart contract functionality, Blank wallet offers a higher level of privacy due to Tor integration. Upcoming functionality includes DeFi web3 integrations as well as support for Metamask Snaps Plugins to allow for seamless connectivity and usage.
Reclaim privacy on your Ethereum transfers. Go Blank.
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