---

curator: Alina exactDate: 2024-11-5

---

gm, privacy humans!

this weeks newsletter is a day late - but better late than never, right?? things have been cooking up in web3privacy kitchen:

Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress hit 2500+ registrations! This is going to be HUUUGE (read that in Trumps voice).

CypheRave hit 700+ registrations! Bring on your best anon fit and leave corporate at the door. Privacy people know how to party.

now, let's dive into the latest news in web3 privacy!

---

Insights

• Coinbase inaugural DC Privacy Summit
• Nillion network raises $25M
• Protocol Berg is back
• NymVPN statement on US Elections
• Encrypted Messenger Session Moves to Switzerland

---

Knowledge

• Waku's light protocols and edge nodes
• Verifiable Secret Sharing from Symmetric Key Cryptography with Improved Optimistic Complexity
• Rhombus: Fast Homomorphic Matrix-Vector Multiplication for Secure Two-Party Inference
• Fully Secure Searchable Encryption from PRFs, Pairings, and Lattices
• Quantum One-Time Protection of any Randomized Algorithm
• Advanced Transparency System

---

Inspiration: Going On(Line) an offering of media from the web

• Amir Taaki: Past, Present & Future of Bitcoin
• Crypto-privacy on the policy agenda
• Silke Noa & Rachel Rose O'Leary: AssangeDAO
• 4 tips for using RAILGUN

---

Explorer

Check out Harry's Privacy Stack

Don't forget to add/update your favorite projects on the Explorer! Not sure how?

Inspiration: Going Off(Line) an offering of IRL events

(new/changes in bold)

• Nov 7-9, DeFi Security Summit Bangkok
• Nov 10, ProtoLayers Builder Conference
• Nov 11, Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Bangkok
• Nov 11, Parallel Society Congress Bangkok
• Nov 13, Women in web3Privacy Side Event Bangkok
• Nov 14 Intents & Chain Abstraction Summit Bangkok
• Nov 12-15, devcon Bangkok
• Nov 15-17 ETHGlobal Bangkok
• Dec 6-8, ETHIndia Bengaluru

Saucy Quote 🥫

Until next week, reporting straight from the Cypherpunk Congress. For attendees - I will deliver the news personally to you (#yappaholic). To our remote frens - the next edition will be different, it'll make you feel like you're right there without any visuals :) You can watch the talks later when they are released, but I will be delivering the best and most chaotic quotes from the Congress directly to your inbox!

---

curator: Alina

---

hi, privacy humans!

While you're waiting for Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress, we released videos from ETHRome web3 Privacy now meetup:

Web3Privacy Now is Care, Ecosystem, and Impact - PG

Troubles at the Horizon - Denis Jaromil Roio

Buidl for Peoples not Machinez - Arturo Filastò

Grassroots Activism - Luca Lezzerini

Price of Privacy - Leona Hioki

Surveillance as Social Disorder - Andrea Togni

Parallel Society - Marco Castignoli

Hope you enjoy!

now, let's dive into the latest news in web3 privacy world!

---

Insights

• Aztec Applications for the Sequencer & Prover Testnet are now open
• Firo Campfire v2.0.2 Release
• Aleph Zero Shielding Demo is LIVE on Testnet

---

Knowledge

• TechRadar I attended the 2024 Encryption Summit - here are my 5 takeaways
• DarkFi Memetic warfare
• Circle Unveiling the Confidential ERC-20 Framework: Compliant Privacy on Public Blockchains using FHE
• CFPB CFPB Takes Action to Curb Unchecked Worker Surveillance
• Hackernoon Cypherpunks (and Women) Write Code: Jude Milhon and Community Memory
• FastCompany Why the EU’s biometric border-check system has failed to launch
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Offline-Online Indifferentiability of Cryptographic Systems
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Attestation Proof of Association – provability that attestation keys are bound to the same hardware and person
• Cryptology ePrint Archive More Efficient Isogeny Proofs of Knowledge via Canonical Modular Polynomials

---

Inspiration: Going On(Line) an offering of media from the web

• Distribute(d) Trust – The key to global encryption access The Tor Project
• Deep Dive into EVM-powered DAO Voting RISC Zero + Aragon X space
• How Decentralization Benefits Publishers, with 404’s Jason Koebler and ProPublica’s Ben Werdmuller Flipboard
• The Future of Privacy in web3 Lobster Protocol + iExec X space
• Argument & Lurk in 2025 zkSummit 12 Lisbon
• The Right for Privacy in 2024 POW Summit
• threat of data colonialism Tech Won't Save Us

---

Explorer

+1 on personal privacy stack by Vitalik himself:

Don't forget to add/update your favorite projects on the Explorer! Not sure how?

Inspiration: Going Off(Line) an offering of IRL events

(new/changes in bold)

• Nov 7-9, DeFi Security Summit Bangkok

• Nov 10, ProtoLayers Builder Conference

• Nov 11, Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Bangkok

• Nov 11, Parallel Society Congress Bangkok

• Nov 13, Women in web3Privacy Side Event Bangkok

• Nov 14 Intents & Chain Abstraction Summit Bangkok

• Nov 12-15, devcon Bangkok

• Nov 15-17 ETHGlobal Bangkok

• Dec 6-8, ETHIndia Bengaluru

• devcon side events list

Saucy Quote 🥫

"what if the vaunted future hoped for by the original cypherpunks is only arriving now

what if it is not infrastructure, or apps, or memecoins, or any of these things, but rather simply the right version of the thing that was meant to be built

private internet money."

penumbra (yes, penumbra again, but their tweets are just so good!)

Until next week - let's make privacy sexy.

---

curator: Alina

---

gm privacy humans!

things are heating up with planning Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress, with over 1.4K registrations. Check out what we've got planned for you ❤️

at the risk of sounding too corporate - our Q3 delivery report is here! see what we have been up to these months.

in other news:

Women in web3 Privacy is moving fast - here's what's on their menu this season.

aperitivo: launching their website

appetizer: a panel at the Cypherpunk Congress

side (event) dish: announcing their devcon side event

dessert: starting a telegram community

digestif: releasing their first Lectures Pilot

there's always room for gelato! they just got featured in The Block

we're happy to see this community gaining momentum.

now, let's dive into the latest news in web3 privacy world!

---

Insights

• Backlight Launching Blacklight Query, a Tool to Scan Websites for Privacy at Scale
• Horizen Q3 Report
• Haven Protocol GUI update 4.1 - New Release
• PlatON Partnership with Uxuycom to integrate the #UXUY Telegram Wallet
• Fairblock What happened to our decentralized private new internet?

---

Knowledge

• EFF Salt Typhoon Hack Shows There's No Security Backdoor That's Only For The "Good Guys"
• EFF A Flourishing Internet Depends on Competition
• Cointelegraph Blockchain fixes misuse of biometric data — Privado ID founder
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Drifting Towards Better Error Probabilities in Fully Homomorphic Encryption Schemes
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Quantum Security of a Compact Multi-Signature
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Updatable Privacy-Preserving Blueprints
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Fake It till You Make It: Enhancing Security of Bluetooth Secure Connections via Deferrable Authentication
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Homomorphic Encryption with Authority

---

Inspiration: Going On(Line) an offering of media from the web

• None of your business: privacy & crypto talk RAILGUN X Space
• Death and rebirth in the phase of paradigm shifts Nym Community Call
• EFFecting Change: How to Protest with Privacy in Mind EFF
• Driving Adoption of Privacy - Paul Puey ETHDam 2024
• Future of identity-centric blockchain AdLunam Podcast
• How Web3 navigates the balance between transparency and privacy on public chains reDeFining RWA at Token2049
• A Future for Private Cryptocurrencies ft. Firo, Particl & PIVX BasicSwap DEX X Space

---

Explorer

In a tangled world wide web of information, a jungle where every option seems to have a hidden gotcha, we have all have become sceptical of the motives behind each and every source of information As the debate around technology's impact on society intensifies, privacy has taken centre stage. Many of us, who once treated privacy as an afterthought, are now asking: "Where do I even start?"

That's where you—the techno-optimist—comes into the picture.

To empower peers and future users according to their privacy, risk, and transparency needs, we invite you to list your project on the Web3Privacy Explorer. It doesn’t matter if it’s your own project, or your favourite tool.

cont. reading our Mirror post about the Explorer here

This weeks spotlight is on Waku!

With it's shining 83% score, I asked one of their contributors Václav Pavlín some questions:

How is Waku different from other protocols? Waku does not compromise on privacy, censorship resistance and permissionless nature. It's aim is to enable any project to onboard quickly on an extensive network of p2p nodes and focus on your protocol, rather than bootstrapping and building a network from scratch.

What’s the next hot feature Waku is working on? There is a lot going on - end-to-end reliability protocol is huge, incentivization, RLN on mainnet with variable rate limits per user, Store sync to make sure all store nodes return same history...

How would you sum up Waku team culture in one word? Open.

That's it on the Explorer and don't forget to add your favorite projects here!

Inspiration: Going Off(Line) an offering of IRL events

(new/changes in bold)

• Nov 7-9, DeFi Security Summit Bangkok
• Nov 11, Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Bangkok
• Nov 11, Parallel Society Congress Bangkok
• Nov 13, Women in web3Privacy Side Event Bangkok
• Nov 14 Intents & Chain Abstraction Summit Bangkok
• Nov 12-15, devcon Bangkok

Saucy Quote 🥫

"there is no meaningful future for cryptocurrency without privacy" penumbra

Until next week - and let's make privacy sexy.

---

curator: Alina

---

hello and welcome!

this week we would like to give a spotlight to projects that won our bounty at ETHRome.

SafeBlow 🛟 helps whistleblowers send their whistles securely, privately, and quickly, by enabling the verification of reports without storing individual identities, utilizing a proof-of-personhood solution through TLS Verification, and implementing a client hash identifier to separate identifying data from report content.

Fischietto 🤫 is a privacy-centric whistleblowing platform using Aztec ZKPs and Fhenix encrypted data storage to ensure anonymous, secure, and verifiable reporting of workplace issues.

Vox 🗯️ is a private, secure and sybil-resistant petition platform. Citizens can fight the status-quo without fear of repercussion. Each signature is sure to come from a unique citizen.

SHIELD SPACE 🛡️ is a secure platform for sensitive communities hosting private, confidential events, ensuring participant privacy and data protection.

ZKSnitch 👀 is a decentralized whistleblowing platform with end to end encrypted submission sharing.

also, in case you've been out of the loop - we have launched the Privacy Builder Pack to empower devs moving beyond one-off projects and build privacy-1st applications that can address real-world problems and thrive in the long run.

---

Insights

• Namada initial release of the Namada js sdk is now available on npm
• Kontos V2 Phase 2 Upgrade
• ANS ANS Public Registration is now open
• Secret Network integration of Secret’s Confidential Computing Layer with Solana
• Codex Codex testnet launch ramps up decentralised data storage with democratisation and durability guarantees

---

Knowledge

• Veritas Protocol The Benefits of Real-Time Blockchain Monitoring for Security
• EFF How to: Detect Bluetooth Trackers
• Privado.iD Reclaiming Trust in the Age of AI: Private Proofs of Uniqueness and Digital Reputation
• IET A secure blockchain framework for healthcare records management systems
• Cointelegraph Blockchain fixes misuse of biometric data — Privado ID founder
• Prof Aggelos Kiayias The 11 blockchain tenets: towards a blockchain bill of rights
• Kewbit's Privacy Blog Understanding Jamtis: A New Addressing Scheme for Monero
• Naomi Brockwell Why I use disappearing messages
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Curve Forests: Transparent Zero-Knowledge Set Membership with Batching and Strong Security
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Mild Asymmetric Message Franking: Illegal-Messages-Only and Retrospective Content Moderation
• Cryptology ePrint Archive A Note on ``Privacy-Preserving and Secure Cloud Computing: A Case of Large-Scale Nonlinear Programming''
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Re-visiting Authorized Private Set Intersection: A New Privacy-Preserving Variant and Two Protocols
• Cryptology ePrint Archive FLUENT: A Tool for Efficient Mixed-Protocol Semi-Private Function Evaluation
• Cryptology ePrint Archive Understanding Leakage in Searchable Encryption: a Quantitative Approach

---

Inspiration: Going On(Line) an offering of media from the web

• Mastering MPC & Memes with Mikerah Zero Knowledge Podcast
• Shieldy & The Brain - Exploring ETH Privacy with RAILGUN
• How Web3 Privacy Will Revolutionize DeFi Chainalysis
• Privacy in Focus: An interview with Aaron Day from the Daylight Freedom Foundation Firo
• Privacy as a part of Cardano's "bill of rights" Charles Hoskinson
• Product Keynote: Arcium Yannik Schrade Breakpoint 2024
• David Burkett on MWEB & Privacy Bitcoin Takeover
• Liam Eagen, Robin Linus & Jonas Nick on Shielded Client Side Validation Bitcoin Takeover
• 10 Privacy Tools I Can’t Live Without Techlore
• Is Browsing in Google’s Incognito Mode Private? Proton
• Will Codex Replace Google Drive? DePIN State

---

Inspiration: Going Off(Line) an offering of IRL events

(new/changes in bold)

• Oct 17-19,ETHSofia Conference & Hackathon
• Nov 7-9, DeFi Security Summit Bangkok
• Nov 11, Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Bangkok
• Nov 11, Parallel Society Congress Bangkok
• Nov 13, Women in web3Privacy Side Event Bangkok
• Nov 12-15, devcon Bangkok

Saucy Quote 🥫

"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy. A private matter is something one doesn’t want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn’t want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world." Eric Hughes

Until next week - and let's make privacy sexy again.

---

curator: Alina

---

What's crackin' @everyone

We’ve got a lot of personal updates to spill this week!

Fresh off an incredible event in Rome at an underground venue, where we hosted talks from Denis Roio, Arturo Filasto, Luca Lezzerini, Andrea Togni, Emanuele Russo and Marco Castignoli (pss, videos dropping soon). We capped off the evening in true Web3Privacy community style - deep talks, happy vibes and and beer flowing till the wee hours.

On top of that, we’re excited to announce that we sponsored a bounty at ETHRome. We will feature Bounty winners next Monday.

And, in case you missed it, we also launched the Privacy Builder Pack, lovingly crafted by Jensei to give builders in the space the tools they need to get started.

And now for the nitty gritty...

Insights

• DarkFi Squad "World's strongest anonymous chat": DarkIRC UI Release: Pre-Alpha Unstable
• Rotki Released 1.35.0 - Culmen
• Enclave Introducing: Encrypted Execution Environments
• The LunarDAO Improvement Proposal supporting DarkFi research & development
• Labyrinth September Update
• Railgun Introducing Shieldy & The Brain
• HCPP aka Hackers Congress Paralelni Polis coverage by Bob Summerwill

---

Knowledge

• How to improve your privacy with Dappnode Crash Course
• EFF Age Verification Laws Will Hurt More Than They Help

---

Inspiration

• A 5 Step Guide to Make Ethereum—and Crypto—Cypherpunk Again Dyne
• A Read "Hacker, hoaxer, whistleblower, spy" by Gabriella Coleman. Recommended by our community members Ann Brody and Mykola
• Wired: Signal Is More Than Encrypted Messaging

---

Podcasts

• Edward Snowden - The Next Threat to Speech TOKEN2049 Singapore 2024
• The Birth of Chainalysis: Building the First Blockchain Analytics Company Chainalysis Podcast
• Enabling Non-Profits & Giving New Projects Their First Break Gitcoin X Space

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• Oct 8, zkSummit Lisbon
• Oct 9-10, Bitcoin Amsterdam
• Oct 17-19,ETHSofia Conference & Hackathon
• Nov 7-9, DeFi Security Summit Bangkok
• Nov 11, Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Bangkok
• Nov 11, Parallel Society Congress Bangkok
• Nov 12-15, devcon Bangkok

Saucy Advice 🥫

Pick a date to be offline → Let friends and family know you’ll be offline, or better yet, invite them to join you! For all of us smitten with privacy, going offline is the sweetest act of devotion. Alternatively, get one of those bad boys.

Until next week - and let's make privacy sexy again.

---

Releases

• Aztec Alpha Build 2 is here
• Codex Release of public Testnet and updated whitepaper
• xx Network XX Network Delivers Worldcoin Network Anonymizer Application
• Panther Protocol Stage 7 of Panther Protocol is live
• PIVX PIVX is now avalibable on NOW Wallet

---

Ecosystem

• The Coming Storm, an article by Amir Taaki
• Zcash community forum returns
• Arcana Auth now supports Telegram login
• Verify your zkCreditScore using Zero-Knowledge Proofs with zkMe powered by Reclaim Protocol
• Secret’s partnership with Swisstronik is expanding the confidential computing constellation

---

Podcasts

• Enhancing Your Web Experience with Privacy-First Browsing Strategies Brave Podcast
• Privacy in Crypto feat. Luke Parker PIVX Twitter Space
• Argos Victory: Private Money Market testnet Shade Protocol Twitter Space
• Privacy & human rights panel with Jarrad Hope, Mykola Siusko, Jameson Lopp, Matthias Tarasiewicz POW Summit
• Civic hygiene, national security, and E2E encryption with Phil Zimmermann POW Summit
• Scaling Technology vs. Scaling Values: The Cypherpunk Dilemma with Matthias Tarasiewicz POW Summit
• How Protocols Break with Aaron Feickert POW Summit
• The Privacy Illusion: How Assumptions Create More Risk with David Burkett POW Summit
• Corruption, KYC and the Cost of Compliance with Jarrad Hope POW Summit
• The Right for privacy in 2024 with Mykola Siusko POW Summit
• Bitcoin L2s: Shielded CSV with Veronika Kuett POW Summit
• PACE hearing on Julian Assange's detention

---

Research

• Waku: Published API spec proposal for status-go integration to Vac forum

---

Other

• Cointelegraph Telegram’s Policy shift raises concerns
• EFF Tell Congress: We Can't Afford More Bad Patents
• Oasis Academy Can AI be developed responsibly?
• Python Zama Concrete ML: Simplifying Homomorphic Encryption for Python Machine Learning
• Gnericvibes How Creatives Can Stay Safe Onchain: Essential Security Tips

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• Oct 3, Web3Privacy Now ETHRome meetup
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct 8, zkSummit Lisbon
• Nov 11, Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Bangkok
• Nov 11, Parallel Society Congress Bangkok
• Nov 12-15, devcon Bangkok

---

Releases

• Nym NymVPN free beta testing now live
• Firo Mandatory Release v0.14.14.0
• Aleo Mainnet is live
• Gnosis Guild Launched Enclave
• Semaphore Semaphore v4 is out
• Web3Privacy now Explorer aka "dashboard for the web3 privacy" has been updated

---

Ecosystem

• A look into Labyrinth's latest progress
• A new era for PSE
• IoTeX collaborates with Polygon Labs
• Nillion integrates with NEAR Protocol
• Namada Pre-Genesis Phase 2
• Aztec gave grant to provable email

---

Podcasts

• Jameson Lopp: Technology to empower individuals Logos Podcast with Jarred Hope
• How Gnosis 3.0 Paves the Way for Mass Adoption Friederike Ernst
• Onchain Minimalism Keynote by Justin Drake at PlasmaCon 2024
• TEEs with Andrew Miller Zero Knowledge fm
• LunarDAO <> FIRN forest-side chat
• Cross-chain intents & the modular ecosystem Anoma
• Kruw on Bitcoin Privacy & Blockchain Analysis
• Bitcoin privacy, and the crypto privacy landscape with @thevladcostea Nym Community Call
• How to improve your privacy with Dappnode Dappnode Crash Course
• Technical Workshop with Diego Lizarazo and Mauricio Magaldi Midnight x TOKEN2049
• Progress In the Decentralized AI Stack Panel at Web3 Summit 2024 Berlin
• Confidential Computing for Solana HackSecret 4
• Best Mina application or library built using Protokit ETHGlobal Singapore 2024
• Remigration Checks, Chainanalysis, Presidential Debate & more! Monero Talk
• Use Open-Source Technologies Franzi x Department of Decentralization @ ETHBerlin
• Privado ID & Basic Attention Token team on Privacy in the Web3 @ X spaces

---

Governments

• EFF: Venezuela's Repression: surveillance and censorship following July's presidential election
• DW: Chinese cyberattacks hit nearly half of German firms
• Radar: Telegram will share users’ IP addresses and phone numbers” to governments when legally required

---

Research

• Message Latency in Waku Relay with Rate Limiting Nullifiers
• Haze and Daze: Compliant Privacy Mixers

---

Other

• Forbes Alliances show the web3 revolution is unstoppable with Robinhood, Secret Network and Tezos
• Firefox rolls out Total Cookie Protection by default for desktop
• Zashi Coinbase integration
• Sweeping FTC study finds that social media sites engage in ‘vast surveillance’ of its users
• Cryptographic papers giveaway by BigSky
• Beyond cypherpunks article

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• Sept 26-27, ETHMilan conference
• Oct 3, Web3Privacy Now ETHRome meetup
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct 8, zkSummit Lisbon
• Nov 11, Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Bangkok
• Nov 12-15, devcon Bangkok

---

Releases

• Panther Testnet 6 is live
• RariMe Self-custody identity wallet
• Stack Wallet 2.1.1, GitHub

---

Ecosystem

• Aztec launched Aztec new website
• Electroin Coin & Co weekly
• HOPR dev update
• 50M ZkApp acceleratpr by Manta Network
• Dusk Network announced mainnet date
• Singularity adopts Noir language
• Iranians Vote has been launched

---

Podcasts

• The Importance of Privacy in Web3 DeCC Day @ Consensus 2024 Austin
• Privacy Preserving ML with Fully Homomorphic Encryption by Jordan Frery, Concrete ML Tech Lead and Research at Zama, Benoit Chevallier-Mames, VP Cloud and ML at Zama
• Building the endgame for blockchain privacy by Savio, Product Manager at Aztec Labs
• Decoding Crypto: Privacy in 2024 feat Tornado Cash, CBDCs and AI surveillance by Harry Haplin, Nym
• Incrypted conference: surveillance and #AI in times of war by Harry Haplin, Nym
• MixMatch: Flow Matching for Mixnet Traffic by Lennart Oldenburg, KU Leuven
• How Secure Is Your Bitcoin? (BTC Prague 2024 Keynote) by Rick Messitt
• Privacy in Public (BTC Prague 2024 Keynote) by Kruw
• Digital Anonymity and Secure Communication (BTC Prague 2024 Keynote) by Antonín Stoklásek
• Bitcoin & Human Rights: What 99% Are Getting Wrong (BTC Prague 2024 Keynote) by Anita Posch

---

Governments

• Cointelegraph: Privacy-minded' CBDCs are a wolf in sheep’s clothinge

---

Research

• Greco: Fast Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Valid FHE RLWE Ciphertexts Formation by Enrico Bottazzi

---

Other

• Make Cypherpunk - one Ethereum block at a time article by Mykola Siusko x Web3Privacy Now
• ID Verification Service for TikTok, Uber, X Exposed Driver Licenses!
• Julian Assange is free
• Dark Pools for Institutions by Panther Protocol

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• Jul 10, Shielding Summit (Brussels)
• Jul 12, Web3Privacy Now "Occupy meetup"
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct, ETHBrno privacy hackathon

---

Research

---

Releases

---

Ecosystem

• Fhenix raises $15M in series A funding
• Venice.ai Differentiates Itself From ChatGPT Through Privacy
• Orbit Chain hacker moves $48M to Tornado Cash
• Nocturne Labs behind Nocturne protocol shut down it’s ops

---

Podcasts

---

Governments

• Crypto Mixers, Privacy Coins, Layer 2s Complicate Tracing for Law Enforcement
• The Consolidated Audit Trail went operational by SEC
• CBDC privacy concerns and ‘lack of purpose’ stall progress

---

Other

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 27, Privacy Reunion #3 (Neuchâtel)
• Jul 12, Web3Privacy Now "Occupy meetup"
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno privacy hackathon

---

Research

• Automata Network: Multi-Prover AVS with TEE Coprocessors
• Aleo: Mainnet update
• Zama: Verifiable FHE Bootstrapping using SNARKs
• Umbra 2.0 vision

---

Releases

• Status public desktop beta 1.0
• Rotki v1.33.0
• Zashi 1.1 iOS
• Cashu 1.0
• Particl weekly update
• Privy sample UIs
• Tangle v1.0.2
• Polyhedra's Expander open-source
• Polygon Mainden Alpha testnet
• GrapheneOS version 2024050700

---

Ecosystem

• Ten: Chimp Exchange - the first privacy DEX on Ten
• LunarDAO: Moros invests via grant in LunarDAO
• ZkPass: live on Arbitrum
• Mina: Grant on zkOracle Features1js: ZKON, ZkPass, Reclaim
• Cointelegraph: NuLink secures $11.4M to lead next-gen data protection efforts
• Arcium: $5.5M strategic funding round
• LocalMonero: Exchange shuts down
• Coinjoin: Bitcoin privacy will survive despite CoinJoin closure — zkSNACKs CEO Decrypt: Why Erik Voorhees Is Pivoting to a Privacy-Centric AI Startup

---

Podcasts

• ETHDam: Zama’s fhEVM: Enabling Blockchain Privacy with Tore Frederiksen
• ETHDam: Alpha protection through privacy - a web3 privacy primitive for DeFi with Oliver Gale
• ETHDam: “Lunarpunk VS Solarpunk” panel feat serinko x Nym, @mesquka x Railgun, and @ameensol x @0xbowio. Moderated by PG x Web3Privacy Now
• Zcon V: Zcash and the Regulatory/Policy Environment Sessions feat Jonathan S. Rouach, Peter Van Valkenburgh, J.W. Verret, Paul Brigner, Kurt Opsahl
• Fiat Lux: Web3privacy now operations overview feat Mykola Siusko x Web3Privacy now
• ETHDam: Boring Side of Privacy feat Kiearan x Railgun

---

Governments

• Coindesk: Fatemeh Fannizadeh on Crypto Law, Switzerland and How KYC Is Failing
• Coindesk: The U.S. Government’s Hypocritical Case Against Tornado Cash
• The Block: Former Pussy Riot lawyer launches blockchain-powered referendum to challenge Putin's inauguration
• Decrypt: Bitcoin Mixers Pull Out of the US Amid Regulatory Heat

---

Other

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• May 24-26, ETHBerlin hackathon
• May 30, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Prague) conference
• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 27, Privacy Reunion #3 (Neuchâtel)
• Jul 12, Web3Privacy Now "Occupy meetup"
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno privacy hackathon

---

Research

• Buying and using Monero, privately
• Privacy projects fundraising via current Gitcoin round

---

Releases

• Cake Wallet v4.15.5
• Prax Wallet for Penumbra v1.0

---

Ecosystem

• The Block: Logos inscribes its manifesto on largest-ever Bitcoin block
• Privacy & Scaling Explorations: Core Program has been launched
• Electric Coin & Co: ECC Update

---

Podcasts

• Logos: Zama.ai | Fully Homomorphic Encryption with Jason Delabay and Dr. Morten Dahl
• Monero Talk: In Defense of the Zcash Development Fund with Ian Sagstetter
• LunarDAO: Dark Forest with Rachel-Rose O'Leary x DarkFi, Jaya x Nym
• ETHDam 2024: Privacy: Past, Present and the Post Quantum World with Dr. David Chaum x xx network
• ETHDam 2024: The Fight for Privacy with Ameen Soleimani x Oxbow
• ETHDam 2024: Navigating Privacy & Scaling Explorations with Vivian Plasencia, Tyler AtHeartEngineer, Hendrik Eeckhaut, and Sam Richards
• Web3FC: Panel on “Privacy in Web3” with Daniel Lumi x ZkSync, Mykola Siusko x Web3Privacy Now and Ivan FB x Waku
• Bitcoin Magazine: Samourai, Tornado Cash & FATF with @alexis_roussel, @LyudaKozlovska, @jardemalie, @sethforprivacy, @J9Roem
• What Bitcoin Did: First They Came for Samourai with Seth For Privacy

---

Governments

• Coindesk: Samourai Wallet Charges Raise Existential Questions for Privacy Tech
• Coindesk: Distilling the Tornado Cash and Samourai Suits
• Coindesk: Wasabi Wallet and Phoenix Leave the U.S.; What’s Next for Non-Custodial Crypto?
• Coindesk: Wasabi Wallet-Developer Blocks U.S. Citizens and Residents After Samourai Wallet Arrests
• DeCrypt: 'Clock is Ticking' on Bitcoin Privacy: Edward Snowden
• The Block: Samourai Wallet's Keonne Rodriguez pleads not guilty to money laundering, transmitting charges
• Cointelegraph: US senators, FBI aren’t opposed to crypto privacy: Railgun contributor

---

Other

• Amir Taaki: Samourai Devs Arrested is a Wake Up Call for Crypto

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• May 24-26, ETHBerlin hackathon
• May 30, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Prague) conference
• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 27, Privacy Reunion #3 (Neuchâtel)
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno privacy hackathon

Research

Seth4Privacy: Proposed Bitcoin Privacy Improvements

Freesamourai.com : Founders And CEO Of Cryptocurrency Mixing Service Arrested And Charged With Money Laundering And Unlicensed Money Transmitting Offenses

Wired: A Vast New Data Set Could Supercharge the AI Hunt for Crypto Money Laundering

Ecosystem

Wasabi Wallet Blog: zkSNACKs is Discontinuing its Coinjoin Coordination Service 1st of June

Tether blog: Tether Enhances Compliance Measures with Chainalysis Ecosystem Monitoring Solution

Governments

Patrick Breyer: Pirates: EU cash cap and ban on anonymous hosted crypto wallets results in financial paternalism

Bitcoin Magazine: Samourai Did Nothing Wrong, Self Custodial Tools Are Not Money Transmitters

Blaze: The feds are trying to stifle Bitcoin and crypto with draconian new regulations

TechCabal: Exclusive: P2P crypto ban imminent as Nigeria calls crypto a national security issue

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• May 24-26, ETHBerlin hackathon
• May 30, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Prague) conference
• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 19-26, Web3Privacy Now Hackathon (Bled)
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno hackathon

Research

• ETH Research: Collusion-Resistant Impartial Selection Protocol (CRISP)

Partnership

• Coindesk: Shiba Inu partnered with ZAMA

Ecosystem

• Zcash Forum: ECC update, Roadmap
• W3PN: 24 new projects in W3PN privacy-enhancing services DB
• PSE: Acceleration Program Round 2 has been launched

Releases

• Wasabi Wallet: Juggernaut Release 2.0.6
• MACI v1.2.0
• Inco released Gentry Testnet
• 𝐨𝐩𝐩/𝐚𝐢 - Optimistic Privacy-Preserving AI on blockchain by ORA

Fundraising

• Inco network closed $4.5 round
• Humanity Protocol Announced Strategic Funding

Governments

• Washington Post: push notifications as a surveillance technique

Podcasts

• EFF: open Source Beats Authoritarianism with Audrey Tang
• Logos press engine: creating Politically Autonomous Communities with Patri Friedman
• Blockchain Recorded: on-chain ZK Privacy with Kieran (Kai) Mesquita
• What Bitcoin did: scaling Bitcoin Privately x John Light
• Moneto Talk: Privacy in Focus at ETH Denver w/ Luke Parker, SirJamz & Seth Estrada

Event highlights

ETHDenver

• Why Tornado Cash Developers Need Your Support by @ameensol x MolochDAO
• ZK Tech and Privacy by @matthew_d_green
• The Case for Monolithic Rollups by @jonwu_ x ex-@aztecnetwork
• The Hard Kind of Censorship Resistance by @nullchinchilla x @melproject_org

Circuit Breaker

• ZK-centric hackathon winners has been announced

Other

• Elusiv is sunsetting
• Optimism: Private, on-chain, implementation for RetroPGF proposal
• One-dimensional humans: the curse of single sign-in apps by ML_sudo
• Monero-related Twitter list has been compiled by Schmidt
• Cointelegraph: Privacy-focused Aleo says KYC leak is copy and paste error

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• Apr 10, zkSummit (Athens) conference
• Apr 12-14, ETHDam hackathon
• May 24-26, ETHBerlin hackathon
• May 30, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Prague) conference
• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 19-26, Web3Privacy Now Hackathon (Bled)
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno hackathon

Research

• Memetic warfare: notes from the W3PN Summit meme talk by @lunar_mining
• The State of the Culture (2024): a non pretty glimpse into post-entertainment society
• EFF: Unregulated, Exploitative, and on the Rise report on electronic monitoring from Vera Institute
• WTF is Aztec? introduction article
• Hackernoon: The Role of Asset-Agnostic Privacy
• Wired: experience with Signal usernames
• The Big Brother Watch: thread on X comparing CBDCs around the world
• Google: AI privacy risks from sharing with chatbots

Ecosystem

• Fluidkey launched alpha version on Optimism
• Aleo users alarmed by leaked KYC documents
• Railgun surpasses $20m TVL (src)
• Privacy x Web3 job board by @nicksvyaznoy and @niclaz (updated)

Grants

• Ethereum Foundation: The first ZK Grants Round is now open ($900k) (src)
• Zcash: grant for Maya Protocol approved ($110k) (src)

Releases

• NymVPN v0.0.4: initial release

Podcasts

• Privacy tools in the real world (LunarDAO)
• Protecting health data & patient privacy (Verida Network x Partisia Blockchain)
• Alternatives to CEXs (Firo)
• Privacy + blockchain: how important is it? (QuickSwap)

Governments

• Russia arrested a woman for a $51 donation to Ukraine charity, facing up to 20 years in prison
• The real story of the SEC's suit from Kraken CEO @DavidLRipley
• ‘Privacy and Security’ Should Be the Core of National Digital ID
• Australian experts discusses privacy and data collection by smart home devices
• Canadian Privacy Commissioner highlights concerns on RCMP's web surveillance with private tech

Other

• Bitcoin Magazine: Adam Back's complete emails with Satoshi Nakamato
• Satoshi Nakamoto's earliest collaborator Martii 'Sirius' Malmi released their entire email history

---

Upcoming events

(new/changes in bold)

• Apr 10, zkSummit (Athens) conference
• Apr 12-14, ETHDam hackathon
• May 24-26, ETHBerlin hackathon
• May 30, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Prague) conference
• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 19-26, Web3Privacy Now Hackathon (Bled)
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct 4-6, ETHRome hackathon
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno hackathon

Concepts

• Eppie: encrypted p2p email as better replacement for Skiff (src)
• koan: private cross-chain swaps by Zcash (src)

Governments

• European Court of Human Rights unequivocally protects encryption in Telegram (src)
• Digital euro will have a high level of privacy (src)
• EFF: The authors of the dangerous Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) unveiled an amended version this week, but it’s still an unconstitutional censorship bill (src)

Ecosystem

• Eternal Safe: decentralized fork of Safe{Wallet} without tracking (src)
• Electronic Coin & Co drops Zcash ecosystem update (src)
• DarkFi started hiring devs (src)

Releases

• Noir v0.24.0 (pre-release)
• Skiff Mail will now run forwarding up through 2025 (src)
• Privacy wallets W3PN database PR by niclaz (src)
• Holepunch launch Pears - a combined Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Runtime, Development & Deployment tool (src)
• Anon Aadhaar v1.0.0 uodate (src)
• Lit V0, Habanero Mainnet Beta: Decentralized Key Management (src)
• Rarimo launched Freedom tool for digital voting (src)

Partnerships

• Spot on enterprise data privacy: QuickNode and Matter Labs Partner to scale with zkSync Hyperchains (src)

Grants

• Zama Grant Program has been launched (src)

Research

• Technical exploration of Erasure Coding within the Swarm network, focusing on ensuring data integrity and resilience -- @GasperX93
• Healthcare data privacy: Researchers pair medical devices with blockchain to defend against cyberattacks (scs)
• OCash: Fully Anonymous Payments between Blockchain Light Clients (src)
• Pay2Chain bridge, named Alba, facilitates the efficient, secure, and trustless execution of conditional payments or smart contracts on a target blockchain based on off-chain events (src)
• Sigma Protocol(s) by Patrickd (src)
• Privacytests has released a new category in its evaluations: 'DNS Privacy Tests' (src)

Events

• W3PN Call for proposals is here (src)
• ETHBerlin will be sponsorless (src)
• Privacy Reunion II call for proposal (src)

Podcasts

• Ben Wizner: Speech, Privacy, and Technology | Logos Podcast with Jarrad Hope (src)
• /zk Farcaster x PSE projects forthcoming podcast (21.02) (src)
• The Blockchain Socialist: Accelerationism is back and tech elites are making it cringier than it already was (src
• War on privacy in Web3? With Zach Williamson, Co-founder & CEO at Aztec Protocol (src)

---

Upcoming events

• Feb 20, Binance delisting Monero
• Apr 10, zkSummit (Athens) conference
• Apr 12-14, ETHDam hackathon
• May 24-26, ETHBerlin hackathon
• May 30, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Prague) conference
• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 19-26, Web3Privacy Now Hackathon (Bled)
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno hackathon

Welcome to the historical debut - the first edition (#1) of Week In The Privacy News.

Privacy awareness starts in 1,2,3

Have you ever tried to follow privacy news? Spending hours & hours every week & still lacking a clear picture of the latest updates.

The Web3Privacy Now community solves this issue

Every week - 1 curated round-up of the most important news related to privacy in the Web3. Freedom, security and decentralisation topics as a bonus.

Production team: the Web3Privacy Now community members. We are passionate about privacy and through many activities such as research, education or IRL events we try to connect people with the same interests or spread these ideas to the wider public.

Join us: all our activities are open-source and community-based, so you can freely contribute with your news:

• send us a tip in our News channel on Matrix
• add the news item directly to the repository on GitHub
• or share them with us on X

Learn more about the Week in the Privacy News in our Documentation.

-- Tree

---

Feb 5 - Feb 11, 2024

Research

• Week in the Privacy News: new weekly summary of the most important news from ecosystem
• Pavol Lupták: Brave is not a true privacy-oriented browser
• Zac Williamson: thread about visions of a dystopian future when we fail
• Wired: experience with Passkeys

Ecosystem

• Logos, Nomos, Waku, Codex, Status and others now federated under the Institute of Free Technology
• Binance Will Delist XMR on 2024-02-20 (src)
• Binance delisting sparks privacy concerns: Financial Times article on Monero delisting
• Brave Nightly support Zcash in their integrated wallet (only unshielded transactions for now)
• WalletConnect launches Web3Modal Analytics, showing that they doesn't mind tracking own users
• Session team announced upcoming upgrade from Oxen Network to Session Network
• Skiff was acquired by Notion and will wind down its services in 6 months (src)

Releases

• Brume Wallet v0.5: UI enhancements, faster startup, cleaner onboarding

Podcasts

• War on privacy in Web3?: with Zach Williamson, CEO at Aztec Protocol
• Function of privacy in DeFi: @robbie_rollup and Lou Waroo from Houdini Swap, crosschain DEX and liquidity agreggator
• Drama is the Prime Indicator of Decentralisation: with Dr. Nick Almond from Factory DAO (src)

Community

• DAO Privacy: X space with Gnosis Guild, Safe, Shutter Network, ShapeShift & Fractal (src)

Other

• Defunkt: The co-founder and former CEO of GitHub has been banned from GitHub (without explanation) (src)
• Citrea: Bitcoin's first ZK Rollup (src)
• Liberation Travel Hacks 02/2024 from Liberation Travel (subscribe)
• Canada moves to ban Flipper Zero over car hacking fears (src)

---

Upcoming events

• Feb 20, Binance delisting Monero
• Apr 10, zkSummit (Athens) conference
• Apr 12-14, ETHDam hackathon
• May 24-26, ETHBerlin hackathon
• May 30, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Prague) conference
• Jun 7-9, MoneroKon (Prague) conference & hackathon
• Jun 19-26, Web3Privacy Now Hackathon (Bled)
• Oct 4-6, Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis (HCPP) (Prague) conference
• Oct, Web3Privacy Now Summit (Brno) conference
• Oct, ETHBrno hackathon

Do you know of any other major Web3 privacy-related event that should be included in this list? Let us know!

---

Sign up to receive this newsletter weekly.

Research

• Privacy Spreadsheet comparing different messengers on their privacy properties (src)
• Passkeys wallet on the EVM by @slovaye (src)

Ecosystem

• Nym x Zcash grant
• Horswap: Uniswap frontend without censorship or interface fees, by @MicahZoltu (src)
• IllumineX (confidental EVM DEX) launched Mainnet on Oasis Sapphire network (src)

Government

• NSA Admits Secretly Buying Your Internet Browsing Data without Warrants

Breaches

• Mother of all breaches (MOAB) reveals 26 billion records

Events

• MoneroKon 2024 started selling tickets (src)
• ETHBerlin4 Hacker application & volunteer application open (src)

Videos

• The Great Privacy Awakening by @JackRhysider (src)
• Breaking Bitlocker - Bypassing the Windows Disk Encryption (src)