Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, made headlines on Monday with a notable on-chain transaction. Buterin transferred $1 million in ETH to the privacy protocol Railgun, sparking renewed debate over privacy tools in the crypto space.
Vitalik Buterin Transfers 400 ETH to Railgun
Reports surfaced on Monday revealing that Vitalik Buterin transferred 400 ETH, valued at approximately $1.054 million, to Railgun, a privacy protocol that leverages Zero-Knowledge (ZK) cryptography to enable private use of DeFi and smart contact . Prior to this, Bterin had conducted a test transfer of 0.0998 ETH, worth $2,629.
In the past 10 months, Buterin has sent a total of 662 ETH, or $1.91 million, to Railgun. His earlier transfer of 100 ETH earlier this year had already sparked controversy, with some community members questioning his motivations and criticizing his preference for a private address.
Despite the criticism, many supported Buterin’s use of privacy tools, noting that every on-chain action he takes is subject to intense scrutiny. Buterin responded to the backlash by affirming that Privacy is normal and defended Railgun as a valuable tool for protecting user privacy. He also emphasized that Railgun employs the Privacy Pools protocol, which he has studied extensively, making it more difficult for malicious actors to compromise user privacy.
Clarifying Railgun’s Privacy Features
Buterin’s recent transfer reignited discussions about the nature of Railgun’s privacy features compared to other privacy tools like Tornado Cash. Bill, a Railgun contributor and CEO of MetaMask’s seed phrase recovery team, addressed these misconceptions on X.
Bill clarified that Railgun should not be labeled as a mixer. Instead, it functions as an address system providing privacy, akin to other wallets where a private key controls tokens. He explained that Railgun’s privacy stems from using a private address rather than token mixing.
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“Privacy comes from using this address, not from mixing or moving tokens”, Bill explained. “Vitalik is simply transferring tokens from his public address to his private address. He can keep them there indefinitely or use them for other on-chain activities like swaps, and we would be unaware.”
Bill suggested that describing Railgun as a privacy system is more accurate. He addressed concerns about the purpose of privacy systems by noting that Railgun transactions are valid Ethereum transactions, with identifiable information hidden. He described Railgun’s approach as “public DeFi but private wallet,” where smart contract interactions remain visible, but the users’ actions are private.
Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $2,580 in the weekly chart
Cre: bitcoinist.
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