Privacy Pools launch on Ethereum, with Vitalik demoing the feature

A caller semi-permissionless privateness tool, Privacy Pools, has launched connected Ethereum, allowing users to transact privately portion proving their funds aren’t linked to illicit activities.

The privateness tool, launched by Ethereum builders 0xbow.io connected March 31, earned enactment from the likes of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who not lone backed the privateness task but made 1 of the archetypal deposits connected the platform. 

0xbow.io said that it implements “Association Sets” to batch transactions into the anonymous Privacy Pools and that a screening trial is conducted to guarantee that those transactions aren’t linked to illicit actors, specified arsenic hackers, phishers and scammers.

The Association Sets are “dynamic” — meaning that if a transaction is admitted but aboriginal recovered to beryllium illicit, it tin beryllium removed from the acceptable without disrupting immoderate different deposits, 0xbow.io said.

If a deposit is disqualified, the idiosyncratic tin click the “ragequit” relation to instrumentality the funds to their archetypal deposit address.

The innovation is portion of 0xbow.io’s imaginativeness to “Make Privacy Normal Again” portion besides attempting to execute regulatory compliance.  

Privacy protocols person received sizeable backlash from regulators successful caller years owed to their expanding usage by illicit actors to launder funds. 

One of those privateness tools, Tornado Cash, was sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) betwixt August 2022 and March 2025 aft it was linked to astir $7 cardinal laundered by the North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group.

Tornado Cash has since been removed from OFAC’s blacklist aft a US appeals tribunal said the sanctions were unlawful successful January 2025.

0xbow.io noted that archetypal deposits are constricted to 1 Ether (ETH) but that the bounds would beryllium raised erstwhile the privateness protocol is much battle-tested.

Privacy Pools inspired by Buterin and others

Over 21 ETH has already been transferred into Privacy Pools from 69 deposits, including astatine slightest 1 from Buterin, 0xbow.io noted.

Source: Vitalik Buterin

In summation to Buterin, 0xbow.io said it besides received concern enactment from Number Group, BanklessVC, Public Works and respective angel investors.

0xbow.io strategical advisor Ameen Soleimani besides contributed to the paper, which has seen implicit 12,000 downloads and has been cited successful 9 different papers.

The Privacy Pool codification besides passed a successful audit from Audit Wizard. a astute declaration auditing steadfast co-founded by erstwhile Apple technologist Joe van Loon.

More than $41 cardinal worthy of illicit transfers were made successful 2024,  which made up 0.14% of full onchain measurement for the year, according to the Chainalysis 2025 Crypto Crime study published connected Jan. 15.

While it marked astir an 11% autumn from 2023, Chainalysis said that fig could ascent to astir $51 cardinal arsenic much criminal-tied addresses are found.

Magazine: What are autochthonal rollups? Full usher to Ethereum’s latest innovation