BROADCASTS.com

Earlier this week, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and four co-authors published a paper describing a smart contract protocol called privacy pools that would enable crypto users to associate their funds with those being used for legitimate purposes versus those being used in criminal activity such as hacks or money laundering. The protocol addresses one of the main shortcomings of coin mixer Tornado Cash, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. government.\xa0\nChainalysis chief scientist Jacob Illum, one of those co-authors, discusses the impetus for the paper, the technology behind privacy pools and how they would work in practice, who would provide some of the necessary organization to operate the pools, and some of the early criticisms of the paper.\n\nListen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.\nShow highlights:\n\nwhat the current state of crypto privacy is and what the motivation was to write this paper\n\nwhat privacy pools are and how they work\n\nhow zero-knowledge proofs are the key technology behind privacy pools\n\nwhat the role of association set providers is in making this new technology work\n\nwhat would happen in different potential scenarios, such as a "bad address" being discovered after a transaction has been made\n\nhow the protocol would protect the privacy and identity of the users\n\nhow law enforcement, credit score agencies and other organizations could have "special viewing privileges" of transactions, according to Jacob\n\nhow the community has been reacting to the recently published paper\n\nJacob\u2019s response to criticisms the paper has received from industry players\n\nwhy Chainalysis participated in the paper given that many people see them as 'anti-privacy'\n\nThank you to our sponsors!\n\nCrypto.com\n\nArbitrum Foundation\n\nThales DAO\n\nToku\n\nGuest\n\nJacob Illum, chief scientist at Chainalysis\nLinks\n\nUnchained: Tornado Cash Cofounder Arrested, Another Sanctioned by U.S. Government\n\n\nCoinDesk: Crypto-Mixing Service Tornado Cash Blacklisted by US Treasury\n\n\nBlockchain Privacy and Regulatory Compliance: Towards a Practical Equilibrium\n\nMatt Corallo\u2019s tweet\n\n\nCrypto lawyer Preston Byrne\u2019s tweet\n\n\nPrevious coverage of Unchained on Tornado Cash:\n\nThe Chopping Block: 'Code Is Law' Is 'Obviously Not How Anything Works Ever'\n\nThe Chopping Block: Why DeFi May Be Over-Complying With Tornado Cash Sanctions\n\n\nPreston Van Loon on Ethereum\u2019s Merge and His Lawsuit Against TreasuryGiven the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant?\n\n\nThe Chopping Block: Did OFAC Overstep by Sanctioning Tornado Cash?\n\nTornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds?\n\n\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices