The Ethereum Foundation’s Privacy & Scaling Explorations (PSE) team has unveiled a new roadmap that approaches privacy as the core component of Ethereum’s future. Rebranded as the “Privacy Stewards of Ethereum”, the group stressed that enforcing an extensive privacy feature is a fundamental requirement for the blockchain network, citing an increase in global recognition.
In the blog post released on September 13, the PSE team explains that the new privacy roadmap positions their division as a “problem-first” team, focused on clarifying operational gaps and facilitating collaborations with developers across the ecosystem, which places privacy at the center of Ethereum’s application.
Central to this approach are three domains of exploration, namely private writes, private reads, and private proving. For context, private writes aim to make on-chain actions like transfers and governance votes affordable and seamless, while private reads will shield users’ identities and intent when accessing apps or querying the chain, an area where sensitive metadata often leaks.
In terms of private proving, the PSE aims to ensure that generating and verifying proofs becomes both efficient and privacy-preserving. The initiative is designed to let users confirm information across different platforms that can verify on-chain and off-chain states, web data, documents, and identity attestations without exposing unnecessary information.
Looking at the next 3-6 months, the Privacy Stewards of Ethrereum have outlined several concrete priorities critical to effecting the three main tracks previously stated. On private writes, the PSE plans to advance privacy-enabled transfers through projects like PlasmaFold and Kohaku, while also pushing forward work on stealth addresses and private voting protocols.
These efforts also extend into confidential DeFi, where the team aims to work with partners to establish privacy frameworks that could unlock institutional adoption. Relating to private reads, the Privacy Stewards of Ethereum will assess advancing network-level protections by experimenting with ORAM and PIR to shield user activity from surveillance.
Efforts to achieve private proving will include advancing protocols that make data portability and provenance more reliable through zkTLS. By optimizing TLSNotary and developing an SDK for cross-platform integration, the PSE aims to simplify adoption and accelerate zkTLS ecosystem growth. In parallel, work on private identity would seek to set new standards for privacy-preserving wallets and unlinkable credentials aligned with global frameworks.
At press time, Ethereum trades at $4,667 following a 0.69% price decline in the last 24 hours.
