Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has published a research post suggesting the use of stealth addresses to enhance privacy-preserving transfers. Buterin detailed that stealth addresses can be implemented fairly quickly on Ethereum today and would greatly improve user privacy on the blockchain network.
Buterin proposes stealth addresses as a solution to privacy challenges in the Ethereum ecosystem
Three days ago, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, published ablog postthat provides a comprehensive overview of stealth addresses and the benefits of using them. Stealth addresses are a feature supported by other blockchain networks, such as Monero (XMR), that increases privacy and anonymity when conducting transactions. The network creates a one-time address that is not connected to the user’s public address. In a blog post, Buterin argues that “one of the biggest remaining challenges in the Ethereum ecosystem is privacy.”
Buterin describes various methods for generating cryptographically opaque public addresses, including keyblind mechanisms, elliptic curve cryptography, and quantum resistive security. He also mentions “social recovery and multi-L2 wallets” and “separation of spending and viewing keys. “Buterin notes that there are concerns that could affect long-term usability, including difficulties with social recovery.” Buterin says, “In the long run, these issues can be resolved, but the long-term stealth address ecosystem looks like one that would really rely heavily on zero-knowledge proofing.
Monero uses stealth addresses, but the technology is also found in cryptocurrency networks such as Zcash, Dash, Verge, Navcoin, and PIVX. It is worth noting that some of the aforementioned cryptocurrencies implement stealth addressing differently. At the end of the research post, Buterin details how stealth addresses can be easily implemented in the Ethereum network and wallets will need to adapt to the changes. Overall, supporting stealth addresses would require significant changes to the underlying architecture of ethereum-based wallets and their current configuration.
For example, current wallets use different address formats. The write client needs to generate a new one-time address for each transaction, and the wallet needs to be able to properly encrypt and decrypt transaction data. Buterin concludes, “A basic stealth address can be implemented fairly quickly today and would greatly improve practical user privacy for ethereum.” ‘But some work needs to be done on the wallet side to support it. Nevertheless, for other privacy-related reasons, it is my view that wallets should start moving toward a more native multi-address model (for example, creating a new address for each application you interact with could be one option).”
What are your thoughts on implementing stealth addresses on the Ethereum network? Do you think it would greatly improve user privacy on the blockchain network or do you have any concerns about its long-term usability? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons