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Illustration: Melody Wang

Introducing CoinDesk’s Privacy Week

How innovators in cryptocurrency and beyond are fighting to restore digital privacy – just as governments and corporations endanger what’s left of it.

Illustration: Melody Wang
(Melody Wang/CoinDesk)

Bitcoin Protects Privacy and Fights Oppression

Central bank digital currencies, on the other hand, are financial surveillance on steroids. This op-ed is part a CoinDesk's Privacy Week. Murtaza Hussain is a national security reporter at The Intercept.

(Melody Wang/CoinDesk)
(Melody Wang for CoinDesk)

Mastercard’s CipherTrace Used ‘Honeypots’ to Gather Crypto Wallet Intel

In cybersecurity the term “honeypot” refers to a trap for hackers. But what does it mean in the context of on-chain analytics? This story is part of CoinDesk’s Privacy Week series.

(Melody Wang for CoinDesk)
Illustration: Yunha Lee

How Binance, Coinbase and 22 Other Crypto Exchanges Handle Your Data

A CoinDesk review of privacy policies from two dozen major crypto exchanges found the industry collects a wealth of personal information about users. Some disclose more about their practices than others.

Illustration: Yunha Lee
Art from Alice in Wonderland as she pulls back the curtain to reveal a small door. Representing losing anonymity in DeFi.

Wonderland's (and DeFi's) Anonymity Problem

Is pseudonymity really viable in crypto? asks a veteran Canadian bitcoiner following this week's Wonderland scandal.

Art from Alice in Wonderland as she pulls back the curtain to reveal a small door. Representing losing anonymity in DeFi.
(Yunha Lee for CoinDesk)

Few Crypto Firms Even Trying to Comply With FATF's ‘Travel Rule’

Two years on, FATF is getting impatient. But privacy-conscious crypto users are in no hurry to see the regulation implemented.

(Yunha Lee for CoinDesk)
tree with a question mark spray painted on it, image manipulated to look more digital

4 Reasons Privacy Coins Haven't Taken Off

Privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies come with stigma and added expense, VC Haseeb Qureshi writes for CoinDesk's "Privacy Week."

tree with a question mark spray painted on it, image manipulated to look more digital
Chelsea Manning (Illustration by Rachel Sun)

Chelsea Manning on the Sad State of Online Privacy

“I have zero hope at a policy level,” says the whistleblower turned security consultant. “This is a cultural issue.” This interview is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

Chelsea Manning (Illustration by Rachel Sun)
Socrates, forced to drink poison for his defiance of the Hulu Watch Next queue.

The Algorithmic Life Is Not Worth Living

Behavior modeling is the flywheel of the digital economy - and it's making us all stupid, boring, and neurotic.

Socrates, forced to drink poison for his defiance of the Hulu Watch Next queue.
whatsapp, privacy

Don’t Let Web 3 Repeat Web 2’s Mistakes

Web 3 must be private by default, Tor Bair of the Secret Foundation writes for CoinDesk’s Privacy Week.

whatsapp, privacy
Zcash logo

What Is Zcash? The Privacy Coin Explained

Zcash has seen ZKP breakthroughs, its first halving and progress toward further scalability. This feature is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

Zcash logo
Constitutional Convention 1787 (Wikimedia Commons, modified by CoinDesk)

Tucked Inside Biden Infrastructure Bill: Unconstitutional Crypto Surveillance

Marta Belcher breaks down what you need to know about the Fourth Amendment, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Section 6050i of the tax code. This op-ed is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

Constitutional Convention 1787 (Wikimedia Commons, modified by CoinDesk)
Illustration: Yunha Lee

How Popular Are Crypto Mixers? Here’s What the Data Tells Us

Volume data suggests crypto coin mixing is not as prevalent as one might think. This article is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

Illustration: Yunha Lee
(Tobias Tullius/Unsplash)

For Enterprises, Privacy Is the Critical Blockchain Feature

Zero-knowledge proofs will do for blockchains what encryption did for Web 1.0, says EY's blockchain leader. This post is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(Tobias Tullius/Unsplash)
(Melody Wang/Getty Images)

Buying Bitcoin Anonymously (More or Less)

Looking for legal ways to buy BTC or other cryptocurrencies without attaching your name to it? Here are some options. This post is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(Melody Wang/Getty Images)
(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)

What If We Get Online Privacy Right? A Glimpse of 2035

Here’s what a day in the life would look like if we nail privacy infrastructure, fix the policy and squash the forces behind that “creepy feeling.” This post is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)
"Hush!"

A Step-by-Step Guide to Going Private

From using bitcoin and monero to updating your computer's operating system, Seth for Privacy presents 10 security tips for CoinDesk's "Privacy Week."

"Hush!"
(Metropolitan Museum of Art, modified by CoinDesk)

The Trojan Horse of Privacy

For privacy to take off, it needs to stop being the value proposition. It's got to be a gift people don't notice. Think apps first, privacy second, futurist Dan Jeffries writes for CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(Metropolitan Museum of Art, modified by CoinDesk)
Cryptographer David Chaum

Internet Privacy Is an Inalienable Right

Digicash inventor David Chaum weighs in on the founding principles Web 3 needs. This post is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week series.

Cryptographer David Chaum
(Arthur Mazi/Unsplash)

The Privacy That DeFi Needs to Succeed

Mainstream adoption of DeFi tools will require far more secrecy, but not too much secrecy, and the right sort of secrecy, says CoinDesk columnist J.P. Koning. This post is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(Arthur Mazi/Unsplash)
(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)

The Privacy Boom Is Going to Change Everything

The public is wising up to the harms of surveillance. Investors see opportunity, but activists say fixing privacy requires more than new widgets. This article is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week.

(Rachel Sun/CoinDesk)
Europe, map

A Look at EU's GDPR and What It Means for Crypto Privacy

Can open, immutable blockchains ever meet GDPR's privacy requirements? This article is part of CoinDesk's Privacy "Week."

Europe, map
Carrots growing in soil representing Bitcoin Taproot upgrade and bitcoin privacy.

Bitcoin Isn’t Private – But Its Recent Taproot Upgrade Will Help

The upgrade could give the network a much-anticipated privacy boost once its effects ripple throughout the ecosystem.

Carrots growing in soil representing Bitcoin Taproot upgrade and bitcoin privacy.
The Monero privacy coin logo

Monero: The Privacy Coin Explained

Privacy coins built on their own blockchains have a firm hold within the larger cryptocurrency community, even as regulators and exchanges seek to limit their adoption. This post is part of CoinDesk's Privacy Week series.

The Monero privacy coin logo
Money Reimagined Podcast Cover

Privacy, Security, Connectivity: Can We Have It All?

Privacy week: The future of privacy and why it is important.

Money Reimagined Podcast Cover
Opinionated - glasses fixed.jpg

To Hide or Not to Hide? That’s the Bitcoiner’s Question

PRIVACY WEEK: Bitcoin, identity and the importance of being anonymous.

Opinionated - glasses fixed.jpg
Obscure figure

Criminals Still Find It Easier to Hide in Fiat Than Crypto

Lawbreakers can run, but not hide, in transparent cryptocurrency networks, argues Gartner cybersecurity expert Avivah Litan.

Obscure figure
Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov (Roman Semenov)

Tornado Cash Co-Founder Says the Mixer Protocol Is Unstoppable

Roman Semenov says Tornado Cash is designed so a third-party can’t control it.

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov (Roman Semenov)

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