What will Privacy in Crypto look like in 10 years?

With crypto, having an open ledger is both its greatest strength and its biggest flaw. The transparency that allows anyone to verify transactions and trust the blockchain without intermediaries also means that every payment, trade, or wallet movement is visible to the world for all time. While this openness builds security and accountability, it strips away a fundamental layer of personal privacy that traditional finance still protects. As crypto adoption grows, we have seen several options evolve for privacy. In the last 7 days, privacy crypto has boomed considerably. What are the main players and options out there?

1. Privacy First Native Blockchain - The most well known here is Monero (XMR). This method achieves privacy by default using cryptographic primitives like ring signatures to obscure sender among a set, stealth addresses so recipients’ addresses are not publicly visible, and Ring Confidential Transactions hide amounts. The real advantage here is privacy is inherent. However, because Monero is strongly private, it tends to attract suspicion from regulators as being a tool for illicit activity. There are also limitations around DeFi smart contract capabilities.
2. Decentralised Mixers - The biggest here is Tornado Cash (TORN). This works by users deposit ing ETH or ERC-20 tokens into a pool, wait a while, and then withdraw to a different address. The zero knowledge proof shows a depositor has the right to withdraw without revealing which deposit is theirs. The benefit here is in the simplicity however, again, sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 but then lifted in March 2025 as deemed unenforcable. Also you can see pool visibility so regulators can blacklist addresses that interact with it.
3. On-chain privacy tooling - Railgun (RAIL) is the most notable, being used and backed by Vitalik Buterin. This process again works though utilisation of zero knowledge proofs across all EVM chains (Ethereum, BNB, Polygon, Arbitrum, etc.) and because of this it sits on-chain and works with existing EVM networks, users don’t need to move assets off chain or into side networks. Technology wise, this is the most advanced. The down side is potential regulatory changes and in terms of when funds enter or exit the shielded pool, there may still be traces or timing heuristics.

I personally think there is a future for all three. However, I think Monero has largely reached its potential. Based on market cap, I see the biggest growth in Railgun and Tornado Cash.

What do you think privacy in crypto will look like in the next 5-10 years?

*Edit: Updated to include lift of sanctions