Looking Ahead to 2026: 4 Key Predictions for the Future of Privacy

The year 2025 marked significant milestones for on-chain privacy, with Zcash, a pioneer in the field of privacy coins, experiencing a substantial surge of over 600%. Major blockchain networks such as Ethereum and Solana also unveiled initiatives aimed at integrating privacy features. Furthermore, startups leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and fully homomorphic encryption to develop privacy-preserving technologies gained considerable traction. Influencers, including Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius, emphasized the importance of privacy, dubbing it 'Privacy Szn,' and highlighting its necessity for institutional adoption due to companies' reluctance to conduct business on public blockchains with transparent ledgers. To gauge what the future holds for 2026, we consulted with leading figures in the privacy space to gather their predictions. A key expectation is that privacy will become more pragmatic. According to Bobbin Threadbare, co-founder of Miden, the notion of binary privacy will give way to a more nuanced approach, where trade-offs are made to limit privacy in specific contexts, thereby enhancing threat resistance. This could involve conditional privacy for high-risk transactions while maintaining full privacy for low-risk ones, mirroring the functionality of cash in the real world. Another prediction is the emergence of private stablecoins as a fundamental component of global on-chain payment infrastructure. Khushi Wadhwa, head of business development at Predicate, forecasts that stablecoins with embedded, configurable privacy will see increased development, driven by the need for confidentiality in commercial relationships and treasury movements. These systems will integrate policy controls for compliance without compromising baseline privacy, redefining 'compliant payments' on-chain. Paul Brody, EY's global blockchain leader, predicts that 2026 will be the year privacy solutions start to get industrialized on-chain, with multiple testnet solutions transitioning to production. However, challenges such as regulatory compliance and wallet support will need to be addressed for scale to be achieved. Lastly, Wei Dai, Research Partner at 1kx, anticipates that threat-resistant on-chain privacy will become the norm, where blockchains are designed to withstand data tampering and unauthorized access. Instead of focusing on theoretical privacy guarantees, projects will prioritize pragmatic solutions that deter malicious actors while facilitating on-chain transactions for individuals and businesses.