BTC retained 0% privacy gains to maximize decentralization, Buterin said at the event in Chiang Mai.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin said Bitcoin has prioritized decentralization over privacy features since its launch, according to remarks made at an event in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Buterin explained that Bitcoin’s focus on decentralization has resulted in privacy features that are not fully optimized, according to reports from the event.
The Ethereum co-founder noted that early cryptographic technologies relied on centralized institutions for privacy protection, as simultaneously ensuring decentralization and privacy was not practically feasible at the time, according to his statements.
Buterin added that advances in privacy technologies over the past decade, including zk-SNARK, have allowed parts of the Ethereum ecosystem to explore methods of integrating privacy features into on-chain systems, according to the remarks.
The comments represent Buterin’s latest public assessment of Bitcoin’s technical architecture and design tradeoffs. No further details about the specific event or additional context were immediately available.