Zcash May Have a Bigger Role to Play as AI Threatens Financial Privacy: Grayscale

As AI improves blockchain address labelling, Grayscale sees Zcash becoming more valuable for users.

Artificial intelligence could usher in a new wave of concern over financial privacy, according to a Grayscale research report. The firm’s Head of Research, Zach Pandl, expects AI to create new privacy threats and drive demand for new solutions.

He sees Zcash as one potential option.

Zcash For Blockchain Privacy

Public attention to financial privacy has historically increased alongside major technological changes. The first wave came in the 1970s, when computers enabled the digitization and automation of financial record-keeping. A second wave followed in the 1990s with the expansion of the Internet and growing concerns over online privacy.

Grayscale believes a third wave has now begun as AI becomes more widely used. Pandl said AI tools are likely to create new privacy challenges across the economy, and the issue is particularly pressing for public blockchains that are transparent by default.

For instance, on the Bitcoin network, every transaction is recorded on a public ledger and can be viewed by anyone. When blockchain activity is linked with off-chain information, user addresses could potentially be de-anonymized, a risk also noted in the Bitcoin white paper.