Despite cutting-edge technology, online privacy and security remain a mystery to the globe. But that’s not the only significant issue we must be concerned about. As society becomes more digital, thieves and hackers are deceiving unsuspecting people into disclosing their personal information, and virtual currencies play a part in this.

In 2022, the market for cryptocurrencies broke all previous records, reaching $2 trillion for the first time.

Current investors have reacted to this joyfully, but it has made others more cautious. Why? Because the asset class expands, malevolent actors find it more interesting. And all it takes to see proof of this is the rise in the number of users who are the victims of cryptocurrency thefts.

The big question is: why is the value of crypto privacy still being disregarded by the world if these crimes against people are still so harmful and only going to get worse as the market grows? The problem is a lack of understanding of why security and privacy are important and how they are related.

Let’s say an investor has a sizeable cryptocurrency collection of 50 BTC, which, for $30,000 per coin, is worth $1.5 million. Because of how important crypto privacy is, their wallet would undoubtedly become a target for thieves and hackers, nobody needs to know that investor has millions of dollars in their wallet.

Security must be a top priority if adoption rates are to keep rising, yet it is frequently disregarded. To provide investors a sense of privacy and security and show newcomers that digital assets have value over fiat currency, precautions and strong safeguards are required.

History of crypto privacy

The world had a private currency boom a few years ago. This was brand-new and unlike anything, most of us had ever seen in the years 2016 and 2017.

Smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) quickly eclipsed its appeal. The focus was so great that “anonymous transactions” were no longer acceptable, and smart contracts were seen as a need. Smart contract transactions are not secure by default. Although they are safe, their information is permanently stored on the blockchain. Therefore anyone may access and see all the data transferred and saved using this technique.

The creation of the Lightning Network, a Layer 2 payment system used to speed up transactions, and Taproot, an update that bundle many signatures and transactions together for simpler transaction verification, were credited with significantly increasing Bitcoin privacy around the same time.

The general public’s misperception of “privacy technology” as a barrier to fee stability via scaling and functionality of a smart contract, which can only be regarded as a trade-off, is another factor. Few appreciate the importance of crypto privacy for bitcoin holdings, and even fewer comprehend how much the stakes have increased.

This niche cryptographic technique could transform privacy in web3: Privacy is a core concern in crypto. Once you know a crypto wallet address corresponds to a certain individual, you can track all the transactions that… https://t.co/E1po6vK9QY #boxing #boxingnews #news

— Melissa A Vee (@melissa_vee) July 18, 2022

Why Crypto security and Crypto privacy are related

The regulation of exchanges has tightened significantly as the use of cryptocurrencies has grown, especially regarding the retention of identity information, which includes many addresses.

Unfortunately, this introduces a single point of failure, leading to a considerable increase in reported hacking incidents and data thefts. These unfavorable effects result from regulations designed to identify adversaries inside a specific list of users, despite the fact that this list of users isn’t supposed to be included on an external adversary’s customer list.

The cost of really storing user identity data securely is not covered by businesses that cannot afford to operate because they are too busy adhering to rules that check user identity data. The exchanges’ vulnerability to internal leakage in design is a related worry. In the context of cryptography, even one malicious individual among “N” innocent people can significantly affect security and crypto privacy.

The ability to hunt down past offenders of historical hacking cases using blockchain analytics and other tracking technology is a crucial second factor to consider. Sadly, despite noble intentions, these tracking systems could, in the wrong hands, contribute to facilitating targeted assaults.

Also, read – Crypto Privacy Issues Are Unlikely To Be Resolved 

Arguments in favor of cryptographic privacy

Since crypto privacy concerns are not new, numerous methods, including the Lightning Network, have come to light for not allowing privacy to interfere with fee stability through scalability.

In reality, the Lightning Network operates under the presumption that users are connected to the internet and can communicate with other protocol participants. The procedure successfully guarantees compatibility between scaling and privacy.

The online assumption and zero-knowledge proof enable successful online communication, which opens up the possibility of extending this capability to an Ethereum-style smart contract. The idea is that cryptocurrency users would quickly understand the value of crypto privacy if privacy can be effectively added to a smart contract.