> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://coti.io/blog/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Ethereum's Privacy Roadmap, Explained: What's Live and What's Proposed
- URL: https://coti.io/blog/ethereum-privacy-roadmap/
- Published: 2026-10-20T18:44:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-20T18:44:41.000Z
- Author: Antonio
- Tags: Privacy

Ethereum's privacy roadmap is the set of research and protocol proposals, coordinated in part by the Ethereum Foundation and decided on by Ethereum's core developers, that aims to make privacy a default part of the network instead of an optional extra. Ethereum's [roadmap page](https://ethereum.org/roadmap/privacy/?ref=coti.io) puts it this way: "Privacy on Ethereum is moving from an optional add-on to a network-level default." Some pieces are live, such as stealth address standards. Others are proposals, such as private transfers built into Ethereum itself, which core developers left out of the Hegotá upgrade in September 2026\. The same page is clear that none of the work is finished.

*Current as of October 20, 2026.*

## The Short Answer

**What the roadmap covers**

- Private reads: querying the chain without revealing what you look at
- Private writes: protecting payments, votes and transfers against unwanted disclosure
- Private proving: efficient proofs for things like identity

**What's live today**

- Final standards for stealth addresses (ERC-5564) and their registry (ERC-6538)
- Privacy tools offered by apps, wallets and layer 2 networks

**Planned for the Hegotá upgrade (no date set)**

- FOCIL and frame transactions, protocol changes that ethereum.org lists as supporting private transactions

**Proposed or in development**

- Private ETH and ERC-20 transfers in Ethereum itself (EIP-8182), a proposal that core developers declined to include in Hegotá on September 10, 2026
- The Kohaku wallet toolkit, under development, with parts its repository marks not ready for production use

## Why Ethereum Is Doing This

Ethereum is public by design. Its [privacy page](https://ethereum.org/privacy/?ref=coti.io) describes it as a public and transparent ledger by design, which it calls its own privacy challenge, and says the roadmap is moving the network toward a privacy-by-default architecture. Our guide to [who can see your crypto wallet](https://coti.io/blog/can-anyone-see-my-crypto-wallet/) shows what that public record means for users.

The push has support at the top. In an April 2025 post, [Why I support privacy](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/04/14/privacy.html?ref=coti.io), Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote that "Privacy is an important guarantor of decentralization". In October 2025, the Ethereum Foundation announced new leadership for its [Privacy Cluster](https://blog.ethereum.org/en/2025/10/01/privacy-cluster-leads?ref=coti.io) to coordinate the work and set out a broader [commitment to privacy](https://blog.ethereum.org/en/2025/10/08/privacy-commitment?ref=coti.io).

## The Three Areas of Work

The Ethereum Foundation's Privacy Cluster announcement organises the work into three pillars.

### Private reads

Most wallets check balances by asking a server called an RPC provider, and that server can see which addresses you asked about. The Foundation describes private reads as letting individuals and institutions query, authenticate and browse without surveillance. Ethereum.org says research on private information retrieval (PIR), a technique that lets you fetch data without revealing which data you wanted, is progressing, with implementations being tested by infrastructure teams.

### Private writes

This covers payments, governance and transfers. Two pieces stand out:

- **Stealth addresses.** The standards for stealth addresses ([ERC-5564](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-5564?ref=coti.io)) and a registry for publishing them ([ERC-6538](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-6538?ref=coti.io)) are both Final, and the Ethereum Foundation lists stealth addresses among the application-layer privacy tools it supports. A final standard doesn't mean wallets widely support it. Our guide to [stealth addresses](https://coti.io/blog/stealth-addresses-explained/) explains how they work.
- **Private transfers in Ethereum itself.** [EIP-8182](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8182?ref=coti.io), Private ETH and ERC-20 Transfers, was created on March 3, 2026 and is in Review. It would add a native, shared shielded pool to Ethereum. Ethereum.org's roadmap page, last updated August 24, 2026, describes it as proposed for the Hegotá upgrade, the next network upgrade after Glamsterdam. On September 10, 2026, Ethereum's core developers declined to include it in Hegotá, according to the [record of that call](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/tree/master/.github/ACDbot/artifacts/acde/2026-09-10%5F245?ref=coti.io). It remains an open proposal that could be put forward again for a later upgrade.

For now, ethereum.org notes, privacy pools are only available through privacy apps, wallets and layer 2 networks.

### Private proving

This is about proving things, such as identity or eligibility, without disclosing the underlying personal information, using efficient zero-knowledge proofs. Ethereum.org says client-side proving aims to make these proofs practical on everyday devices. Our guide to [zero-knowledge proofs](https://coti.io/blog/zero-knowledge-proofs-explained/) explains the basics.

![Graphic titled Ethereum's privacy roadmap: where things stand, showing the Ethereum Foundation's three areas with examples and status. Private reads, querying the chain without being watched: private information retrieval in testing with infrastructure teams, and the Kohaku wallet toolkit under development, with parts marked not ready for production use. Private writes, payments and transfers protected from unwanted disclosure: stealth addresses ERC-5564 and their registry ERC-6538 as final standards, and private ETH and ERC-20 transfers, EIP-8182, as a proposal in review that was not included in Hegotá. Private proving, efficient portable proofs for things like identity: client-side proving and privacy-preserving identity as ongoing work, and FHE coprocessors as research that ethereum.org says is maturing. Banner: none of this work is finished, timelines are targets, and the roadmap may change, per ethereum.org](https://coti.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/ethereum-privacy-roadmap_ASSET_2.webp)

## Wallets: The Kohaku Toolkit

Much of everyday privacy depends on wallets. Ethereum.org describes the Kohaku wallet SDK as under development, as an open-source reference for privacy-preserving wallets. Its [code repository](https://github.com/ethereum/kohaku?ref=coti.io) warns that parts are not ready for production use and contain unaudited code, as of October 20, 2026\. The SDK is a toolkit for wallet builders, and the Foundation also lists a reference wallet implementation built on it.

## What's Planned for Hegotá

Ethereum.org lists other protocol changes that support privacy, and two of them are now in Hegotá's planned scope, according to core developer call records:

- **FOCIL** (EIP-7805), which ethereum.org says ensures private transactions can't be selectively censored once they enter the mempool, was [selected](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/tree/master/.github/ACDbot/artifacts/acdc/2026-02-19%5F175?ref=coti.io) as a Hegotá headline feature on February 19, 2026.
- **Frame transactions** (EIP-8141) were [scheduled](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/tree/master/.github/ACDbot/artifacts/acde/2026-08-27%5F244?ref=coti.io) for Hegotá on August 27, 2026 and confirmed as a headline feature on September 10, with the specification still being refined.

Hegotá has no activation date, and its scope can still change. Ethereum.org also says research is maturing around FHE coprocessors, which would allow encrypted smart contracts. That work isn't tied to an upgrade.

## What Stays Visible

Even with these upgrades, a public chain stays public. Ethereum.org's roadmap page says that even when a user queries privately and broadcasts a transaction without censorship, the transaction data recorded on-chain remains publicly visible. Hiding the data itself depends on tools such as shielded pools, stealth addresses or confidential tokens.

## What the Roadmap Doesn't Promise

- **Dates.** Ethereum.org says timelines are targets, not guarantees, and that Ethereum's consensus-based governance means the roadmap may change. Its own page can also lag decisions made on core developer calls.
- **Finished products.** It says no part of this work is finished.
- **Privacy everywhere at once.** Many pieces depend on wallets, apps and infrastructure adopting them, not just on protocol upgrades.

## Where COTI Fits

COTI is building privacy for Ethereum and other chains with a different technique, garbled circuits, which compute on encrypted data. On Ethereum, that work is on testnet today.

- **Industry work (announced February 24, 2026):** the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance [announced](https://entethalliance.org/the-eea-launches-its-privacy-working-group/?ref=coti.io) a Privacy Working Group, listing COTI among the participants, with contributions from Ethereum Foundation teams.
- **Testnet:** COTI's Privacy-on-Demand [documentation](https://docs.coti.io/coti-documentation/privacy-on-demand/networks/sepolia?ref=coti.io) lists Ethereum's Sepolia test network as a supported host chain, with private execution on COTI's testnet, as of October 20, 2026\. Privacy-on-Demand encrypts values such as amounts, while addresses and metadata such as gas, timing and the contract called stay visible, per COTI's docs.
- **Planned (Q4 2026 to Q1 2027):** private transfers across Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin and TRON, per [COTI's roadmap](https://coti.io/roadmap/?ref=coti.io) as of October 20, 2026.

These are separate from Ethereum's own roadmap and aren't part of it.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is Ethereum private?

Not by default today. Ethereum is a public ledger, so balances and transactions can be looked up by anyone. The roadmap aims to make privacy a network default over time, and some tools, such as stealth addresses, already exist.

### When will Ethereum have private transfers?

There's no date. EIP-8182, which would add private ETH and ERC-20 transfers, is still a proposal in review. Ethereum's core developers declined to include it in the Hegotá upgrade on September 10, 2026, so it isn't scheduled for any upgrade. Until then, private transfers on Ethereum come from apps, wallets and layer 2 networks.

### Is Ethereum becoming a privacy coin?

Not in the usual sense. Ethereum remains a public blockchain. The roadmap adds privacy features, some optional and some intended as defaults, while keeping the network verifiable.

## Where to Go From Here

Ethereum's privacy roadmap is ambitious and early: standards like stealth addresses exist, while native private transfers are still a proposal that isn't scheduled for any upgrade. If you build on Ethereum and want to try private computation today, COTI's [Privacy-on-Demand documentation for Sepolia](https://docs.coti.io/coti-documentation/privacy-on-demand/networks/sepolia?ref=coti.io) is a starting point on testnet.

*Details checked October 20, 2026\. Roadmaps and proposals change. Nothing here is financial or legal advice. Mentions of the Ethereum Foundation, ethereum.org and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance are for reference and don't imply endorsement of COTI. COTI's only link described here is its participation in the EEA Privacy Working Group announced on February 24, 2026\. COTI will never ask for your seed phrase or private key, and only COTI's official channels (coti.io, docs.coti.io, COTI's Medium blog and its official X and Telegram) carry announcements.*

## Sources

- [Privacy roadmap](https://ethereum.org/roadmap/privacy/?ref=coti.io), ethereum.org, updated August 24, 2026, accessed October 20, 2026
- [Privacy on Ethereum](https://ethereum.org/privacy/?ref=coti.io), ethereum.org, updated October 2, 2026, accessed October 20, 2026
- [Why I support privacy](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/04/14/privacy.html?ref=coti.io), Vitalik Buterin, published April 14, 2025, accessed October 20, 2026
- [Privacy Cluster Leadership Announcement](https://blog.ethereum.org/en/2025/10/01/privacy-cluster-leads?ref=coti.io), Ethereum Foundation, published October 1, 2025, accessed October 20, 2026
- [The Ethereum Foundation's Commitment to Privacy](https://blog.ethereum.org/en/2025/10/08/privacy-commitment?ref=coti.io), Ethereum Foundation, published October 8, 2025, accessed October 20, 2026
- [ERC-5564: Stealth Addresses](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-5564?ref=coti.io), Ethereum Improvement Proposals, accessed October 20, 2026
- [ERC-6538: Stealth Meta-Address Registry](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-6538?ref=coti.io), Ethereum Improvement Proposals, accessed October 20, 2026
- [EIP-8182: Private ETH and ERC-20 Transfers](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8182?ref=coti.io), Ethereum Improvement Proposals, created March 3, 2026, accessed October 20, 2026
- [All Core Devs Execution call #245 record](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/tree/master/.github/ACDbot/artifacts/acde/2026-09-10%5F245?ref=coti.io), Ethereum protocol meetings, September 10, 2026, accessed October 20, 2026
- [All Core Devs Execution call #244 record](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/tree/master/.github/ACDbot/artifacts/acde/2026-08-27%5F244?ref=coti.io), Ethereum protocol meetings, August 27, 2026, accessed October 20, 2026
- [All Core Devs Consensus call #175 record](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/tree/master/.github/ACDbot/artifacts/acdc/2026-02-19%5F175?ref=coti.io), Ethereum protocol meetings, February 19, 2026, accessed October 20, 2026
- [Kohaku](https://github.com/ethereum/kohaku?ref=coti.io), Ethereum Foundation on GitHub, accessed October 20, 2026
- [EEA Brings EY, Consensys and Ethereum Privacy Teams Together in a New Working Group](https://entethalliance.org/the-eea-launches-its-privacy-working-group/?ref=coti.io), Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, published February 24, 2026, accessed October 20, 2026
- [Privacy on Demand: Ethereum Sepolia](https://docs.coti.io/coti-documentation/privacy-on-demand/networks/sepolia?ref=coti.io), COTI documentation, accessed October 20, 2026
- [Roadmap](https://coti.io/roadmap/?ref=coti.io), COTI, accessed October 20, 2026