Compass Investments

Leading blockchain systems such as Efirium, Bitcoin and Solana are exploring a variety of methods to protect privacy.

Initiatives like Zcash and others focused on anonymity are gaining interest amid growing public demand for privacy.

The leak of customer data from major U.S. banks, including JPMorgan, Citi and Morgan Stanley, was the result of a cyberattack on mortgage technology provider SitusAMC, prompting Etherium co-founder Vitalik Buterin to call privacy a “common necessity” (or “hygiene standard”).

The incident was caused by an unauthorized intrusion into the IT infrastructure of SitusAMC, which last Saturday confirmed that an intruder had taken information related to a number of important financial institutions.

The information compromised included “financial records and legal contracts” as well as “certain information related to certain customers of our partners.

The company said the exact scope, nature and depth of the compromise is still being investigated.

The hacker attack prompted Buterin’s statement that privacy should be seen as an integral element of the digital space, not something extra.

“Privacy is not an option. Privacy is a basic necessity, Buterin commented in a Twitter post that was first reported by the New York Times.

Privacy is not an option. Privacy is a basic necessity.

Buterin’s remarks reflect his broader position expressed over the course of the year: he sees anonymity as fundamental to the operation of digital systems, not optional.