Bitcoin Can Gain Privacy Features Without Changing Base Layer: Stacks Founder

Bitcoin could gain confidential transaction capabilities without compromising the public auditability of its total supply.

This is according to Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali, who outlined the project’s privacy plan in a recent interview with Scott Melker.

Confidential Transactions at the Execution Layer

With interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies growing, especially around Zcash, Melker asked Ali if Bitcoin could incorporate privacy features of its own without sacrificing transparency.

“We’re not going to get privacy directly at the Bitcoin base layer, nor do I think we should, because Bitcoin supply should be auditable,” the Stacks co-founder replied.

However, he added that confidential transactions could operate on an execution layer built above Bitcoin, where some details could be hidden without preventing users from auditing the underlying supply.

“You should be able to audit that this is the total number of coins in circulation,” he stated. “But you can absolutely have confidential transactions on the execution layer. Nothing is stopping you from doing it. So that’s also on our roadmap.”

Stacks is a network that runs on top of Bitcoin and aims to make BTC programmable, faster, and cheaper to use. The proposal is part of the network’s broader development plans, with Ali identifying privacy, alongside making the OG cryptocurrency productive through yield-generating applications, as well as preparing for the potential threat to Bitcoin posed by quantum computing, as three of the areas Stacks intends to contribute.

Concerning those quantum-related threats, Ali warned that advances in AI could speed up the timeline, with 2029 becoming a more appropriate target for preparedness than the 2030 earmarked by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

According to him, Bitcoin will need at least a couple of years to ship any upgrades, and disputes over Satoshi Nakamoto’s stash could make things very contentious.

The Threat of AI

Ali also said that there is a need to strengthen Bitcoin’s underlying software. He argued that open-source systems can become more secure as more developers examine their code and attempt to identify vulnerabilities.

The recent Binance hack, where attackers stole $6.3 billion, was also covered in the interview. Ali praised the exchange’s handling of the crisis but warned that AI-assisted attacks could expose weaknesses in existing systems, making stronger AI-based defenses necessary.

In the incident, more than half of the stolen funds were frozen on-chain, with the FBI claiming that North Korean-linked actors were behind the hack, an accusation officials in Pyongyang have since distanced the country from, instead saying the United States was trying to provoke it.

For Bitcoin, the proposed approach would preserve the ability to independently verify its monetary supply while allowing apps to build above the network to provide greater transaction privacy. But whether Stacks or other projects like it can deliver that combination at scale is to be seen.

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