Despite the massive surge in cryptocurrency values in the last 18 months, many enterprises remain wary of using public blockchains. One of the biggest reasons is a lack of privacy. Yesterday saw the unveiling of a new startup Espresso Systems that aims to address the issue, with $32 million in backing, including from five companies involved with the largest stablecoins. The round was led by Greylock (Reid Hoffman) and Electric Capital.
Imagine if everyone could see your bank payments or PayPal transactions. It seems a ridiculous suggestion, but that’s pretty much the situation with stablecoins on public blockchains. And one that Espresso hopes to address.
The ability to have private payment transactions must be appealing to stablecoin companies because many are now investors:
Espresso is launching a standalone blockchain as well as a solution for Ethereum: Configurable Asset Privacy on Ethereum (CAPE), a privacy offering for both digital assets and associated transactions, particularly for stablecoins. Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography underpins Espresso’s technology, and three of the founders studied for cryptography PhDs at Stanford.
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