Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasizes the necessity of end-to-end encrypted messaging to safeguard digital privacy, underscoring the importance of features like permissionless account creation and metadata privacy as crucial future advancements.

He highlighted Session and SimpleX as key applications focusing on these objectives, mentioning that he donated 128 ETH to each project.

Noteworthy ETH Contributions

In a recent post on X, Buterin expressed that both applications aim to bolster decentralization and enhance user security without needing phone numbers, while also tackling issues such as multi-device compatibility and resistance to Sybil attacks or denial-of-service threats.

He stated that the donation addresses are publicly available on the projects’ sites, noting that while these platforms are not flawless, they show strong commitments to improving privacy-centric communication. He urged more developers to take part in resolving ongoing technical challenges, asserting that these challenges “need more eyes on them.”

While Signal has become a popular encrypted messaging tool, it has faced scrutiny recently due to a March incident where senior U.S. officials inadvertently included a reporter in a Signal group discussing military operations in Yemen. Following this, an advisory warned against using Signal for confidential information, pointing to a vulnerability associated with its linked-device feature.

The advisory indicated that Russian hacking groups were attempting phishing attacks on the app’s users. Signal attributed the issues to targeted attacks rather than flaws in its encryption, claiming they have already instituted safeguards and warnings.

Buterin’s Advocacy for Privacy

Throughout the year, Buterin has consistently advocated for viewing privacy as a fundamental requirement for digital systems. In the wake of a recent data breach involving major financial institutions such as JPMorgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley, he described privacy as a form of “hygiene.”

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In an essay published here, Buterin asserted that “privacy is a critical guarantor of decentralization,” laying out pathways for Ethereum to support stealth addresses and selective disclosure features, aiming to minimize unnecessary data exposure.

More recently, he cautioned regarding the risks of X’s new geo-inference tool, which assigns geographical labels to user accounts, pointing out its potential to disclose sensitive location details and its hazards to vulnerable users, even with broader regional information.