最新报道：As Ethereum (ETH) celebrates its 10th anniversary, it's focusing attention on all the project has accomplished—supporting DeFi, smart contracts, and fostering a vibrant dApp ecosystem built on privacy. But it's also highlighting the challenges that remain. One such challenge is privacy, a cornerstone of digital freedom that remains elusive on public blockchains. Despite a decade of innovation, Ethereum continues to struggle with protecting users' personal data. On-chain transparency, once lauded as a feature, is increasingly seen as a liability, especially when applied to real-world scenarios like health and identity. This tension came to the fore at the ETHCC conference in Berlin earlier this summer, when privacy advocate Migle Rakitaite publicly challenged the Ethereum Foundation for its failure to fund or prioritize the development of crypto-native tools to protect deeply personal data, such as reproductive health. That exchange not only inspired the creation of PrivyCycle—the app placed in the top 10 of ETHCC's 334 entries and won three separate sponsor awards—but more importantly, it highlighted how ill-prepared the Ethereum ecosystem remains to handle sensitive non-financial information. In a world of escalating surveillance and shrinking personal boundaries, concerns about on-chain privacy are only becoming more pressing. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted the stakes in late May, stating, "It's incredibly urgent, at a civilizational level, that we figure out the privacy problem." He called on developers to focus on the four key pillars of privacy: private currency, private identity, private voting, and private messaging. But as the POAPrivacy demonstration at ETHGlobal Cannes revealed, there's also a new frontier emerging in the on-chain privacy battle: private presence. POAP (short for Proof-of-Presence Protocol) is designed as a digital keepsake, allowing users to collect NFTs to prove they attended specific events. From hackathons to cryptocurrency conferences, they've become a Web3 memento, a signal of participation, community engagement, and even eligibility for rewards or governance. However, beneath this practicality lies a quiet but serious privacy risk. Each POAP minted on-chain links the user's wallet to a specific location and time, effectively creating a public trail of whereabouts. "Basically, anyone can follow your movements," one developer explained in a presentation. "We like POAPs, but they come at the expense of privacy." In an environment where wallet addresses can be easily traced and cross-referenced, this compromises not only personal privacy but also security—especially for activists, public figures, or anyone trying to separate their digital and physical lives. To address this overlooked vulnerability, a team at ETHGlobal Cannes launched POAPrivacy—a tool designed to verify on-chain existence without revealing a user's real-world location or linking back to their primary wallet address. At its core, the system utilizes stealth addresses—a cryptographic technique that enables users to receive tokens at unique, one-time addresses that cannot be linked to their primary wallet. The project also demonstrates a private dashboard where users can log in with a passkey, view their privately stored POAPs, and retrieve them as needed. The core cryptography draws on underutilized Ethereum standards that were introduced several years ago but rarely deployed at scale. "Magic and cryptography are happening," the team explained. "You'll be able to see your POAP—but no one else will." While still a prototype, the project has been praised for addressing a major privacy vulnerability in POAP—one of Ethereum's most widely used features for event attendance verification, community engagement, and access to exclusive rewards or governance. The project was named one of the top 10 finalists out of 334 entries for ETHGlobal Cannes 2025—alongside other privacy-centric builds like the aforementioned PrivyCycle and PrivacyLinks—highlighting the growing push to strengthen Ethereum's social layer with privacy-preserving infrastructure. ??? The ETHGlobal Cannes 2025 finalists have been determined! ?? We’re excited to share the top 10 projects that stood out from 334: ⚡️ BeamPay ?️ OnlyDanks ? PolyBet ? livestakes ? Pace Club ?️ POAPrivacy ? PrivyCycle ? ChromaMind ♻️ PrivacyLinks ? Hashlocked Take a deeper look at each project below! …