Privacy is like money: we’d all like more of it, yet it feels like what little we have is constantly being eroded. Indeed, convincing web companies to provide greater privacy is a bit like asking your boss for a raise: it’s gutsy, but rarely works. Which is why if you want greater digital privacy, you need to go and claim it for yourself. After all, the tools are out there and no one’s criminalizing you for using them – because the latest implementations are not only regulatory-friendly, but they’re designed for institutions as much as regular users. Web3 is currently undergoing something of a privacy renaissance, with the slow and non-compliant networks of the past being superseded by lighter and more legitimate solutions to meet the needs of the next wave of blockchain users. We’re talking selective data sharing, opt-in private transactions, and all without slowing transactions down to a crawl, to prevent sending smart contract costs soaring or regulators circling. At a high level, that’s what v2 of the industry’s privacy protocols have to offer. At a low level…well, at a low level let’s move in and take a closer look at four of the leading companies powering this privacy renaissance. You’ve likely heard their names before, but may be less aware of the progress they’ve been making in mainstreaming privacy. They’ve got the tech to deliver this at scale, but just as importantly they’re stacking up partnerships and integrations galore to normalize privacy across the entire web3 landscape. COTI: Keeping It Confidential With Garbled Circuits COTI ’s v2 mainnet highlights its move to an EVM-compatible and privacy-focused L2 chain. And not just for payments, but for just about anything you might want to do onchain without telling the world about it. For example, COTI perps exchange PriveX is using this capability to protect trader behavior and strategy from exploitation. As for what this capability is, it comes down to Garbled Circuits, a privacy tech that lets smart contracts process encrypted data without revealing contents. This means you can send funds, trade perps, or exchange messages without exposing your wallet's secrets to the world. Thanks to its deep enterprise connections, COTI is embedded in the fintech world, where its technology allows businesses to keep company data secret when interacting onchain – while still maintaining full compliance. There’s a lot that can be done with Garbled Circuits, the surface of which has barely been scratched, but already the tech is showing great promise. It’s faster and thus much more scalable than solutions such as ZKPs, which is why in a world of constant cyber threats and data breaches, COTI's blend of speed and usability makes it a frontrunner for everyday web3 adoption. Zama: VC-Backed Fully Homomorphic Encryption Fully Homomorphic Encryption isn’t a particularly fun phrase to say, which is why everyone just goes with FHE. But you don’t even need to say that when you can just say Zama . It’s a name that rolls off the tongue and one that you’ll be hearing a lot more of now that the privacy company is fully funded and on the verge of making FHE a working reality. Its tech allows encrypted data to be computed without decrypting it, ideal for things like running analytics on private health records or placing financial trades on a public ledger. Fresh off a $57 million Series B, which vaulted Zama to unicorn status with a $1 billion-plus valuation, this privacy pioneer is riding high. Backers like Pantera Capital see FHE as the key to unlocking tokenized assets and AI without privacy pitfalls and believe Zama’s implementation shows real promise. Zama’s confidential blockchain protocol is already live on public testnet live and mainnet scheduled for late 2025, delivering enterprise-grade encryption for sensitive ops. In an age where data is the new oil, Zama's approach ensures we don't spill it everywhere, making onchain a privacy-friendly environment capable of supercharging institutional inflows. Fhenix: Bringing End-to-End Encryption to Ethereum's Core Fhenix is another advocate of FHE, having built a dedicated blockchain powered by the privacy tech, designed to infuse Ethereum apps with true confidentiality. The Fhenix team have built confidential infrastructure where data stays encrypted from start to finish, enabling private smart contracts, secure AI training, and fair gaming without leaks or cheats. Their CoFHE tool makes this all possible, forming a simple Solidity import that adds privacy to any EVM-compatible dapp, with heavy lifting handled by an off-chain FHE Coprocessor for speed and scalability. The Fhenix mainnet went live in January, following a $15 million raise and a strategic partnership with Offchain Labs in March to integrate with Arbitrum . Their tech is addressing web3’s Achilles’ heel: public data that scares off enterprises. Fhenix optimizes for use cases like confidential DeFi or encrypted voting, proving FHE can be developer-friendly without needing a cryptography PhD. As privacy demands grow, Fhenix's vision of “confidentiality on demand” positions it as a bridge to mainstream adoption, where decentralization thrives without sacrificing security. Aleo: Zero-Knowledge Solutions for Private Dapps Aleo is building zero-knowledge from the ground up, showing that this versatile technology can not only deliver onchain privacy, but do so without losing scalability. In that respect, it’s got a significant advantage over earlier ZK solutions. As a Layer 1 network, Aleo uses ZK proofs to let users run computations privately while verifying results publicly, ideal for dapps where data sovereignty is paramount. Their Leo language simplifies ZK development, and tools like snarkOS and snarkVM make it scalable for everything from private payments to decentralized identity. 2025 has been productive for Aleo to put it mildly. A February partnership with Google Cloud boosted Aleo's validator network and integrated its data into Google's web3 portal, signaling institutional-grade readiness. Its Q1 report highlights the progress being made on compliant, privacy-preserving infra that's drawing devs for secure apps. Founder Howard Wu emphasizes “decentralized private computation” (DPC) as the most scalable way to shield user data without compromising speed. Opt-in privacy is on course to become universally available across every network, dapp, and wallet you use. This rollout will enhance the onchain landscape, enabling web3 users to interact with the assets and services they love while keeping their sensitive data under wraps. It’s going to change everything. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice
