Ethereum developers are exploring new token standards as privacy returns to focus. The proposed pERC-20 standard would allow users to hold and transfer tokens without publicly revealing balances, transaction amounts, or counterparties on the public ledger.
Under pERC-20, tokens would exist as encrypted cryptographic notes similar to digital cash, while the total supply of a token would remain publicly visible so observers can verify that new tokens are not being secretly created.
Under pERC-20, tokens are represented as encrypted cryptographic notes that function similarly to digital cash. These notes replace conventional on-chain account balances, so individual holdings and transaction amounts are not recorded as visible balances on the public ledger. Transfers occur by moving ownership of encrypted notes rather than by updating a publicly viewable balance. This approach aims to prevent public disclosure of balances, transfer amounts and counterparties.
At the same time, the pERC-20 design preserves a publicly visible total supply for each token, enabling observers to confirm that the overall token quantity has not been altered. The framework aims to allow the network to verify transaction integrity without exposing the private details of individual notes or transactions. By separating private note-level data from public supply information, pERC-20 seeks to balance privacy with verifiability. The proposal does not describe standard public balance records and relies on mechanisms that keep transaction-level information confidential while enabling correctness checks.
The pERC-20 proposal includes a compliance mechanism that allows issuers to freeze specific cryptographic notes by placing them on a cryptographic blacklist. This mechanism targets individual notes rather than exposing broader account-level data. The blacklist is cryptographic in nature and is designed to act on the encrypted notes themselves. The proposal specifies this can be done without exposing ordinary users’ balances or transaction histories.
The mechanism is intended to operate alongside the privacy-preserving note architecture while maintaining system-level checks. It aims to allow issuers to remove or restrict access to particular notes without revealing other private note-level information. The design therefore preserves confidentiality of transaction details even when enforcement actions occur. The framework also seeks to maintain the ability to verify transaction integrity and overall token correctness while employing selective freezing via the blacklist.
Starknet released STRK20, a privacy-focused token framework for DeFi transactions. The framework emphasizes privacy features within token operations used in decentralized finance, and the release identifies specific applications including lending, staking and token swaps.
STRK20 is presented as a token framework intended to be applied in those DeFi contexts to support private handling of tokens during typical protocol interactions. The release positions STRK20 as a privacy-focused option for developers building lending, staking and swap functionality on Starknet and related applications.
Recent technical developments in Ethereum token privacy include the pERC-20 proposal and Starknet’s STRK20 framework. pERC-20 would represent tokens as encrypted cryptographic notes rather than visible account balances, retain a publicly visible total supply to permit verification of overall token correctness, and specify a cryptographic blacklist that allows issuers to freeze particular notes without revealing other users’ holdings or transaction histories. STRK20 is presented as a privacy-focused token framework aimed at decentralized finance applications such as lending, staking and token swaps.
