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Coinbase Confirms Base Is Developing Private Transactions

Armstrong cites the Iron Fish team embedded in a new privacy pod after a March acquisition.

Overview

  • Coinbase says details are forthcoming, with no launch date or technical specification released.
  • Reporting points to Iron Fish’s zk-SNARK infrastructure and shielded pools that could hide sender, receiver, and amounts for assets like USDC.
  • Iron Fish’s model includes optional view-keys that allow auditors or regulators to access transaction data when granted.
  • Users questioned whether meaningful privacy is possible on a KYC-compliant platform, referencing Coinbase’s compliance obligations and past data concerns.
  • The effort comes as privacy coins surge and regulators tighten AML/CTF rules, with Chainalysis estimating about 7% of privacy-coin activity and 0.14% of all crypto transactions are illicit.