04-16-2025, 06:31 AM
Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers
<p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDQvMDE5NjNjNTAtZWY1MC03NDExLTg0Y2YtMTU1ZTA2YmNiODhm.jpg"></p><p><p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDQvMDE5NjNjNTAtZWY1MC03NDExLTg0Y2YtMTU1ZTA2YmNiODhm.jpg" alt="Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers"></p><p>Developers behind the Ethereum layer 2 Aztec Network have launched a whistleblowing platform called StealthNote that allows workers to vent about their employer without revealing themselves.<p>StealthNote uses zero-knowledge proofs to prove that posts on its platform are written by someone with access to an email address of the company that they’re reviewing.</p><p>Aztec Labs developer Saleel Pichen <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/_saleel/status/1911838794543751315" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wrote</a> in an April 14 X post that StealthNote creates a zero-knowledge proof of a Google JSON Web Token, which is used to authenticate users and allows the platform to prove a poster owns “an email from a company domain without revealing any personal info.”</p><figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963cc6-4196-7cae-9ac7-b128bfef7d4a" title="" alt="Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers"><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>Two of the latest posts on StealthNote from personnel at Aztec Labs and Cornell University. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stealthnote.xyz/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em>StealthNote.xyz</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://saleel.xyz/blog/stealthnote/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">According </a>to Aztec’s documentation, the privacy solution had been in development since at least Oct. 22, while the first <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stealthnote.xyz/messages/6b837959b596" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">test</a> post from Aztec occurred about three months ago.</p><p>Workers from Ethereum Foundation, StarkWare and Scroll as well as Columbia and Cornell universities have made posts on StealthNote, primarily sharing greetings and voicing their support for privacy solutions.</p><p>“Let’s make privacy cool again,” a worker from Nim Network <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stealthnote.xyz/messages/1b47b7901a41" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wrote</a>.</p><h2>ZK-proofs needed more than ever, says Buterin</h2><p>ZK-proofs have become an increasingly used <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/privacy-will-unlock-blockchain-s-potential" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">privacy solution</a> in the internet age as concerns over data security and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-wallet-communication-devices-break-government-surveillance-telegram-founder" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">government surveillance</a> continue to grow.</p><p>The concerns were raised in an April 14 blog post by Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, who <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/04/14/privacy.html" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">criticized</a> the assumption that governments are generally well-intentioned when it comes to sacrificing privacy for a more “transparent society.” </p><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/vitalik-buterin-unveils-roadmap-ethereum-privacy" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Vitalik Buterin unveils roadmap for Ethereum privacy</strong></em></a></p><p>He championed ZK-proofs as a solution to mitigate this trade-off, highlighting the technology’s ability to provide “fine-grained control of who can see what information.”</p><figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963cc6-4581-7784-92f7-a356d8fea530" title="" alt="Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers"><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/vitalik-buterin-unveils-roadmap-ethereum-privacy" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Vitalik Buterin unveils roadmap for Ethereum privacy</strong></em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p>The privacy-focused Aztec Network launched on Ethereum in February 2020. </p><p>The firm raised <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/aztec-network-secures-100-million-in-series-b-funding-led-by-a16z" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">$100 million in Series B funding</a> led by the tech-focused venture capital firm Andreessen “a16z” Horowitz in December 2022, with A Capital and King River also contributing.</p><p><em><strong>Magazine: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/financial-nihilism-crypto-over-dream-big-again/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again</strong></em></a></p><template data-name="subscription_form" data-type="markets_outlook" label="Subscription Form: Markets Outlook"></template></p>
</p>
https://cointelegraph.com/news/aztec-ste...er_inbound
<p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDQvMDE5NjNjNTAtZWY1MC03NDExLTg0Y2YtMTU1ZTA2YmNiODhm.jpg"></p><p><p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjUtMDQvMDE5NjNjNTAtZWY1MC03NDExLTg0Y2YtMTU1ZTA2YmNiODhm.jpg" alt="Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers"></p><p>Developers behind the Ethereum layer 2 Aztec Network have launched a whistleblowing platform called StealthNote that allows workers to vent about their employer without revealing themselves.<p>StealthNote uses zero-knowledge proofs to prove that posts on its platform are written by someone with access to an email address of the company that they’re reviewing.</p><p>Aztec Labs developer Saleel Pichen <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/_saleel/status/1911838794543751315" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wrote</a> in an April 14 X post that StealthNote creates a zero-knowledge proof of a Google JSON Web Token, which is used to authenticate users and allows the platform to prove a poster owns “an email from a company domain without revealing any personal info.”</p><figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963cc6-4196-7cae-9ac7-b128bfef7d4a" title="" alt="Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers"><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>Two of the latest posts on StealthNote from personnel at Aztec Labs and Cornell University. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stealthnote.xyz/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em>StealthNote.xyz</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://saleel.xyz/blog/stealthnote/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">According </a>to Aztec’s documentation, the privacy solution had been in development since at least Oct. 22, while the first <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stealthnote.xyz/messages/6b837959b596" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">test</a> post from Aztec occurred about three months ago.</p><p>Workers from Ethereum Foundation, StarkWare and Scroll as well as Columbia and Cornell universities have made posts on StealthNote, primarily sharing greetings and voicing their support for privacy solutions.</p><p>“Let’s make privacy cool again,” a worker from Nim Network <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stealthnote.xyz/messages/1b47b7901a41" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wrote</a>.</p><h2>ZK-proofs needed more than ever, says Buterin</h2><p>ZK-proofs have become an increasingly used <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/privacy-will-unlock-blockchain-s-potential" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">privacy solution</a> in the internet age as concerns over data security and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-wallet-communication-devices-break-government-surveillance-telegram-founder" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">government surveillance</a> continue to grow.</p><p>The concerns were raised in an April 14 blog post by Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, who <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/04/14/privacy.html" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">criticized</a> the assumption that governments are generally well-intentioned when it comes to sacrificing privacy for a more “transparent society.” </p><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/vitalik-buterin-unveils-roadmap-ethereum-privacy" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Vitalik Buterin unveils roadmap for Ethereum privacy</strong></em></a></p><p>He championed ZK-proofs as a solution to mitigate this trade-off, highlighting the technology’s ability to provide “fine-grained control of who can see what information.”</p><figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963cc6-4581-7784-92f7-a356d8fea530" title="" alt="Aztec launches StealthNote app giving privacy to corporate whistleblowers"><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/vitalik-buterin-unveils-roadmap-ethereum-privacy" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Vitalik Buterin unveils roadmap for Ethereum privacy</strong></em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p>The privacy-focused Aztec Network launched on Ethereum in February 2020. </p><p>The firm raised <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/aztec-network-secures-100-million-in-series-b-funding-led-by-a16z" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">$100 million in Series B funding</a> led by the tech-focused venture capital firm Andreessen “a16z” Horowitz in December 2022, with A Capital and King River also contributing.</p><p><em><strong>Magazine: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/financial-nihilism-crypto-over-dream-big-again/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"><em><strong>Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again</strong></em></a></p><template data-name="subscription_form" data-type="markets_outlook" label="Subscription Form: Markets Outlook"></template></p>
</p>
https://cointelegraph.com/news/aztec-ste...er_inbound