Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has recently backed Nocturne, a protocol that enables private accounts on public blockchains. Nocturne announced its $6 million seed funding round, which was co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital, Bankless Ventures, HackVC, and Robot Ventures.
1/ We're excited to announce our $6M seed round co-led by @BainCapCrypto & @polychain with participation from @VitalikButerin and other members of the Ethereum community.
This round will fund the deployment and continued development of private accounts on Ethereum. pic.twitter.com/ve25yJp6iI
— Nocturne (@nocturne_xyz) October 25, 2023
Nocturne is a protocol designed to tackle the most pressing issues of privacy and user experience within the Ethereum ecosystem. It offers users the ability to carry out transactions with inherent privacy through the use of private accounts. This represents a significant step forward in enhancing the practicality of public blockchains.
The protocol integrates stealth addresses, zero-knowledge proofs, and account abstraction to facilitate the creation of private accounts on public blockchains. These accounts operate similarly to standard Ethereum accounts, but they feature inherent asset privacy.
Buterin Believes in Nocturne’s Mission
Buterin has previously highlighted the importance of privacy in the crypto space. He outlined four major risks in the biometric-based proof-of-personhood system used by Worldcoin and suggested that an approach combining social graph and biometric techniques could mitigate these risks.
The funds raised will be used to accelerate the production of Nocturne’s protocol and its deployment across various ecosystems. The protocol is also designed to support the financing of legal activities in the ever-evolving regulatory landscape. The company is gearing up for a mainnet launch scheduled for the coming month.
However, the product will initially not be available in the U.S. The initial launch will provide a compliant, non-custodial privacy option to retail users while allowing for integrations with wallets, payment companies, and other strategic partners.
Nocturne is presently concentrating on the integration of private accounts. Its initial support will be for Ethereum, with plans to extend to Ethereum Layer 2 networks subsequently. It’s worth noting that platforms centered on crypto privacy, such as mixers, have previously been scrutinized by regulatory bodies.
This investment by Buterin and others in Nocturne underscores the growing interest in enhancing privacy and security in the blockchain space. As the sector continues to evolve, initiatives like Nocturne are likely to play a crucial role in shaping its future.
