What a Modern Privacy Protocol Needs

Duration: NaN:NaN:NaN

Speaker: Mike McCabe

Type: Talk

Expertise: Some familiarity with the topic

Event: Devcon

Date: Nov 2026

1. What we claimed, and what we proved: the v1 thesis, that you can exclude bad actors even after they deposit, and the one thing a year in production actually validated. 2. What we got wrong: The fees on deposits and withdrawals. Available user flows vs expectations, The importance of anonymity sets for users actually getting the privacy they want; how can this be usable for everyone? 3. How those became v2 goals: each lesson mapped to a design decision, honestly including the tradeoffs we are still uncomfortable with (especially in compliance). 4. What I'd tell anyone building this: what you learn by operating a privacy protocol.