I spent a week deeply researching the landscape of crypto privacy technologies and discovered some exciting things. First, a data point: from 2015 to 2022, data breach incidents more than doubled. Users' anxiety about privacy has reached a critical point. In the crypto world, this issue is even more severe—the transparency of the blockchain, which was once a feature, has now become a bug. Why has privacy technology suddenly become so important? Because transparency limits too many application scenarios! Game developers want to create "fog of war," but on-chain data is fully transparent. DeFi wants to implement dark pool trading, but the order book is visible to everyone. Professional trading firms want to enter the market, but their strategies can be targeted by MEV bots. Traditional finance's dark pools accounted for 40% of stock trading volume in 2019, while crypto is still exposed... A real comparison of the four major technological routes I divided them into two categories: hardware solutions (TEE) and cryptographic solutions (ZK, MPC, FHE). 1. TEE - The most practical choice ✅ Strong performance, easy to develop ✅ Already used by many institutions ❌ Relatively centralized ❌ Requires trust in hardware vendors ❌ Risk of side-channel attacks Goldman's Sigma X and Morgan Stanley's MS Pool are using similar technologies. 2. ZK - The most mature cryptographic solution ✅ Most mature technology ✅ Can verify computations without leaking information ✅ Widest range of application scenarios ❌ High development complexity ❌ Performance still needs optimization Aleo, Aztec, and Mina are deeply engaged in this area. ZK can not only provide privacy but also scalability, which is its biggest advantage. 3. MPC - Suitable for multi-party collaboration ✅ Truly decentralized ✅ Suitable for specific scenarios (like poker games) ❌ Number of participants cannot be too many ❌ Risk of collusion If you want to create decentralized poker, MPC is the best choice. 4. FHE - The most cutting-edge technology ✅ Can compute directly on encrypted data! ✅ Strongest composability ❌ Technology is still in its early stages ❌ Serious performance issues ❌ Requires hardware acceleration Zama is investing heavily in this direction. Although it is still early, the potential is enormous. My personal judgment In the short term, TEE and ZK will dominate—because they are practical enough. In the medium term, different technologies will occupy their respective niche markets: TEE is suitable for applications with high centralization (dark pools) ZK is suitable for scenarios that require verification (DeFi) MPC is suitable for multi-party collaboration (games) FHE is suitable for scenarios that require high composability (lending) In the long term, I am most optimistic about FHE! Once performance issues are resolved with hardware acceleration, FHE can do so much: Private lending protocols Completely private on-chain games Transaction infrastructure that prevents MEV A true on-chain identity system Why is now a good time to enter the market? The field is still early, and competition is not fierce User demand has already exploded Technology is maturing rapidly Regulatory pressure is driving privacy innovation Brave browser managed to reach 66 million monthly active users even in a bear market, which shows that users really care about privacy! Advice for creators and developers If you want to create content or develop in this field: Choose the right tech stack—select based on application scenarios Pay attention to compliance—privacy ≠ illegal Early layout—there is still a first-mover advantage Deep learning—this field has a high technical threshold I am also deeply learning FHE technology and preparing to participate in Zama's Creator Program. This is not just a money-making opportunity, but a chance to build influence in a technological direction that could change the entire industry! Privacy technology is not an add-on feature of crypto, but the infrastructure of the next era. Whoever can solve the privacy problem will open the door to the next billion users! @zama_fhe #ZamaCreatorProgram Reference reading: The complete report from Variant Fund Zama's technical documentation on FHE White papers from Aztec and Aleo.