Privacy Cluster Leadership Announcement
A New Era for Ethereum's Privacy Efforts: Leadership Announcement and Roadmap
The Ethereum Foundation has made a significant move in its quest to establish a robust and user-centric approach to privacy. The foundation has announced a new leadership structure for its privacy-related efforts, with Igor Barinov joining as the coordinator of Privacy @ EF and Andy Guzman taking over as the coordinator of the Private Sentinel (PSE) team. This new leadership will guide the strategy and alignment across various privacy-focused efforts, including the PSE and more.
A Decade of Experience and a Strong Advocate for Open-Source and Privacy
Igor Barinov, the new coordinator of Privacy @ EF, brings over a decade of experience in the Ethereum ecosystem. He is the founder of Blockscout, Gnosis Chain, and zkBob, and has been a strong advocate for open-source and privacy. His extensive experience and passion for privacy will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping the future of Ethereum's privacy efforts.
Leadership in Action: Andy Guzman Takes the Helm of PSE
Andy Guzman, the new coordinator of the PSE team, has been with the foundation since 2022. He has led various key product and strategy initiatives and will now be responsible for leading applied cryptography, research, and development. With his experience and expertise, Andy will play a vital role in driving the PSE team forward and ensuring the success of Ethereum's privacy efforts.
A Structure Built Around Real Use Cases
The Privacy @ EF Cluster has organized its work across research, product, engineering, and operations, with leads now in place to focus on each dimension. This structure supports three core pillars of privacy:
Private Reads: Enabling Individuals and Institutions to Query, Authenticate, and Browse Without Surveillance
Private reads enable individuals and institutions to query, authenticate, and browse without surveillance. This pillar is essential for users who want to avoid the harms of metadata leaks and for institutions that need to comply with data protection standards.
Private Writes: Securing Actions Like Payments, Governance, and Transfers Against Unwanted Disclosure
Private writes secure actions like payments, governance, and transfers against unwanted disclosure. This pillar is necessary for individuals and institutions to protect their private financial information and prevent data breaches.
Private Proving: Making Proofs Efficient, Portable, and Usable Across Contexts Like Identities, Data Portability, and Client-Side Proving
Private proving makes proofs efficient, portable, and usable across contexts like identities, data portability, and client-side proving. This pillar is essential for users who want to prove their age, secure institutions from data breaches, and more.
Why This Matters
For Ethereum to become a foundation for civilizational infrastructure, privacy cannot be abstract research alone. It must be organized, resourced, and deployed at scale. The new leadership structure and roadmap will ensure that Ethereum's privacy efforts are impactful, coherent, and accountable.
Join the Onchain Privacy Space
If you are building with privacy or exploring privacy use cases, we invite you to connect with Igor or Andy and join the 700+ projects building in the onchain privacy space today. Privacy is normal, and Ethereum is for privacy.
Forward-Looking Thoughts and Implications
The new leadership structure and roadmap for Ethereum's privacy efforts mark a significant milestone in the foundation's quest to establish a robust and user-centric approach to privacy. As the onchain privacy space continues to grow, it will be exciting to see the impact of this new leadership and the innovations that will emerge from it. With Igor and Andy at the helm, Ethereum is poised to become a leader in the field of onchain privacy, and we can expect to see significant advancements in the coming years.
Source: https://blog.ethereum.org/en/2025/10/01/privacy-cluster-leads
