Make Privacy Sexy: From Cypherpunk to Consumer

Transcript

In general, actually cares everyone. So, your friends, too, because the reason why you think you may think different because they just never use that word, privacy. But, they close their laptop when someone walks by. They cover their PIN at ATM. And this this is privacy. But, they don't just don't call it that. Look at this. Hiding your phone's screen, covering a webcam, fear of getting an ad for something that we just talked about.

This is what people actually do. Nobody taught them about privacy. Nobody asked them to care. It's just because of human instinct. And to increase their privacy, they are looking for some applications, try different apps. They look some tools that they find one, and what? This is what they get. Uh the app is just too hard to use without any documentation. So, what do you think users are doing next?

This is what they do. They just use other app. Simple as that. So, we just lose a user who cares. And maybe [snorts] willing to pay if we make it easy enough. So, this is the gap. The cypherpunks built something incredible. They built real technology, real privacy, the engine that actually works. But people don't need to understand how how engine works. They just want to drive every day with pleasure and in private.

So, our job is to build this car. So, to do this, we should make make it sexy. I'm talking about the design layer that turn technology into behavior. Uh so, the question is, what does sexy mean? Sexy mean, first, desirable. People want it even before they need it. Second effortless. It works just without even thinking about it.

And aspirational. It makes you feel smarter, not more paranoid. You can already see it outside of web3. That's company already did it. Apple built privacy into their brand. Samsung shipped a phone that hides your screen from stranger. And Brave has 80 million of users. And DuckDuckGo is the default choice for millions of people. You know what? None None of those people call themselves cypherpunks.

They just want something something simple that just respects them. And it's not just outside web3. Grayscale called privacy the dominant crypto investment theme of Q4 2025. A16z said it will be the most important crypto month. And Vitalik personally committed $45 million to privacy and open-source security solutions. And just this month, the US Treasury told Congress that mixers have legitimate uses.

By the way, congratulations. So, the money is there. The recognition is there. The technology is there. So, but still the average person can't use any of web3 privacy tools. Why? And this is what we are going to fix. Because it's not because of users, it's just because of design problem. Let me show what I mean.

When I was looking for for portfolio tracker, I was always I always had two options. First, good design, amazing UX, mobile first, but your data on someone's servers, even without 2FA. Or real privacy, but the app is just too hard to use. So, I decided to build the third option. I created the app with privacy by default and the design for normal people that and they can actually use it.

This is design well. This app allows you to calculate your crypto and stock investment, review review wallets, and your entire wealth locally without any account and any data and any servers that's storing your data. And there are five principles I used to make this privacy app sexy. Principle one. Let me start with this. The goal is not just build a better privacy interface.

The goal is to design the interface where privacy is just invisible because it's just already here. What I mean is, why we are still adding privacy as a additional separate layer to the applications? Like a toggle, like a setting or specific privacy mode. So, the question is not how to make privacy accessible. The question is, why public is still by default?

Everything we need is just already here, like ZK proofs. We have privacy pools. We have shielded transactions. The gap is not technical. It's just a design gap. So, your your actual takeaway here. Next time you're building something, ask yourself, "Why does this require a decision from user?" Every toggle you're showing is a decision. And every decision is drop of burn. Principle two.

Privacy should feel better than public. What I mean is, it should be faster, cheaper simpler. Not sacrifice, but an upgrade. You know, like HTTPS today. It's faster than HTTP and free and on by default. So, nobody even think about it. It just works. The first generation of privacy made you pay a price. Heavier transactions, uh broken compatibility, extra steps, and privacy is felt like a punishment.

That's changing. For example, Zcash in Atlas, 15,000 transactions per second, sub-second finality, proving cost under the sun. And you know what? ZK proof can just be done on your phone, on your browser. You don't need even specific server or specific hardware. So, the tech solution is here. If you add or require on your app anything more, you're just adding the friction that doesn't need to exist.

So, uh make privacy just top priority of what you are doing. And your actual takeaway here is, if it feels like extra work, it's still not ready. Benchmark You can, by the way, benchmark your privacy flow against non-private version. Extra uh every extra tap is drop of burn. Principle three.

People don't adopt privacy tools because they understand the technology. They love what is under They check open source. No, no, no, no, no. They adopt privacy tools because they feel their problem. App showed that we really understand you, your problems, and this is why you're here. Just check it. We may say we may have the same product but different language. One uh speaks to builders like on the left side and one speaks to human.

Don't explain the solution first. Just show what's at stake. This is it. Your actual recommendations here. Don't scream about your features. Let Let them see the problem first and they will believe in your solution. Principle four. My favorite. Most privacy tools mhm make you feel under threat.

Like dark violet colors, boring gray interface, lock icons, and warning messages. The The wrong emotion. Privacy should feel should make you feel like everything is under control. Again, the same technology but one make you scared and one makes you feel powerful. The difference just in design and copy. For example, Apple made privacy inspirational.

Not a warning or something like that. It's It's not a symbol. And it became the biggest brand advantage. And this is exactly uh the position I choose for Dcent Wallet. Not protect your portfolio. It's like it's just yours. This is it. So, your ex takeaway here. Language is a design. Every technical word you have in your interface is a a potential exit point. Go and audit your product on this.

With Please trust us. We are the best. We don't store your data. Uh blah blah blah. Uh the same model we have, by the way, today on Web 2 projects. Just with some better branding. Web 3 had something Web 2 never had. You don't need to promise privacy. You can just prove it mathematically. And your users can do that. For example, ZK passport let you uh prove the fact about yourself without sharing anything else.

Like you can verify that you are over 18 without showing your passport. And you can show it before users would use it anywhere else. Just in your application. Another example, Railgun let you prove your funds are clear without showing your history. So, encryption hides the data but proof let users verify and see it in action. So, don't uh your ex takeaway here, please don't hide verification. You can just show it where users need it

um for example, before their first transaction or their moment of doubt. So, knowing those five principles can knowing them, we can build entire user journey. If it starts when you show users their own problem without any words but with the data. So, then they try your product.

And the key is here. They shouldn't feel like anything just happened. It just We don't should show like any setup, any choice. Privacy should be just on. And next, they keep using it and feel like normal. Not heavier, not slower, just the things they were already doing. Then something shifts. It stops feeling like a tool and starts feeling like it's their own space they feel comfortable inside.

Not defensive but something like elevated. And finally, they trust you. Not because you asked to trust but because you proved it mathematically and on chain. This is something Web 2 can never do. So, from knowing that they had a problem to never want wanting to go back. And that's the journey. So, you may ask me, so where we can start?

There are a couple of things you can do at home. Uh so, go and audit your product. Go through your app and find every place where you share users' data and and they don't know about it. You will be surprised. Next, if privacy is something users have to turn on, just turn on. Don't force them to think about it. Replace every ZK snack, every shielded balance in your UI to something that is actually means for the person using it.

Give your product to someone outside crypto and just watch. It's funnest thing I I did. There And don't explain anything. Where they get confused, that that's where your design is broken. Five. Don't hide the hero in settings. Show it in first class screen, first message. Just lead with it. And final, find the moment where users hesitate and show them option to verify proof right here.

Not in the documentation, just right here in the interface. Oh, privacy is a basic things. Um cypherpunks gave us the right to privacy. Our job is to make people actually use it. Like the right to cars or planes with incredible engines inside. Privacy isn't a feature. It's feeling. And feeling can be designed.

Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> We don't have a lot of time for questions, so I'm ready to hear you here. Thanks so much.