Ethereum’s 2026 roadmap puts institutional privacy front and center – Details

One of Ethereum’s goals for 2026 is to enhance privacy, particularly for institutional players, ahead of the anticipated tokenization boom.In a recent interview, Ethereum Foundation Co-Director Tomasz Stańczak highlighted faster finality (speed) and institutional privacy as key priorities. He said,“We have a privacy cluster of a 50-person team outside the protocol team. They have a clear roadmap for privacy solutions and privacy for institutions, involving standards and specifications on how current Ethereum solutions can deliver particular use cases.”He added that the Ethereum Foundation received feedback that “privacy for institutions is a must.”Privacy narrative will be key in 2026Contrary to the belief that blockchains are private by default, they’re very open, and transaction details can be traced and viewed by anyone. It only takes one blockchain transaction to map out your entire payment history and personal details.Imagine paying for coffee only to for the shop attendant gain access to your entire transaction history and account details. You can easily be monitored, tracked, and even targeted by rogue players, making it a risky endeavor. Especially for public figures.For venture firm a16z, privacy will be the most “important moat” in 2026. In 2025, the privacy sector saw a major surge, rallying coins like Zcash [ZEC] and Monero [XMR]. However, apart from only shielding transactions on their chains, the current chains, like Zcash, do not offer much practical use cases.On the contrary, Ethereum has introduced app-specific and protocol-level privacy features, such as Kohaku, for wallet privacy. Additionally, the privacy plans mentioned by Stańczak are part of a 6-month roadmap launched in 2025 to ensure private yet compliant DeFi features, thereby avoiding legal hiccups.Ethereum currently boasts of some top privacy protocols as well, including Railgun, which enables private transfers across Ethereum, Polygon [POL], Arbitrum [ARB], and BNB Chain.Here, it’s worth pointing out that Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s Co-founder, echoed Stańczak’s sentiment. He added that the chain must improve to advance private and censorship-resistant DeFi applications.“Ethereum needs to do more to meet its own stated goals.”Source: XOverall, Ethereum and Cardano’s Midnight are currently the main contenders aggressively developing for institutional privacy. Unless Zcash offers more than private transfers on its blockchain, the two may erode its privacy market share in 2026.Final ThoughtsEthereum Foundation’s exec outlined faster finality and institutional privacy as key priorities in 2026.If institutional privacy is unlocked, Ethereum could challenge Zcash’s lead on the privacy narrative.