{"id":8080,"date":"2025-08-18T12:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/solana-founder-privacy-is-not-a-core-factor-of-product-market-fit\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T12:18:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:18:13","slug":"solana-founder-privacy-is-not-a-core-factor-of-product-market-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/solana-founder-privacy-is-not-a-core-factor-of-product-market-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Solana founder: Privacy is not a core factor of product-market fit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Solana Labs founder Toly, says that privacy alone does not make a crypto product or feature compelling enough to alter how users engage with it.<\/p>\n

In a recent post, the Solana (SOL) founder contributed to a thread on X discussing the biggest hurdles facing the DeFi industry. He does not recognize privacy as a \u201ckiller feature\u201d in that sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is lack of pmf for privacy. In of itself it\u2019s not a killer feature that would change user behavior,\u201d said Toly in his post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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There is lack of pmf for privacy. In of itself it\u2019s not a killer feature that would change user behavior.<\/p>\n

\u2014 toly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@aeyakovenko) August 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In this context, concepts such as privacy may have technical or ideological significance, but it doesn\u2019t guarantee widespread adoption. For a feature to drive adoption, it must solve a tangible problem, offer clear utility, and encourage ongoing user engagement.<\/p>\n

According to Toly, privacy fails to meet these criteria on its own. It is not a standalone \u201ckiller feature\u201d that fundamentally changes user behavior or adoption patterns when it comes to crypto projects.<\/p>\n

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In the discussion thread, the trader on X that started the discussion tried to counter Toly\u2019s point by saying that privacy is still a pretty determining factor, considering there have been incidents on-chain where the system doesn\u2019t hold up to technical attacks like the case of the Hyperliquid whale which triggered mass liquidation due to the sheer size of the perp.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre there not cases where privacy is preferable for certain trades?\u201d asked the trader.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Complaining about a problem doesn\u2019t mean that that there is pmf for the solution,\u201d said Toly.<\/p>\n

In an earlier post, former Solana Head of Growth Matty Taylor suggested<\/a> that the achieving PMF would involve other criteria that are based on features centered on more economic and utility, such as sustainable revenue, demand, and liquidity instead of privacy.<\/p>\n

How does Solana\u2019s privacy stack up against other chains?<\/h2>\n

Solana offers native privacy features through its Token-2022 standard, which supports confidential transfers, encrypted balances, and optional auditor keys. However, these features are opt-in and require token migration.<\/p>\n

Solana also hosts early-stage privacy projects that employ zero-knowledge proofs, such as Elusiv, Arcium, and Light Protocol.<\/p>\n

Compared to other leading chains in privacy, Solana is pushing innovative native and app-layer privacy. However, it is still behind Ethereum (ETH) in terms of institution-grade privacy infrastructure and ecosystem maturity.<\/p>\n

Ethereum doesn\u2019t offer privacy at the base layer. Instead, it relies on a mature Layer 2 ecosystem zk-Rollups, zkEVMs, and protocols like Tornado Cash for privacy tooling.<\/p>\n

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