A trend of hackers demanding privacy-focused cryptocurrencies as payment may be forming

When it comes to the utilization of privacy tech in digital assets, it has been debated whether privacy is just a feature or if it needs a token of its own, as demonstrated in coins like Monero or Zcash. Projects have spawned that use technologies such as zk-SNARKs or other mixing methods like CoinJoins — the result being a boost in privacy for assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or even stablecoins.

One potential issue when a token is not private by default is that blockchain data is leaked up until it is “safeguarded” by privacy. One small mistake by the user, and suddenly their private transactions can potentially be linked to their public addresses. Blockchain analytic companies like Chainalysis or Elliptic can also see when a user is attempting to mix their coins.