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Coinbase Introduces Secret Transactions: Revolution or Risk?
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announces the launch of private transactions on the Base network. These use Iron Fish's infrastructure and ensure greater data protection, but raise questions about compliance with KYC regulations. Read more about the impact on the crypto community.
Coinbase Introduces Secret Transactions: Revolution or Risk?
On October 22, 2025, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the Base blockchain will support private transactions in the future. This new feature is realized in collaboration with Iron Fish's infrastructure, which is based on zero-knowledge proofs. Assets like USDC are supposed to be transported through protected pools that hide the details of transactions.
The decision to introduce private transactions follows the acquisition of the Iron Fish team in March 2025. This initiative has already raised concerns among users, especially given Coinbase's history of data leaks. Many are wondering how to ensure privacy on a KYC-compliant platform without violating current regulations.
Challenges and concerns
The introduction of private pools is sparking interest within the crypto community, especially given the recent successes of platforms like HumidiFi, which has become the largest DEX protocol on Solana. Private transactions could be particularly beneficial for high-volume trades and large liquidations, but raise serious questions about transparency and anti-money laundering standards.
The technology behind Iron Fish uses zk-SNARKs to obscure details such as the identity of the sender and recipient and the amounts of the transactions. Additionally, Iron Fish allows bridging assets from transparent chains such as Base and Ethereum into its multi-sided protected pool. Users can send USDC across a bridge in Iron Fish, making the transaction invisible once it enters the privacy pool.
Innovations and future outlook
Iron Fish also relies on “view keys” that allow developers, auditors or regulators to view specific transaction details if the user allows this. The project has also provided solutions for around 27 blockchains via Chainport, including a private version of Wrapped USDC for Base.
The announcement also hinted that a mobile app was in the works that could offer a “truly private, Venmo-like experience with crypto.” This could further increase interest and usage of this technology and spur the development of privacy-focused solutions in the crypto space. More on these developments can be found in the report by crypto.news be read.