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Garbled Circuits 101: What Could They Enable for Blockchain Privacy?

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Blockchains were originally designed to be transparent, with every wallet and transaction on public display. Many supporters see this ‘trustlessness’ as a strength, but there are some obvious drawbacks, such as the security risk of having all of your financial activity available on-chain.

We can see this in the rates of illicit activity around blockchain, with bad actors accounting for $39.6bn of transaction volume in 2022.

We are also seeing a growing tactic of frontrunning for personal gain, where users with the technical skills to do so, reorder trades before they are committed to a block. By doing this they can ensure their own trades are always profitable.

These are just two examples of why transparency is often seen as a bug, and it’s also why the search for blockchain privacy is heating up. We are now seeing a flurry of innovation within the ecosystem to push for privacy solutions, arguably the last frontier for blockchain.

Blockchain Privacy Solutions

You may already be familiar with Zero-Knowledge proofs or ZKPs, one of the first blockchain privacy solutions to gain widespread adoption. ZKPs allow data to be shared between two parties without revealing any sensitive information. However, they fall short when handling more complex computations.

In many instances blockchain applications need multiple parties to compute solutions together, known as Multi Party Computation (MPC). This is where Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) came into play. About four years ago, FHE emerged as an elegant solution to solve the MPC problem. FHE enables multiple parties to carry out computations on encrypted data without needing to disclose or know the underlying data points in order to retrieve the end result. However, FHE faces significant scaling issues given its high computing costs.

Garbled Circuits, High-speed, Lightweight Blockchain Privacy

Garbled Circuits – a technology developed by Soda Labs and implemented exclusive by COTI – aims to solve the MPC problem with much lower costs to run and far better performance.

In essence Garbled Circuits can be used to make confidential multi-party computations of varying complexity with any number of participants providing inputs. This makes it suitable for complex applications on blockchain protocols including private smart contracts. However, tweaks to the technology today mean that it is less computationally intensive, giving it the ability to scale.

How do Garbled Circuits work?

The concept of Garbled Circuits actually dates back to the late 80s, when it was proposed as a solution to Yao’s Millionaires’ Problem by famous cryptographer Andrew Yao. Imagine that there are two millionaires, Alice and Bob, who want to know who between the two of them has more money. The problem is that no one wants to reveal how much they have exactly. Instead of revealing the amount of money each of them has, they can solve their dispute with the help of Garbled Circuits.

Alice and Bob each write down their net worth in encrypted text, as a string of letters and numbers. Both of them put this piece of paper into a black box, and after a split second, a piece of paper is ejected with the name of the richer person. In this example, the black box is the Garbled Circuit, a powerful computer program that can perform complex calculations on encrypted data without leaking any information.

Garbled Circuits introduce new levels of confidentiality to Web3, protecting data and metadata to enable confidential payments, private/blind auctions and the secure management of sensitive information on-chain without sacrificing performance. COTI has demonstrated the technology’s effectiveness ahead of its integration with Ethereum-based Layer-2 network, COTI V2, which launched in April.

Web3 Use Cases for Garbled Circuits

As blockchain applications grow more complex, a privacy solution is needed that can handle secure MPC without any limit to the number of inputs. In these instances, Garbled Circuits have huge potential.

Confidential DeFI: Garbled Circuits enable confidential transactions, allowing Decentralized Finance (DeFi) apps to maintain regulatory requirements while solving losses from MEV by encrypting transaction data, shielding them from sandwich bots. Just some of the DeFi use cases of GC include private Automated Market Makers (AMMs), undercollateralized lending, dark pools and hybrid exchanges. These can leverage both centralized and decentralized elements while keeping trade details confidential.

Dynamic Decentralized Identification (DID): Garbled Circuits facilitate identity verification and personal information sharing, calculation, and storage without revealing actual data to other parties, ensuring KYC compliance while maintaining user privacy. For instance, decentralized lenders can now establish someone’s suitability for a loan without the individual exposing their wallet address or personal information. The GC breakthrough preserves privacy whilst fulfilling regulatory requirements.

On-Chain Sensitive Data Management: Garbled Circuits allow for encrypted data storage on-chain, enabling analysis of sensitive information without compromising privacy. Data can be safely shared across sites, preventing companies from scraping and selling it. Some of the applications that become possible include confidential on-chain voting systems and healthcare services. By storing encrypted data on-chain, GC satisfies stringent data protection standards whilst still providing the benefits of blockchain data storage and analysis.

One of the main characteristics of Garbled Circuits is their efficiency. Benchmark tests have shown that Garbled Circuits are much faster, lighter and cost-effective  than any other privacy-preserving technology available today. This makes GC highly scalable, ensuring that the technology can grow alongside expanding markets such as Real World Assets (RWA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Confidential Transactions for Payments, Stablecoins and RWA. Garbled Circuits maintains fund flow transparency while encrypting transaction details, ensuring regulatory compliance for payments, stablecoins, and real-world assets (RWA). RWAs include assets like real estate, commodities and securities that require high levels of privacy. GCs ability to ensure privacy, meet regulatory requirements, enhance security, and scale efficiently makes them an ideal choice.

Confidential Machine Learning & AI. Garbled Circuits also enables secure, private interactions with AI and large language models (LLMs), safeguarding data model confidentiality and data source privacy as required by law. GC can be used to enable decentralized and democratic ML model development and opens up new possibilities for privacy-focussed data marketplaces allowing researchers and businesses to work with datasets without exposing sensitive information.

Summary

To summarize, Garbled Circuits are revolutionizing privacy in blockchain applications, offering solutions that cater to various sectors, including DeFi, identity management, sensitive data handling, and AI. With their increased performance and scalability over other privacy solutions like FHE, Garbled Circuits are set to play a pivotal role in the future of Web3.

Authored by: Shafah Ban-Geffen, CEO and CO-Founder of COTI

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No Price Spike, But 22,500 BTC Quietly Left Exchanges in a Single Day

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Bitcoin quietly continues to move off centralized exchanges, even as its price fails to mark any gains. On a single day in early June, roughly 22,500 BTC were withdrawn from trading platforms. This is a significant figure that suggests large holders are opting to secure their assets in private wallets rather than preparing them for sale.

Despite this major outflow, BTC’s price fell in the past 24 hours toward $100,000 but has managed to post a modest recovery and now sits around $103,500.

Signs of a Quiet Bullish Setup?

According to CryptoQuant’s latest analysis, such a pattern implies that these are not speculative trades by retail investors but deliberate accumulation by institutions such as ETF providers, custodians, or over-the-counter (OTC) desks.

These players typically operate under the radar, without the fanfare often seen with retail trading activity. The lack of a corresponding price spike may indicate that the market is in a consolidation phase, where long-term conviction is quietly building. Instead of being driven by hype or rapid momentum, the current trend seems to reflect strategic positioning and growing trust in Bitcoin’s long-term value proposition.

While immediate price action may appear stagnant, the continued drawdown of exchange reserves could potentially mean that supply-side pressure is easing. Historically, this kind of supply tightening has preceded major upward moves, although with a delay.

For now, the data points to accumulation, not distribution. CryptoQuant said that the situation should not be viewed as a lull, but as a potential setup for future price appreciation. As selling pressure diminishes, the groundwork may be forming for Bitcoin’s next leg up.

“There’s no reason to panic. This chart tells us that trust in Bitcoin is still strong. Maybe the price won’t explode right away. Maybe we’re just in a waiting phase. But as selling pressure fades, opportunities become clearer.”

Bitcoin May Struggle Through Summer Turbulence

While ETF flows continue to dominate investor attention, early signs that bullish momentum appears to be fading and deeper structural indicators suggest the market may be entering a period of consolidation, as per Matrixport’s insights.

Their models, which previously supported a bullish stance, now caution that the summer may bring increased uncertainty, particularly as key US economic indicators, such as the ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI, have fallen to their lowest levels since July 2024. This decline, coupled with a weaker manufacturing PMI, points to a broader economic slowdown that markets have yet to fully price in.

Further downside risks include the potential fallout from Trump’s tariff policies and the Fed’s hesitance to cut rates amidst lingering inflation fears. While Bitcoin’s trend model remains technically bullish above $96,719, the report noted that this support level is under threat.

With bond yields stagnant and the dollar showing weakness, Matrixport sees limited room for aggressive Fed intervention. As a result, the coming months may be defined more by caution than conviction, with Bitcoin likely to trade sideways unless macro conditions stabilize.

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Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit: Why June 16 Is Such an Important Date?

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TL;DR

  • Ripple and the SEC face a key deadline as the lawsuit drags on without resolution.

  • The battle’s outcome is unlikely to cause any substantial volatility for XRP as the price now hinges on potential ETF approvals and Ripple’s business expansions.

Ripple and the SEC Remain Silent

It has been almost three months since Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, dropped the bomb, stating that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would dismiss its case against the company. Despite the numerous developments that have occurred since then, however, the lawsuit has yet to reach its official conclusion.

Earlier this week, the American attorney Fred Rispoli noted that “the status update in the 2nd Circuit looms large,” and Ripple and the SEC have not moved forward with the necessary refiling. 

Recall that the two sides previously agreed that the company would pay a $50 million penalty for violating certain laws (instead of the previously ruled $125 million), which would mark the end of the legal battle. However, Judge Analisa Torres denied the motion, asserting that the parties failed to file it properly under Rule 60.

Rispoli said the deadline for that is June 16, expecting the entities to abide by the rules by then. In case they don’t, the lawyer believes the magistrates could restart the briefing process and push it for another 60 days. He described Torres’ ruling as “clear” and claimed that Ripple and the SEC “need to beg for forgiveness.”

“Ripple will say whatever to get it done, but how much public groveling is the SEC willing to do? And how much groveling will be authorized? We have 12 days to find out,” Rispoli concluded.

It is worth noting that the attorney provided the update on June 4, with no major progress on the Ripple v. SEC front since then.

Other industry participants who think the following days could be crucial for the case are Bill Morgan and the X user Levi. The former argued that something has to happen by June 16, or the appeal and cross-appeal will continue. For his part, Levi predicted that the date would mark the lawsuit’s official end. 

Possible Impact for XRP?

The developments surrounding the case were among the main factors triggering substantial volatility for Ripple’s native token over the past several years. Since Garlinghouse’s announcement in March, though, the lawsuit has been largely priced into XRP’s valuation.

Looking ahead, future price movements for the asset may depend on elements such as the approval of XRP ETFs or Ripple’s further advancement and possible collaborations.

Nearly a dozen well-known companies have announced their intentions to introduce the first spot XRP exchange-traded fund in the USA, with Grayscale, 21Shares, WisdomTree, and Franklin Templeton being among the examples. 

Such a product will give investors an additional option to gain exposure to the asset, with many analysts viewing the potential launch as a catalyst for a price rally. According to Polymarket, the odds of approval before the end of 2025 stand at approximately 94%.

Speaking of collaborations, it is worth mentioning that in April, Ripple acquired the prime broker Hidden Road for a whopping $1.25 billion. There was also rising speculation that the company was willing to purchase the stablecoin issuer Circle for more than $10 billion, but Garlinghouse recently rejected the rumors. 

Meanwhile, XRP currently trades at around $2.15, representing a 12% decline over the past two weeks. 

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On-Chain Data Signals ‘Buy the Dip’ as Bitcoin Hashrate Hits New Highs

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Bitcoin (BTC) is down almost 7% from its all-time high (ATH), and on-chain signals are flashing a buying opportunity.

According to Darkfost, a pseudonymous analyst at the market intelligence platform CryptoQuant, this buy signal is coming from the Bitcoin Hash Ribbons indicator. This metric tracks the Bitcoin hashrate and is used to identify potential entry points during a market correction.

Is it Time to Buy the Dip?

The Hash Ribbon monitors Bitcoin mining activity and tells when miners are under stress or capitulating by comparing the 30-day and 60-day moving averages of the hashrate. Miner capitulation refers to a period when miners shut down their hardware and sell off their coin reserves to remain afloat because BTC has fallen below a certain price.

On most occasions, the capitulation coincides with the hashrate recovery. The hashrate metric tells how much computational power is required to solve complex math problems and approve transactions on the Bitcoin network. During this period of recovery, mining becomes more difficult.

Market experts say buying BTC during miner capitulation yields significant returns, and the best buy signals are seen during hashrate recoveries. Recently, Bitcoin’s hashrate has been reaching new highs, with the latest being 1.016 billion TH/S. The network’s mining difficulty also surged past 126 trillion during the last adjustment on May 30.

“We recently got a new buy signal from the Hash Ribbons indicator. This metric helps us assess the level of stress in the Bitcoin mining ecosystem. It’s not a big surprise considering that the hashrate has recently reached new all-time highs,” Darkfost stated.

Miners Are Selling Their BTC

Furthermore, the CryptoQuant analyst noted that the Hash Ribbon’s flashing a buy signal is a short-term negative. This is because miners selling their BTC to stay operational create long-term profitable opportunities.

Darkfost explained that the indicator has always been accurate except once, during the 2021 China mining ban event. Hence, the possibility of the metric being correct this time is high.

“Bottom line, this signal is telling you that buying the dip around here is a smart move,” he added.

The analysis comes as a solo BTC miner defied hashrate odds and beat mining giants to validate a block on the Bitcoin network, earning a reward worth over $330,000. Mining successes like this are extremely rare due to the high computational power required to approve transactions.

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