<\/p>\n
A researcher at the Ethereum Foundation (EF) revealed that the IP addresses of Ether (ETH) stakers are monitored as part of a broader set of metadata, causing the cryptocurrency community to flag Ethereum for privacy concerns.<\/p>\n
In an April 12 interview on the crypto podcast Bankless, EF researcher Justin Drake revealed that he learned this information \u201cinternally\u201d \u2014 presumably at EF.<\/p>\n
The metadata Drake referred to is used to track a wide range of things, he explained:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of metadata, you can look at deposit addresses, you can look at withdrawal addresses, you can look at fee recipients, you can look at IP addresses.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Drake\u2019s comments appeared to have taken Bankless host Ryan Sean Adams by surprise.<\/p>\n
\nEthereum = 1984 chain<\/p>\n
Justin Drake, who works as the “Researcher” at the Ethereum Foundation, said today that when you stake your ETH, you can be tracked via IP address.<\/p>\n
He says he knows information “internally” that such databases exist. pic.twitter.com\/2V6DvTobL3<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Pledditor (@Pledditor) April 13, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s a fairly Sybil resistant dataset of your most involved Ethereum citizens?\u201d Adams asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly,\u201d Drake responded. <\/p>\n
The conversation was initiated when Drake predicted that \u201cspecial airdrops\u201d may become available for solo stakers \u2014 but not the industry heavyweights:<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you can identify, okay, we know who Kraken is, we know who Coinbase is, and we can just not give them an airdrop if the purpose of the airdrop is to airdrop to specific individuals that are running solo validators.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The conversation caused a stir on Crypto Twitter. <\/p>\n
Related: <\/em><\/strong>Crypto privacy is in greater jeopardy than ever before \u2014 here’s why<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
One Twitter user referred<\/a> to Ether as the \u201creal surveillance coin,\u201d while another <\/a>mocked Drake by sarcastically rehashing him: \u201cWe can stop censorship by censoring those we don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n