Приватность станет главной ценностью криптоиндустрии в 2026 году, согласно мнениям a16z Headline: Privacy Set to Become the Core Value of the Crypto Industry by 2026, According to a16z

Privacy is a crucial attribute for the advancement of global finance within the blockchain sphere, and as such, it will emerge as a fundamental protective barrier for the cryptocurrency industry by 2026, according to a blog post from a16z crypto.

The authors of the article argue that, until recently, confidentiality was often a secondary consideration for most protocols. However, this characteristic can now distinguish a project from countless others.

«Privacy serves another important role: it generates a ‘concentration effect on the chain’—a sort of network effect of anonymity,» the note states.

Experts also pointed out that transferring assets between public blockchains has become an easy task, but «transfer of secrets» remains challenging, as the shift between private and public environments can lead to the leakage of sensitive metadata.

In contrast to numerous indistinguishable new protocols, where fees are likely to be driven down to nearly zero by competition, anonymous projects will have a «more significant light effect,» according to a16z.

«When users engage with public blockchains, executing transactions across different chains becomes straightforward. […] In private networks, however, the choice is far more impactful since joining one network significantly lowers the chances of switching to another. This creates a situation where the winner takes all,» the company emphasized.

In an era marked by the rise of quantum technologies and other cybersecurity threats, safeguarding user communications in messaging apps is particularly critical, the blog’s authors assert.

Currently, a fundamental issue with messaging services is their centralized server infrastructure and the excessive reliance on private organizations.

«Such servers are easy targets for governments, which can shut them down, create backdoors, or compel them to disclose personal data. […] Communication doesn’t require a single intermediary company. Messaging needs open protocols that allow us to operate without trust,» a16z explained.

The path forward lies in the decentralization of networks: devoid of private servers, without a separate application, but with open-source code.

According to the company’s specialists, privacy should be regarded as a primary service, rather than an add-on to other products. This is especially critical in the financial sector and healthcare industry, where cryptographic guarantees for personal data protection are fundamental.

«We need ‘secrets as a service’: new technologies that offer programmable, built-in access control rules, client-side encryption, and decentralized key management. […] And all of this must be governed by the blockchain,» the experts added.

The wave of exploits in 2025 revealed the limitations of the current audit-based security model, even for mature, well-tested protocols, noted a16z.

To achieve maturity, DeFi security must transition from merely identifying error patterns to analyzing properties at the design level—moving from a «maximum effort» strategy to a «principled approach.»

As a result, global security properties will be formally defined and ensured both before and after the deployment of blockchains.

«Now, instead of assuming that all errors will be detected, we will ensure the adherence to key security properties within the code, automatically voiding any transactions that violate them,» the report’s authors concluded.

It is worth recalling that, at the end of 2025, a16z identified privacy among the promising future directions of the cryptocurrency market.