Ethereum Foundation advances Kohaku privacy toolkit: enabling native privacy features for wallet integration

Source: Criptonoticias Original Title: The Ethereum Foundation focuses on improving wallet privacy Original Link:

Kohaku: A Modular Privacy Solution for Ethereum Wallets

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is advancing the implementation of Kohaku, a modular toolkit designed to integrate privacy features directly into Ethereum wallets. These tools enable privacy without requiring users to switch applications or change their operating habits.

The Kohaku project believes privacy should be a basic standard, not an added feature. By integrating these tools at the wallet level, identity protection becomes a core part of the user experience rather than an optional supplement.

During the Devconnect conference in Argentina, the Ethereum Foundation showcased the Kohaku Wallet, a browser extension demonstrating the SDK’s features. Kohaku will enter public testing during the EthCC event, scheduled for March 30 to April 2, 2026.

Core Features of Kohaku

Kohaku is a software development kit (SDK) introducing a range of components that allow any wallet provider to add privacy as a native feature. The SDK consolidates functions currently scattered across specialized applications into a single installable module, reducing reliance on external proxies.

Kohaku primarily targets two issues: the traceability of Ethereum transactions and the tendency for user activity to be linked to a single address.

Privacy Features Included in Kohaku

1. Private Sending and Receiving via Privacy Pools

Privacy pools are mechanisms that group transactions together, obscuring the link between sources and destinations. Users can deposit and withdraw funds without leaving a direct trace, and Kohaku provides the necessary integrations for wallets to manage these actions automatically.

2. Generation of Stealth Addresses

These addresses are automatically created for each transfer, allowing both parties to transact on the network without observers being able to link the two addresses. This prevents public addresses from becoming a user’s “personal identifier.”

3. Account Separation by Application

This configuration separates activity between different services or contracts, preventing the use of one decentralized application (dapp) from being linked to activity in other applications. It’s a way to compartmentalize information, similar to using separate profiles within a system.

How Kohaku Addresses Ethereum’s Surveillance Risks

Kohaku integrates a light client, a piece of software capable of verifying network state without relying on third-party nodes.

Many wallets query the Ethereum network through RPC providers (remote access points), which allows these services to reconstruct usage patterns: what users are querying, when, and from which address. By using an internal light client, wallets reduce this exposure.

Another part of the SDK is private state reading, based on a combination of Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and Oblivious Random Access Memory (ORAM). In practice, these tools let users query network information without revealing exactly which part of the state is being viewed.

Oxbow expects Kohaku to migrate to a system based on Private Information Retrieval (PIR), which offers the same functionality without relying on specialized hardware.

Additional Security Features

The SDK also includes social recovery options—a mechanism that allows account access to be restored using identity verified by zero-knowledge proof (ZK) tools.

Alternative solutions mentioned include ZKEmail and ZKPassport, which combine digital identity with cryptographic verification without exposing sensitive data. This logic replaces traditional recovery processes (such as passwords or plaintext seed phrases) with methods that are auditable on-chain.

Finally, Kohaku also designs post-quantum accounts to withstand algorithms enabled by quantum computers.