Could zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs prevent data breaches?
“Centralized servers that stockpile sensitive personal data will always remain prime targets for attackers – whether the breach comes through technical exploits or social engineering. Incidents like the Discord leak make it clear that this model is unsustainable.
“It’s time to change the playfield by embracing decentralized architectures, such as blockchain, combined with zero-knowledge proofs. These systems can deliver the same utility – age verification, identity confirmation, compliance – without forcing users to hand over personal documents or expose raw data to a centralized entity. By removing the need to store sensitive information in the first place, we can finally take away the hacker’s prize.”
– Eran Barak, CEO of Shielded Technologies
“This breach illustrates a predictable flaw in the landscape of digital identity: collecting centralized, sensitive data is a liability. The power of zero-knowledge proofs is that they allow verification without ever exposing the identity behind the proof. If Discord’s system had required only a cryptographic attestation proving age or identity validity, there would have been no database of passport images or driver’s licenses to exploit.
“For widely used platforms, the transition to ZK-enabled identity verification is no longer theoretical; it is becoming necessary. The next step is not rejecting identity checks entirely, but redesigning them so that the user holds their credentials instead of the platform. In a world where data breaches are inevitable, the only real defence is making identity unstealable.”
– Wes Kaplan, CEO of G-Knot
“The Discord breach is a reminder that centralizing sensitive data — especially identity proofs — is like storing all your keys in one safe that millions can try to open. The solution isn’t better locks, it’s removing the need for the safe altogether.
Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) allow verification without exposure. They let users prove they’re old enough, qualified, or legitimate without ever handing over their actual data. If Discord’s proof-of-age or identity system had been built on a ZK framework, the attackers would have found nothing to steal — because no raw credentials would exist to begin with.
At Naoris Protocol, we see ZK and post-quantum cryptography as the twin pillars of a safer internet. Together they can power a decentralized trust mesh, where verification happens cryptographically, not by trusting vulnerable centralized servers. The Discord breach isn’t an isolated failure — it’s a signal that it’s time to re-architect the web’s trust layer itself.”
– David Carvalho, founder and CEO of Naoris Protocol
Gold is golden, but for how long?
“Gold’s relentless rally this year is no longer just a general flight to safety. It’s also a clear sign that investors are losing faith in the US dollar, whose reserve currency dominance is rapidly diminishing.
“According to Citadel’s Ken Griffin, investors now view gold as a safer asset than the dollar. Having abolished the gold standard in 1971, the global financial system has relied entirely on the power of the greenback. But cracks are beginning to show.
“Gold can remove some of this pressure by taking a larger role within the global financial system, thanks to the emergence of tokenization. In tokenized form, gold becomes an active asset, allowing individuals to lend, borrow, and build long-term wealth without the need for a fiat currency.
“Abolishing the gold standard may have given governments more control, but it also caused relentless inflation and constant currency devaluation. Perhaps it’s time that gold became more than just a safe haven asset once again.”
– Kevin Rusher, founder of RAAC
“Gold’s record run is fuelling fresh price projections, with Goldman Sachs now expecting the shiny metal to reach $4,900 by next December. But investors should remember that this is what often happens when a trade gets overheated. Gold’s surge is now as much a momentum trade as anything else, and momentum trades have a tendency to fizzle out.
“While it’s very possible that gold will continue to outperform other assets for the foreseeable future, it has certainly become a crowded trade. And that means there is more risk involved in initiating exposure at this point. After more than a 50% rally in the gold price year-to-date, attention may now turn to other alternatives that express a similar view.
“These include other metals and commodities, tokenized real assets, and Bitcoin, which remain undervalued against gold. These alternative assets can all play a similar role in portfolios – a hedge against future inflation and political intervention, and an alternative to the US dollar and other debasing currencies.
“Even if gold’s rally does continue unabated to Goldman Sachs’ 2026 year-end target, other assets are already playing catch-up. This shift may well become the dominant narrative for the remainder of 2025 as gold takes a breather.”
– Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of The Coin Bureau
Could stablecoins undermine emerging markets?
“The near-term order of magnitude is material but not system-breaking: Standard Chartered estimates up to $1 trillion shifting from EM deposits to USD stablecoins by 2028, about 2% of deposits across 16 vulnerable EMs in their sample. That’s meaningful for marginal funding costs and FX pressure, but not a wholesale disintermediation.
“On financial stability: we can see procyclical runs into/out of stables during FX stress, and potential reserve-asset fire-sale dynamics if redemptions spike—risks flagged by BIS and IMF. However, there are more and more banks/neobanks etc. that are integrating stablecoins into their product suite (offering custody, yield, remittances, ramping services), so this can actually be an opportunity for the local banking systems to get business back (from e.g. mobile money providers like mPesa).
“Drivers for the higher adoption are inflation/FX volatility, capital-control frictions, costly cross-border payments, and easy access to USD value via mostly USD-pegged coins. However there is still a large gap in emerging markets when it comes to credit, here local currency stabelcoins could be a way forward.
EMs dominate global crypto/stablecoin usage in recent Chainalysis indices (India/CSAO cluster repeatedly top). These trends are likely persistent where macro instability/capital frictions remain; less so where local macro improves and regulated, low-cost domestic rails (again the mPesa example) are strong competitors to this trend.
“The GENIUS Act brings clarity and bans interest/yield paid by issuers, curbing deposit-like competition but not eliminating third-party yield wrappers—so it moderates, rather than erases, incentives to shift. Stablecoins are global in their nature, but regulation is local. EM frameworks that enforce full-reserve backing, high-quality liquid assets, segregation, and robust redemption rules should meaningfully cut run and contagion risk; fragmented regimes leave room for regulatory arbitrage.
“There is still a lack in transparency with the large stablecoin providers on quality and risks of their collateral. Stablecoins are used globally, and intransparent stablecoins are still risky instruments, so there is still a long way for regulation to contain risks associated with stablecoin use.”
– Dr. Markus Franke, co-founder of Mento
“What we’re witnessing isn’t capital flight, it’s capital evolution. Stablecoins are becoming the Internet’s savings accounts for emerging markets. When your local currency erodes faster than your phone’s battery, people will inevitably choose a digital dollar that settles instantly and holds its value.
A trillion dollars moving isn’t speculation; it’s migration toward monetary efficiency. This is the same leap emerging markets once made from landlines to smartphones; they’re skipping legacy banking and going straight to programmable money.”
– Sid Sridhar, founder and CEO of BIMA Labs