Narrative, story-driven (reflecting on observed patterns)
Picture the compliance officer at a major bank: they greenlight a blockchain PoC, watch a trade settle in seconds, then see the entire order book reaction in real time on explorer. "This exposes us." Pullback follows. Same story everywhere institutions crave speed and settlement finality, but balk at the panopticon.
The root: blockchains optimized for public verifiability, finance built on controlled disclosure. Tension inevitable. Patches emerge ZK overlays that bloat costs, sidechains that starve liquidity, opt-in shields that invite mistakes or scrutiny. Each one awkward, half-complete, slowing builders and scaring regulators.
Privacy-by-exception creates perpetual tension; privacy-by-design resolves it. Make shielding the baseline: transactions opaque by default, with cryptographic levers for audits, KYC proofs, or forced reveals. Performance intact, liquidity unified.
Fogo's role here is infrastructural: its SVM compatibility + extreme optimizations (Firedancer influence, tight block times) create headroom for privacy layers without compromise. No need for clunky wrappers native support for shielded flows could let regulated players move size confidently.
My take:
Fix the exposure at the base layer or watch serious money stay on the sidelines. Fogo's architecture quietly enables the fix.
