Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the Co-Founder of Binance, says that the absence of meaningful privacy on blockchain networks remains one of the biggest barriers preventing cryptocurrencies from becoming a true medium of exchange particularly for business and institutional payments.
In a recent discussion, CZ argued that the transparency inherent to most public blockchains, often praised as a core feature of crypto, can also be a practical liability when it comes to everyday payments. He highlighted that without privacy, companies might hesitate to adopt crypto for payroll or expense payments because transaction histories can be easily traced.
Corporate Risks
Giving a hypothetical scenario, CZ said:
“Imagine a company pays employees in crypto on-chain.
With the current state of crypto, you can pretty much see how much everyone in the company is paid by clicking the ‘from’ address.”
Transaction data often reveals sensitive details about:
Internal corporate workflows,
Proprietary strategies,
Supplier and client relationships, and
Can even signal a company’s broader financial position to competitors
Such exposure can heighten the risk of
Corporate espionage
Weaken a firm’s leverage during negotiations, and
Make institutions more vulnerable to fraudsters and targeted scams.
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Blockchain transactions are broadcasted to the entire network. In addition, a transaction identifier, commonly referred to as a TxID, serves as a unique identifier associated with a particular transaction. Each transaction conducted on the blockchain, whether it involves on-chain activities or transfers to and from external addresses, is assigned a distinct TxID.
Thus, tracking a single payment means you can easily track all payments made to and from an address, and by extension, extrapolate other payments associated with an address, providing a wealth of data about a company’s payment patterns. Using AI, this data can be mined and further analyzed to provide a picture of a company’s business transactions and financial health.
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The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to intensify these risks, according to Eran Barak, former CEO of privacy firm, Shielded Technologies.
Barak noted that centralized servers holding sensitive or high-value data are likely to become prime targets for AI-enabled cybercriminals.
As AI systems grow more sophisticated and capable of piecing together behavioral patterns, extracting heuristic signals, and statistically modeling likely outcomes, he argued that onchain privacy solutions will become essential to safeguarding critical digital information.
CZ and Barak’s remarks echo a broader debate in the industry about striking the right balance between transparency and confidentiality. While transparency supports auditability and regulatory oversight, insufficient privacy may discourage corporate participation and real-world use cases.
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Physical Risk Concerns
CZ referenced a conversation with investor, Chamath Palihapitiya, on the All-In Podcast, during which he also pointed to physical security concerns tied to on-chain transparency. With personal and corporate wallets exposed to public view, users can be more easily targeted for theft, coercion, or other forms of attack.
These risks are not hypothetical.
According to a recent security report covering 2025, crypto-related wrench attacks, defined as physically forcing holders to surrender keys or funds, surged dramatically in 2025, becoming a structural threat rather than an edge case.
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The report documented 72 verified wrench attacks worldwide in 2025, a roughly 75% increase compared with 2024, and confirmed financial losses exceeding $40.9 million. Kidnappings and physical assaults were among the most common vectors that accounted for a significant share of incidents in 2025.
Security analysts have noted that the psychological and reputational fallout from these violent attacks is already influencing behavior across the industry pushing founders and crypto holders toward greater anonymity, alternative custody solutions, and more cautious operational practices.
Industry observers argue that for crypto to be adopted at scale by businesses, institutions, and everyday users, networks will need privacy-preserving technologies that protect transactional data without compromising regulatory compliance. Solutions such as zero-knowledge proofs and shielded transactions are increasingly discussed as part of the next evolution of blockchain infrastructure.
Without advancements in privacy, the argument goes, the dual challenges of corporate adoption barriers and rising physical security threats could continue to slow crypto’s growth as a practical payments system.
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