Vitalik Buterin Discusses Railgun's Privacy Mechanism

According to Foresight News, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined the privacy mechanism of Railgun, which allows the platform to avoid handling illicit funds without surveillance or backdoors. Buterin explained that anyone can deposit into Railgun, and after a one-hour detection period, algorithms analyze whether the deposit might originate from criminal activities. If the deposit passes the screening, users can withdraw privately using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) after the hour, though a longer wait is recommended for greater anonymity. If the deposit fails the screening, users can only withdraw funds back to their own address, without freezing or confiscation, but without the anonymity benefits of the privacy pool. Buterin noted that those who disagree with Railgun's screening rules can fork and create their own privacy pool, though its anonymity would be limited without broad public support.