PANews reported on May 11th, citing FinanceFeeds, that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated in a research article that ZK payments may become the next key standard in the global digital economy. He pointed out that for crypto payments to achieve widespread adoption, they must shift from "pseudonymity" to "default privacy," especially in the upcoming era of proxy payments. Vitalik proposed replacing standard transfers with ZK-proof-based transactions, allowing users to prove the validity of payments without revealing their full balance or transaction history.

Vitalik's vision specifically addresses the need for AI agents to pay service fees without leaving a traceable trail. By recursively using points through the SNARK and ZK APIs, Ethereum Layer 2 solutions can process private payments at the same speed and cost as transparent transactions. The proposal also includes mechanisms for "selective disclosure" and "proof of innocence," allowing users to provide compliance documentation to authorized entities or tax authorities without disclosing data to the public. Vitalik believes that the transparency of the public ledger is a major obstacle preventing crypto payments from replacing traditional fiat currency payments.