Kohaku is a modular Ethereum wallet privacy and security SDK plus reference wallet designed to reduce reliance on centralized services, enable private sending/receiving, and add zero-knowledge social recovery—bringing wallet security closer to the device and offering developers reusable privacy primitives.
Modular SDK and reference wallet for Ethereum privacy
Features: private transactions, IP address hiding, per-DApp accounts, P2P broadcasting.
Collaboration between Ambire, Railgun, DeFi Wonderland, Helios, Oblivious Labs and Ethereum Foundation researchers.
Meta description: Kohaku: Ethereum wallet privacy SDK that enables private transactions, zero-knowledge recovery, and P2P broadcasting — learn how to protect your wallet today.
Ethereum devs have introduced Kohaku to enhance wallet privacy and security with modular tools, zero-knowledge recovery options and decentralized transaction handling.
Ethereum developers have unveiled Kohaku, a new roadmap and open-source toolkit to improve wallet privacy and reduce dependence on centralized infrastructure.
The plan, announced by Ethereum Foundation coordinator Nicolas Consigny, sets out to build a suite of privacy and security primitives for wallet developers and advanced users.
At its core, Kohaku will provide an SDK for secure wallet features and a reference wallet implementation. The first release is planned as a browser extension built on the Ambire codebase for advanced users seeking greater control and privacy.
Kohaku is being developed collaboratively with ecosystem teams including Ambire, Railgun, DeFi Wonderland, Helios and Oblivious Labs. The project is open source and accepts contributions via public code repositories (plain text reference: GitHub).
Related: Privacy is a continuing debate for blockchain stakeholders and regulators.
What is Kohaku and how does it improve Ethereum wallet privacy?
Kohaku is a modular privacy and security framework for Ethereum wallets that includes an SDK and reference wallet to enable private sending/receiving, separation of DApp accounts, and peer-to-peer transaction broadcasting. It reduces centralized tracking by shifting privacy controls to wallet-side primitives and decentralized networks.
How will Kohaku reduce wallets’ dependence on centralized services?
Kohaku targets common centralization points in wallet stacks: RPCs, analytics endpoints and single-account models. Key features include:
- Private sends/receives: transaction primitives that obscure linkage between addresses.
- IP hiding: network-level routing and tunneling to avoid IP-based correlation.
- Per-DApp accounts: isolated identities to limit cross-DApp tracking.
- P2P broadcasting: transaction propagation that bypasses public RPC servers.
The roadmap also lists social recovery options using zero-knowledge techniques such as ZK Email and anonymous identity attestations, enabling account recovery without exposing sensitive identifiers.
Why is the Ethereum Foundation forming a Privacy Cluster?
The Ethereum Foundation’s Privacy Cluster aggregates 47 researchers, engineers and cryptographers to coordinate protocol-level privacy work. The group will focus on private payments, confidential identity systems and zero-knowledge proving infrastructure directly applicable to Kohaku and related initiatives.
Workstreams include Private Reads & Writes, Private Proving and Private Identities—each aimed at embedding privacy primitives at layer 1 and client layers to improve end-to-end confidentiality for users.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Kohaku enable private transactions?
Kohaku offers primitives for transaction unlinkability and routing that minimize on-chain and network-level correlation. Combined zero-knowledge techniques and P2P broadcasting mask sender/receiver links while preserving transaction validity.
Can Kohaku work with existing wallets?
The SDK is designed for integration: developers can adopt Kohaku primitives in wallet apps or use the reference wallet to demonstrate best practices. Early builds target advanced users via a browser extension.
Key Takeaways
- Modular privacy SDK: Kohaku supplies reusable primitives for wallet developers.
- Decentralized transaction flow: P2P broadcasting and IP-hiding reduce centralized surveillance.
- Zero-knowledge recovery: Social recovery options aim to protect identity while restoring access.
Conclusion
Kohaku represents a concerted effort to strengthen Ethereum wallet privacy through a modular SDK, a reference wallet and protocol-level research. By emphasizing privacy primitives, zero-knowledge recovery and decentralized broadcasting, Kohaku aims to shift control back to users and developers. Follow COINOTAG for updates and implementation guides as the roadmap advances.