Why Crypto Fails without Privacy with Mert Mumtaz (Helius)

In this episode, Austin chats with Mert about why privacy is becoming essential for crypto and on-chain finance. They discuss how ZK-based privacy works via shielded pools, commitments, proofs, and nullifiers, contrasting it with Monero’s probabilistic obfuscation. Mert explains Zcash’s renewed adoption through improved usability, macro and regulatory shifts, and fairer historical distribution. He argues privacy layers fail when they lack tangible benefits, and outlines a new fully on-chain, composable, atomic privacy protocol for Solana built with Light Protocol’s compression approach, including permissionless and enterprise “zones” with configurable compliance features and reduced MEV via encrypted swaps.

00:00 - Why Privacy Matters

03:05 - Zcash And ZK Origins

06:26 - How Shielded Pools Work

09:56 - Why Zcash Broke Out

15:52 - Why Privacy Layers Fail

19:47 - Solana Privacy Protocol

22:57 - Composability Breakthrough

25:51 - Go-To-Market Plan

30:50 - Compliance And Zones

32:40 - Onchain Versus Off Chain

34:58 - Zcash And Solana’s Future