Ameen Soleimani’s Critique of Ethereum’s Privacy Measures
Ameen Soleimani, a prominent developer active on X, has voiced strong criticism regarding Ethereum’s hesitance to adopt the Poseidon precompile—a crucial hash function needed to enhance zero-knowledge (zk) proofs. In a recent communication, Soleimani highlighted his dissatisfaction with Ethereum’s failure to implement this technology, which has already been utilized by other blockchain platforms like Solana, Starknet, and Stellar between 2020 and 2022.
Contradictions in the Ethereum Community
Soleimani pointed out a jarring contradiction within the Ethereum community, which frequently promotes the concept of ‘privacy by default’ yet resists the necessary technical advancements to make such features feasible. He emphasized that the absence of zkEVM capabilities undermines true privacy on Ethereum, noting that while developers may create roadmaps advocating for enhanced privacy, they have yet to incorporate the essential Poseidon precompile—recognized as the most established and effective hashing algorithm for zk proofs.
Calls for Action and Historical Context
Moreover, Soleimani recounted an instance where the Starknet team offered their assistance to Ethereum, only to have their support disregarded. This, he argues, reveals a significant privacy gap on the Ethereum network, leading him to call for immediate action from the Ethereum development team to align with the growing demand for zk rollups and amplify the overall effectiveness of its blockchain infrastructure.
Since 2022, there has been a proposal known as EIP-5988 aimed at integrating Poseidon into Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) addresses, but progress has stalled, delaying the implementation of private transactions on the network. For context, a ‘precompile’ refers to an embedded, low-cost function that can considerably lower gas fees on Ethereum. Without this precompile, the use of Poseidon is rendered impractical for ensuring privacy in applications on layer 1.
Concerns Over Ethereum’s Roadmap
Soleimani remarked that Poseidon, having proven its robustness on various zk systems, should not face further postponement. He expressed discontent with Ethereum’s evolving roadmap, which appears to push privacy features towards layer 2 solutions instead of retaining them within the foundational layer 1. He believes it’s crucial for layer 1 networks to incorporate fundamental zk primitives to prevent high costs associated with private transactions.
Community Perspectives on Privacy
His viewpoints resonate with previous statements made by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who, in April 2025, announced a renewed focus on privacy. However, implementing these changes has proven challenging and remains a contentious topic within the blockchain community.
In light of the financial barriers surrounding privacy implementations on Ethereum, experts like Paul Brody from Ernst & Young hope for a turnaround in 2026, aspiring for privacy features to gain widespread adoption among users and businesses alike.
