Why, after 15 years of distributed digital ledgers, are there so few practical ways for individuals to transact privately? Builders are understandably spooked given the reactive stances of government and legal systems to seemingly everything related yo cryptocurrency. Investors are hesitant for similar reasons.
How do we advance the responsible normalization of privacy in the digital asset space in such an adversarial context? For me, one answer is for people in "normal" contexts to simply bring it up, not as a manifesto, but as a natural part of going about our everyday lives. It will also help to champion and adopt protocols that emphasize selective sharing for compliance; folks are more willing to engage if the edge case concerns with private P2P transactions are rendered moot.
As strongly flawed as our economic systems remain, it is difficult to look at the course if human history and argue that property rights have no benefit to society at large. Privacy complements these rights by lightening the burdens of managing public awareness of others' activity, and it is also important for the safety of vulnerable people. We can and should expect these rights to extend to the digital asset space. Let's keep talking about it!