XRPL Foundation Exec Teases XRP Native Privacy Amid Zcash Crisis

XRPL Foundation community lead Vet seized the market initiative by presenting a teaser for amendment XLS-0096, which brings native privacy to the $XRP Ledger. The teaser came against the backdrop of a massive collapse in the privacy-centered network Zcash, triggered by the discovery of a critical bug in the Orchard pool, which had existed unnoticed since May 2022.

After the news broke, the price of $ZEC plunged 46% in just one day as the risk of hidden inflation triggered a full capitulation by major investors, including Arthur Hayes, who completely liquidated his $ZEC position.

How $XRP's latest amendment could solve the privacy problem

While the Zcash team is urgently trying to hire cryptographers to create a new pool and manually recount coins, $XRP Ledger is offering a fundamentally new standard of confidentiality, according to the authors of the proposal. The essence of amendment XLS-0096, Confidential Transfers for MPT, is a transition from blind anonymity to verifiable confidentiality.

Using advanced EC-ElGamal homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), RippleX architects have created a hybrid standard with the following characteristics:

• Mathematical transparency of issuance: User balances and transaction amounts are fully encrypted from external observers, but network validators always see the total amount of tokens in circulation, OutstandingAmount ≤ MaxAmount. Invisible printing of fake coins is physically impossible here.
• Resistance to AI threats: Verification uses compact sigma protocols and range proofs, packing chains of checks into a fixed size and protecting the network from cryptographic analysis.
• Split balance model: A wallet is divided into a stable part for spending and an incoming buffer, Inbox, which prevents transactions from freezing or being canceled because of outdated ZK proofs.
• Institutional compliance: Built-in mechanisms for selective disclosure and view keys are included for legal reporting to regulators. Large capitals receive commercial secrecy while remaining within the law.

Yes, at the first stage, XLS-0096 is being deployed for multi-purpose tokens (MPTs), including stablecoins and tokenized assets inside the network. However, the implementation of this layer at the native XRPL level creates a ready engineering base whose principles can be scaled in the future for confidentiality of the base asset — $XRP.