Confidential Systems for Institutional Ethereum

EthSystems helps institutions move on-chain with privacy that's performant, secure, usable, and accessible, disclosing only what the rules require.

The team institutions already know

Institutions want to move real financial activity onto Ethereum. A public ledger exposes positions, counterparties, and flows they are not allowed to reveal.

EthSystems, the team behind the Ethereum Foundation’s Institutional Privacy Task Force, builds the confidential, compliant systems that make that possible, from proof-of-concept through to production, backed by a year of open-source work already shipped.

What we offer

How we assess solutions

Every pattern on this site is rated against four properties (the CROPS framework) and tagged for the institutional context it fits.

CR

Censorship-resistance

Whether a counterparty, sequencer, or relayer can block your transaction.

OS

Open source

Whether the implementation is free to audit, fork, and self-host.

P

Privacy

How much of the transaction (amounts, parties, patterns) stays hidden.

S

Security

The trust assumptions and threat model the architecture relies on.

Institution to institution

Both counterparties are regulated institutions. Symmetric power dynamic; both parties have legal teams, vendor choice, and contractual recourse.

Institution to user

One counterparty is a regulated institution, the other an individual. Asymmetric power dynamic; privacy must protect the user from the institution.

Supported by

The coalition standing behind EthSystems.

Ethereum Treasury · BMNR
Ethereum Treasury · SBET
Joe Lubin
Co-Founder, Ethereum
Asia Ethereum Backer

What institutions ask us most

The questions we hear most, answered directly. Each one links into the full FAQ where answers cite the relevant pattern, jurisdiction, and approach.

What is EthSystems?

An engineering and research company building confidential systems for institutional Ethereum: the privacy and compliance infrastructure institutions need to put real financial activity on the network.

Who is behind it?

The team behind the Ethereum Foundation's Institutional Privacy Task Force (IPTF).

What have you actually built?

A year of public, open-source work: private bonds (ZK, privacy L2s, FHE), compliance-first private stablecoin transfers, private cross-chain atomic swaps, a validium proof-of-concept, privacy-preserving identity, the Public Rails vs Private Ledgers decision framework, and the Ethereum Privacy Map.

Why does this matter?

Every institutional use of Ethereum (tokenization, stablecoins, settlement) eventually hits the same blocker: a public ledger exposes positions, counterparties, and flows that regulated institutions cannot reveal. Confidentiality with built-in compliance is what makes those deployments viable.

What do you offer institutions?

Hands-on engineering engagements: privacy architecture and advisory, workshops that turn interest into concrete requirements, proof-of-concepts that de-risk decisions, and the design and build of confidential systems integrated with existing vendors and infrastructure, through to live implementation. Engagements can start small and scoped.

What's your relationship with the Ethereum Foundation?

We created and ran the Institutional Privacy Task Force at the EF, and we continue that body of work in active collaboration with EF and EF-aligned teams: coordinating the transition together, keeping the artifacts public, and collaborating on public goods, specs, and privacy work. EthSystems is its own company because commercial delivery needs a commercial structure; the collaboration continues.

How do you relate to Ethlabs and Ethereum Institutional?

As complementary nodes in the same network, often with overlapping supporters, and as collaborators. Ethlabs builds and grows the core protocol and platform capabilities of Ethereum. Ethereum Institutional is a neutral, non-commercial front door helping institutions understand and navigate the ecosystem. EthSystems is the specialist builder: when an institution moves from evaluating Ethereum to building on it, we're the accountable commercial counterparty that designs and delivers the confidential systems involved.

Is your work open source?

Yes. Our proof-of-concepts, libraries, frameworks, and the Ethereum Privacy Map are public, and we'll keep publishing. Open, verifiable work is how we earn trust.

Where do you operate?

Globally.

Read all FAQs

Talk to EthSystems

If you are an institution with a privacy requirement, a builder shipping a solution, or a regulator who wants the picture, we are listening.