Howard Wu, CEO of Provable and Shield Wallet, makes the case that full, on-chain transparency was never a design principle—it was a limitation that mainstream finance cannot build on. He draws a direct line from the internet's switch from HTTP to HTTPS to where crypto needs to go next, and argues that the biggest obstacle to private stablecoins isn't the technology. Instead, it's the assumption that compliance and privacy are fundamentally at odds.

Key Takeaways:

• Why on-chain transparency creates broken user journeys for everyday payments, payroll, and institutional trading

• How zero-knowledge proofs enable compliance without risk of traditional KYC data collection

• What distinguishes the Shield Wallet's approach to privacy from that of a standard crypto wallet

• What Howard predicts will be mainstream by 2030 that almost no one in the industry is building for today

Guest Bio:

Howard Wu is the CEO of Provable and Shield Wallet. He's also a founder of the Layer-1 blockchain, Aleo. His contributions to zero-knowledge proofs and elliptic-curve cryptography have been adopted across the industry, including by protocols such as Ethereum and Zcash. Howard graduated from UC Berkeley with a research background in cryptography, computer security, and verifiable computing.

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About this Show:

The Brave Technologist is here to shed light on the opportunities and challenges of emerging tech. To make it digestible, less scary, and more approachable for all!

Join us as we embark on a mission to demystify artificial intelligence, challenge the status quo, and empower everyday people to embrace the digital revolution. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, a curious mind, or an industry professional, this podcast invites you to join the conversation and explore the future of AI together.

The Brave Technologist Podcast is hosted by Luke Mulks, VP Business Operations at Brave Software—makers of the privacy-respecting Brave browser and Search engine, and now powering AI everywhere with the Brave Search API.

Music by: Ari Dvorin

Produced by: Sam Laliberte