Steem users have been asking every now and then why we don't have any privacy in this blockchain (like @eroche [yesterday](https://steemit.com/steemit/@eroche/privacy-on-steemit)).

So here is a little bit of history for everybody.

Our lead developer and founder @dantheman is [devout libertarian and committed to maximize the life, liberty, and property for all](https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@dantheman/daniel-larimer--co-founder-of-bitshares-steemit). He really understands the importance of privacy for money. Without private money humankind can't be free.

When Dan's earlier project Bitshares was developed, it had feature called TITAN (Transfer Invisibly To Any Name). It was a nice way to hide how users were transacting.

![titan.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcC2eA2MbjyRM5H5Mm8o331oAyDRnVtwUZEBEt6yRQjdB/titan.jpeg)

But the problem was that TITAN wasn't actually that good. It made a good job by hiding transactions from random public eyes, but still left too much clues for somebody with big data analyzing skills to find out who is transacting with whom. It also needed quite a lot of computational resources, if I remember correctly, which didn't make it a good choice for a fast blockchain.

So basically it just created a false image of privacy. This was dangerous because it made users feel they were transacting anonymously when they really weren't. That's why the feature was dropped when Bitshares was updated to 2.0.

Bitshares 2.0 has stealth transfers which hide the amount that's transacted and account names of sender and receiver. But it's very hard to actually use so it hasn't gained any popularity. That is, I think, the reason why it wasn't adopted to Steem.

When we can expect some kind of privacy feature for Steem?

There is no mention about it in this years roadmap, but I think I have seen a comment by some Steemit developer that it can be done after the back-end architecture has been updated.

This is what [the roadmap](https://steem.io/2017roadmap.pdf) says:

*"One of the most exciting implications of the fabric architecture is enabling iterative experimentation of new features. The fabric architecture enables entrepreneurs or community members with good ideas for blockchain-level features to implement those features in a way that interfaces with the rest of the fabric and allows the new features to be used in a live environment, yet is isolated enough that any failed experiment does not affect the security, stability or long-term maintenance of the rest of the fabric. This compartmentalized, modular approach applies not only to third-party enhancements, but is in fact how all of the chain's core functionality will be implemented under the new architecture; even the most core functions like account creation, block producer selection, and supply of STEEM. In addition to its scalability benefits, the fabric architecture will greatly improve the development experience — decreasing the cost and increasing the pace of innovation — for both Steemit's own team, and for anyone who wants to build on the Steem Blockchain as a platform."*

We can try lots of cool stuff when the update has been done. My guess is that one of the first new features will be a sidechain that can anonymize currency transactions.

If there are any developers reading this, I'd love to hear your comments.