THE DAILY DOWNLOAD / ETHEREUM FOUNDATION / ZKAPI
Ethereum wants your AI bill to reveal less about you.
The Ethereum Foundation and Open Anonymity introduced zkAPI on October 1: a live system designed to separate AI-service payments from the identity funding them. Payment privacy still leaves other ways to recognise a user.
The TL;DR
- zkAPI uses cryptographic proofs to separate service usage from its funding deposit.
- Its official code supports ETH payments and an Ethereum-wallet option in OA Chat.
- AI providers still see prompts, and network information can help connect sessions.
Your AI bill does not need to double as a name tag. That is the idea behind zkAPI, built by Open Anonymity with the Ethereum Foundation and announced live on Ethereum's main network on October 1. The aim is to break the billing link between the person paying and the requests they send.
The trick is a zero-knowledge proof: a mathematical way to demonstrate something without disclosing the underlying secret. Here, software proves that funds cover the spending without identifying the deposit. The project's official repository describes depositing ETH, paying for actual usage and withdrawing the remaining balance on the blockchain. Think prepaid credit with a discreet checkout.
The project's code also points to OA Chat, where the Ethereum-wallet option lets people try the system in a browser. It labels the protocol experimental. That matters: this is an emerging payment tool to evaluate, rather than a privacy guarantee to assume.
The catch deserves equal billing. The AI provider still receives your prompts. Your internet address, timing, repeated personal details or reused conversation history can help link activity. zkAPI targets the payment connection; it does not make an identifying conversation disappear. Writing your full name into a chat remains a fairly effective way to introduce yourself.
Why you should care
Our take: this is a useful direction for crypto to explore, with a concrete privacy problem behind it. When a product promises anonymity, ask which connection it hides and which information remains visible. That question tells you more than the size of the privacy slogan on its homepage.
Vibe check
Discreet checkout. The chatbot can still read your introduction.