Want a compelling use case for privacy blockchains? Look no further than dating

The excitement surrounding Web3 is palpable — and undeniable. Projects are flooding into the space to build cutting-edge versions of the sites and apps served up by centralized Web2 rivals, covering every sector imaginable.

But at this point, it’s worth taking a step back and reflecting on the challenges that the Web3 world still needs to tackle. This technology isn’t inherently private — and the transactions bouncing around on blockchains are mostly transparent.

Privacy coins, and the anonymizing blockchains they’re normally based on, are normally viewed with suspicion by critics. They point to how cryptocurrencies like Monero are increasingly being demanded by ransomware attackers, and argue these digital assets only have a use case for people who are up to no good.

However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s easy to forget that we already have privacy coins in the fiat world — that is, the banknotes in your pocket. If you give $10 to a friend, it’s impossible for governments to track. Some crypto enthusiasts fear the shift to digitization risks eroding rights we’ve taken for granted over decades.

A consumer demanding anonymity isn’t necessarily doing something illegal — and for a potent example of why privacy needs to be protected in Web3, let’s turn our attention to the world of online dating.

Love and crypto

It’s inevitable that entrepreneurs will attempt to build a decentralized answer to Tinder and Grindr — indeed, tongues were wagging when the Lonely Ape Dating Club was proposed… despite the fact it turned out to be a prank. 

If it had turned out to be real, there would be some huge issues to address. There are very real dangers associated with doxxing your ETH address to strangers on a niche dating app in a largely unregulated industry. And that’s before we’ve considered how this would be blended with other attributes such as NFT profile pictures, Twitter handles and selfies.

You could argue that the Ethereum blockchain hasn’t been built for such infrastructure — and that a totally different network is required to launch a dating app that blends the benefits of Web3 with the protections that users deserve. This would help eliminate incidents where people using these tools have seen their identities and locations exposed, and tackle the privacy concerns surrounding phone numbers and social media.

It could also help mitigate the romance scams that have become endemic on dating sites — with fraudsters creating fake profiles and…