Vitalik proposes ZK payment standards to promote Ethereum and AI agent private transactions

Mars Finance News: On May 10, Vitalik Buterin published a research article arguing that encrypted payments should move from pseudonymity to default privacy. He proposed replacing standard transfers with zero-knowledge proof (ZK) transactions, allowing users to prove that a payment is valid without exposing their full balances or transaction history. Vitalik specifically noted that, in the era of proxy-based autonomous AI agents, they need to pay for services (such as LLM API fees) without leaving traceable footprints—using recursive SNARKs and ZK API points/credits. With Ethereum Layer 2, privacy payments can be handled at the same speed and cost as transparent transactions. The proposal also includes selective disclosure and “proof of innocence” mechanisms, allowing users to provide specific proofs to compliant agencies or tax authorities without disclosing data to the public, in order to meet anti-money laundering regulatory requirements. Vitalik believes that the public transparency of blockchains is the main obstacle preventing encrypted payments from replacing traditional payments, and that the ZK payment standard is designed to make privacy a default feature.