Vitalik Proposes ZK Payment Standard to Drive #Ethereum and AI Agent Private Transactions

Vitalik Buterin published a research article on May 10, arguing that encrypted payments should move from pseudonymity to default privacy, and proposing that zero-knowledge proof (ZK) transactions replace standard transfers, so users can prove that a payment is valid without exposing their full balances or transaction history.
Vitalik specifically noted that in the age of agents, autonomous AI agents need to pay service fees (such as LLM API fees) without leaving traceable traces; by using recursive SNARKs and ZK API credits, Ethereum Layer 2 can process privacy payments with the same speed and at the same cost as transparent transactions. The proposal also includes selective disclosure and a proof-of-innocence mechanism, enabling users to provide specific proof to compliant institutions or tax authorities without disclosing data to the public, to meet anti-money-laundering regulatory requirements.
Vitalik believes blockchain’s public transparency is the main obstacle preventing encrypted payments from replacing traditional payments, and that the #ZK payment standard is intended to make privacy a default feature.