On one side, we have a rallying cry from Vitalik @VitalikButerin: Privacy on Ethereum must become the norm. On the other side, data shows that less than 1% of on-chain transactions are shielded. Why is there such a huge gap between the ideal and the reality of on-chain privacy? Here’s my take: The extreme competition in the upstream of the privacy sector, combined with the relatively weak midstream and downstream that can’t effectively carry the load, has led to a stagnation in actual demand for on-chain privacy. Upstream players in privacy coins/privacy computing/privacy public chain tokens focus on telling stories about "disruptive technology," which makes it easier to secure funding due to the larger valuation potential (e.g., @aztecnetwork / @0xMiden / @Arcium). However, they don’t prioritize user experience. Meanwhile, midstream privacy middleware and downstream privacy applications, which involve the "dirty work" of directly engaging with end users, are less appealing, and no one wants to take them on. But from another perspective, products positioned in the relatively untapped midstream and downstream of the privacy sector have a better chance of breaking through and completing the final piece of the puzzle. Currently, @RAILGUN_Project and @AnomaPay are working on exactly this. Both are building privacy infrastructure middleware, but their positioning is distinctly different. Railgun targets DeFi players on Ethereum, focusing on the niche of DeFi privacy. AnomaPay, on the other hand, is centered on payment and transfer privacy, aiming for the larger stablecoin payment market. In early June, their V1 version launched on BNB and Ethereum mainnets, followed by Arbitrum on June 8. By the end of June, they went live on @Stable, supporting tokenized gold assets like XAUm. In early July, they rolled out AnomaPay Business, making their market ambitions crystal clear. It’s expected that very soon, the midstream and downstream of the privacy sector will become the next battleground in crypto.