JAKARTA – Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, is currently trialling the Invisible Wallet developed by Hinkal — a privacy tool touted as a breakthrough amid a surge in targeted hacks on high-value crypto wallets.
According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, losses from crypto-related hacks in August 2025 soared to US$163 million, marking the third consecutive month of increases. Over the past five years, crypto investors have lost more than US$4 billion to targeted attacks.
As reported by cryptonews.com on Monday, 15 September, Hinkal CEO Giorgio Koreli claims the wallet allows users to conceal their on-chain activity.
For holders of large balances, this feature offers an additional layer of protection without breaching regulatory compliance.
Koreli views crypto’s inherent transparency as a “bug.”
He argues that it is unreasonable for over US$4 trillion in crypto assets on public blockchains to be openly monitored and potentially misused by third parties.
“Privacy-preserving wallets are the future, because unrestricted surveillance and limitless tracking are not freedom,” Koreli asserted.
At the end of August, Buterin conducted a test transaction by sending 0.01 ETH (approximately USD 44) from his personal wallet to a Hinkal address using the Invisible Wallet.
Etherscan data shows that Buterin’s widely recognised address, vitalik.eth, was recorded in the transaction, but the internal activity details remained hidden.
Hinkal confirmed the transaction but withheld further details to preserve privacy. Even Buterin’s public address was obfuscated in the transaction logs.
“If your assets can be monitored, then every transaction can be mapped and traced. That’s not freedom — it’s exposure,” Koreli wrote on X.
By design, blockchain functions as a public ledger displaying wallet activity.
However, Koreli argues that this radical transparency poses a major barrier for privacy-conscious traditional financial institutions seeking to enter the US$50 billion decentralised finance (DeFi) market.
Slava Demchuk, CEO of AMLBot, believes wallets like Hinkal’s can enhance personal security by shielding balances and transaction histories from opportunistic criminals.
The Invisible Wallet operates like a cloaking device.
Transactions are still validated on the blockchain, but sensitive details such as wallet addresses, amounts, and counterparties are not publicly visible.
Yury Serov, Head of Investigations at Global Ledger, praised the feature for eliminating one of the most obvious vulnerabilities — the exposure of public addresses during swaps, loans, and routine DeFi transactions.
However, he cautioned that “invisible” does not mean “invincible.” For instance, if someone moves a large sum during a period of low liquidity, malicious actors could still link deposits and withdrawals with relative ease.(DK/LM)
Read more on idnfinancials.com
