Event Replay: Day One Architect- Hinkal
Speakers
SUMMARY
This Day One Architect livestream explores how Hinkal is bringing real privacy to stablecoin payments on Arc in a way that institutions, enterprises, and everyday users can trust. Host Anthony Kelani sits down with Hinkal CEO and Co-Founder Georgi Koreli to discuss how Hinkal’s privacy-first wallet keeps balances, transfers, and counterparties confidential while still allowing transactions to be verified onchain.
The conversation begins with the core problems Hinkal is solving: the risks created by fully visible wallet activity, the challenges around counterparty exposure, and why today’s transparent blockchains make it difficult for businesses to operate confidently onchain. Georgi will explain how Hinkal’s approach brings privacy and accountability together, enabling secure, auditable payments without revealing sensitive information.
Anthony and Georgi will also discuss why Arc’s design aligns so well with Hinkal’s vision for private, stablecoin-powered payments. They’ll look at how Arc’s USDC-native gas, instant finality, fast settlement, and alignment with Circle’s stablecoin infrastructure help power private, global payments that feel as fast and predictable as the internet itself.
The session will feature a live demo of a private transfer using Hinkal’s wallet, giving viewers a first-hand look at what it feels like to send assets privately on Arc without exposing balances or transaction history.
The conversation will connect infrastructure to real user experience, exploring how Hinkal’s wallet serves both individuals and institutions, how private transactions can reduce risk, and how privacy-enabled flows open the door to new use cases across the ecosystem.
Throughout the livestream, Anthony and Georgi will return to Arc’s broader vision of building the Economic OS for the internet, and the essential role that financial privacy plays in enabling stablecoin capital to move securely and confidently around the world.
The discussion will close with a look at what’s ahead for Hinkal on Arc, including their roadmap and the future of privacy on the network. Viewers will walk away with a clear understanding of Hinkal’s design, why they are a Day One Architect on Arc, and how privacy-enhanced stablecoin experiences can unlock new waves of institutional and enterprise adoption.
Arc is offered by Circle Technology Services, LLC (“CTS”). CTS is a software provider and does not provide regulated financial or advisory services. You are solely responsible for services you provide to users, including obtaining any necessary licenses or approvals and otherwise complying with applicable laws.
Arc has not been reviewed or approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
The product features described in these materials are for informational purposes only and may be modified, delayed, or cancelled without notice at the sole discretion of Circle Technology Services, LLC. Nothing herein constitutes a commitment, warranty, guarantee, or investment advice.
USDC is issued by regulated affiliates of Circle. A list of Circle’s regulatory authorizations can be found here.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: ARC Day One Architect Spotlight
Anthony Kalani: Hey, everyone. Welcome to our Day One Architect Spotlight. My name is Anthony Kalani. I’m Director of Ecosystem Growth here at Circle.
Today we’re digging into one of the biggest debates in crypto: privacy. I’m joined by Georgie Carrelli, CEO and cofounder of Henkel. They’re one of our Day One Architects, and they’re bringing institutional-grade privacy to the ARC ecosystem with what they call “invisible wallets.”
Over the last few years, blockchains have gotten very good at scalability and security. But one of the original goals was radical transparency: every transaction permanently recorded and publicly visible. That’s increasingly a problem as blockchains move into mainstream industries.
Georgie, thanks for joining. Before we get into what an invisible wallet is and how it works on ARC, let’s rewind. You’ve had a unique path into crypto and privacy. Walk us through your journey and what led to founding Henkel.
Georgie’s background and why privacy became the mission
Georgie Carrelli: Thanks for having me, Anthony. We’re excited to build on ARC and enable new use cases where merchants and businesses can have privacy on public blockchains, with an experience similar to traditional finance—but with blockchain’s benefits.
My story starts in wrestling. I was a professional wrestler and twice world champion in sambo wrestling before moving into finance. Then I did five years in investment banking. After that, I wanted to build a company, and I went to Stanford for an MBA and a master’s degree.
This was around 2019. By 2021, the “blockchain revolution” kicked off and a lot of Silicon Valley started building in crypto. People realized blockchains could be the future of finance and identity, and they didn’t want centralized power concentrated in a small number of companies.
We started by building an identity protocol, then a social layer. But as we learned more, we realized public blockchains are powerful because of network effects and because they enable things private chains can’t: neutral infrastructure that attracts builders, incentives via tokens, composability, and more.
The biggest missing layer we saw on public chains was privacy. The moment you enter public chains, your wallet becomes public: balances, transaction history, counterparties. That compromises safety and competitiveness. Long-term, as AI systems get more data about people, privacy becomes even more valuable. You need a safe space where data isn’t automatically visible, and access is something you control.
Why “public wallets are dead” is not just a hot take
Anthony: You’ve said “public wallets are dead.” That’s a strong statement. Millions of people transact onchain today with zero privacy. Why do you think this is still underappreciated?
Georgie: Privacy has been hard because of regulatory hurdles and because the “shape” of privacy wasn’t clear. There were privacy L1s, privacy L2s, and apps that were basically deposit/withdraw mixers. That often killed liquidity and usability.
Regulatory pressure also shaped things—Tornado Cash sanctions changed how builders approached privacy. People had to figure out how to be compliant and still deliver a good UX. If privacy requires heavy KYC or complex flows, you lose users. If it’s just deposit/withdraw, you lose liquidity.
Now, the ecosystem is in a better place: cheaper execution on L2s, account abstraction, paying gas in stablecoins, better on/off ramps, and a more mature regulatory environment. The timing is better for privacy to be practical and compliant.
Concrete risks: individuals vs institutions
Anthony: What are the concrete risks? First for individuals, then for institutions.
Georgie: For individuals, it’s straightforward. Imagine crypto cards become mainstream: you pay for lunch with a wallet. Someone nearby can monitor your address and instantly see your balance, trace funding sources, and figure out who you are. That increases personal security risk—especially in places with higher crime, but it’s not limited to those places.
For institutions, it’s universal and economically sensitive. If your assets are public, you can’t pay salaries privately—employees can infer each other’s compensation. Competitors can see revenue flows and yields. If institutions provide liquidity, their presence attracts attention, and their yield can compress. Public onchain activity can leak “alpha” and undermine competitive advantage.
What Henkel is building: invisible wallets from a user perspective
Anthony: Let’s flip to the solution. From a user’s perspective, what is Henkel? What does an “invisible wallet” mean in practice?
Georgie: Think of it like a normal wallet in terms of UX—like MetaMask. We didn’t want to complicate the mental model.
On ARC testnet, I have 749 USDC total, split between a public account and a private account. The private account balance is not publicly visible. When I pay from the private account, what appears onchain is an aggregated smart contract spending funds. You can’t trace the transaction back to my individual wallet because I’m one of many users inside that contract.
The privacy applies to both sides:
- Sender privacy: outsiders can’t link a payment back to my wallet or see my private balance.
- Receiver privacy (merchant privacy): merchants can receive privately so competitors can’t see their revenue.
- Transaction privacy: transfers between private wallets hide sender, recipient, and value.
Anthony: So Henkel is essentially a privacy layer on top of the chain: you can still use DeFi apps and tools, but you transact through an “invisible” wallet so your balances and counterparties aren’t exposed.
Georgie: Yes, that’s a fair summary.
The “secret sauce”: ZK proofs, stealth addresses, and a non-custodial relayer
Anthony: Without going too deep into cryptography, what’s the basic trick that makes this work?
Georgie: Zero-knowledge proofs and stealth addresses.
The smart contract acts like a shielded system. You have a private key that represents your membership. When you transact, you generate a zero-knowledge proof that you’re authorized without revealing which user you are. You also generate a stealth address that preserves recipient privacy.
You pass proof + intent to a relayer. The relayer submits the onchain transaction (swap, stake, or spend) and the resulting assets return to your private address inside the contract.
The relayer never has custody. It can only relay. It can’t take funds. So users retain self-custody.
Performance and usability: local proving vs remote proving
Anthony: ZK can be computationally heavy. How do you make this work for regular users?
Georgie: Two tradeoffs: computation and gas.
For computation: if you have a powerful machine, local proving is fine. If you don’t, we have a “remote proving” option. Proofs can be generated inside a TEE (trusted execution environment). That makes mobile or weaker devices workable.
For gas: on L2s, gas overhead is manageable—often around ~1.5–2x. On gas-efficient chains, it’s marginal for most payments.
Who uses Henkel today
Anthony: Who is Henkel built for? Who’s using it today?
Georgie: We started three years ago when people were cautious about privacy. To make the UX real and build trust, we built a full wallet that anyone can use with one click.
That let us approach institutions and merchants with an SDK that produces the onchain outcome they want.
Use cases:
- PSPs: aggregate incoming funds privately, then send confidential payments to merchants.
- Liquidity funds: conceal positions so LPs and markets don’t see them in real time.
- Consumers (especially in some markets): reduce exposure and visibility of holdings.
Where demand is strongest
Anthony: Any specific geographies where privacy demand is high?
Georgie: We saw surprisingly strong usage in Korea. Also meaningful usage in the UK and France. We’ve also seen upticks in LatAm markets like Argentina, which makes sense due to inflation and currency devaluation dynamics.
Compliance approach: screening + ZK-TLS
Anthony: How do you handle compliance? Do you do KYC?
Georgie: We use a ZK-TLS plus Chainalysis-style screening approach. We screen wallets; if a wallet is flagged, the user can’t use the private wallet.
For larger amounts: any deposit above 10,000 of a single asset requires ZK-TLS. The user proves (via zero-knowledge) that they have an account at a trusted institution (for example, Circle merchant account, Coinbase, or other major exchanges) without revealing personal data to us. Once proven, they’re whitelisted for higher amounts.
Anthony: So if you already did KYC elsewhere, you can prove that fact without repeating KYC for every app.
Georgie: Exactly.
Live demo: shielding funds and making a private payment on ARC
Georgie: Let’s demo it in two steps:
- Move funds from public to private (“shielding”).
- Send funds private-to-private to you, Anthony, and inspect what appears onchain.
Anthony: I’ll share my private address.
Georgie: Great. First I shield a portion of my USDC. The wallet generates the proof and deposits funds into my private balance.
Now I’ll send 249 USDC from my private account to your private account. This keeps sender, recipient, and value private.
Anthony: I received it already. That was quick.
Georgie: Now open transaction details. Onchain you see:
- the relayer address
- the Henkel smart contract
- gas fees (paid in USDC here) You don’t see sender/recipient/value details in a way that reveals the private transfer.
Anthony: So we just did a private transaction over a public blockchain. From the explorer view, you can’t see our payment details. That’s the point.
Georgie: Exactly. “Confidential payments” often means hiding value, while “privacy” often means hiding wallet activity. Here, we support both together.
Cross-chain privacy
Anthony: Can you maintain privacy across chains as well?
Georgie: Yes, we already have this integrated. On test right now, some functionality may be limited in the UI, but the cross-chain direction is supported.
Why ARC: USDC-native economics + privacy as a core primitive
Anthony: You’re a Day One Architect building on ARC and planning to launch on mainnet. What drew you to ARC?
Georgie: Circle built USDC into a real adoption engine. The most meaningful blockchain adoption is payments—especially for merchants and users in emerging markets, but also globally.
ARC is exciting because it’s a USDC-native chain. When you combine that with privacy, you can enable stablecoin payments at scale with privacy guarantees.
Also, ARC’s ecosystem primitives—Gateway, FX settlement, and other payments infrastructure—become more powerful when native to the chain.
Anthony: How does building on ARC change the Henkel UX compared to other EVM chains?
Georgie: ARC’s focus is merchants and consumers, with embedded financial primitives: DeFi rails, FX settlement, and other payment-native tooling. USDC is widely used as collateral and as a payment vehicle. Consolidating these primitives on a USDC-native chain is compelling.
We usually don’t integrate on pre-mainnet chains, but ARC was a no-brainer, so we built early.
Roadmap: MPC and hardware wallet support
Anthony: What do the next 12–18 months look like for Henkel?
Georgie: Two major milestones:
- MPC support: privacy on top of institutional MPC wallets (e.g., Fireblocks), so we complement existing custody instead of replacing it.
- Hardware wallet support: explore approaches where signatures come from hardware wallets while proof generation happens off-device, so users get stronger security without losing usability.
We want to be complementary to the ecosystem—privacy on top of existing tools like Ledger, not instead of them.
How to try Henkel and contact the team
Anthony: Where should builders go to try Henkel and reach your team?
Georgie: Go to henkel.pro. The wallet is live. Use the QR code on screen. Share feedback via X, Telegram, or Discord. Privacy unlocks many use cases, and we want to learn what matters most to builders and users.
Anthony: Thanks everyone for joining, and thanks Georgie. This was a fun conversation and a strong demo of private payments on a public chain. Appreciate you.
Georgie: Thanks, Anthony. Excited to work together.
