One of the most appealing aspects of block chain technology is the degree of privacy that it can provide. However, this leads to some confusion about how privacy and transparency can effectively coexist. On a block chain, the identity of a user is concealed behind serious cryptography, meaning that linking public addresses to individual users can sometime be difficult to achieve. This raises questions about how block chains can be regarded as truly transparent.
The transparency of a block chains stems from the fact that the balances and transactions of each address are open to viewing. Using an explorer, and equipped with a user’s public address, it is possible to view their transactions that they have carried out. This level of transparency has not existed within financial systems before, especially in regards to large businesses, and adds a degree of accountability that has not existed to date. In the past, large financial institutions were able to use their customers funds as they saw fit, without anyone's knowledge.
Do you think block chain technology can effectively address this transparency issue, given its pseudo-anonymous nature?
I think you have a clear understand the difference between both of these features of the blockhain, and I do believe that they are quite "tricky", because transparency can easily "kill" privacy. Let's say NSA or any other agency like this manages to label an address to a particular user. They will then be able to access all his transactions, completely killing his privacy. Blockhain should be able to promote both things, but I guess it would be possible to compromise privacy because of transparency.
