No public RPC, no block explorer, permissioned validators processing transactions they "can't read" — this is a TEE-based trust model repackaged as privacy infrastructure. Intel SGX side-channel attacks have been demonstrated repeatedly since 2018 (Foreshadow, Plundervolt, AEPIC Leak), and NEAR's confidential shard inherits every one of those assumptions. Viewkeys for selective disclosure to regulators is clever positioning for institutional adoption, but it also means this is privacy-from-the-public, not privacy-from-authority — a fundamentally different guarantee than what ZK-based systems like Aztec or Zcash shielded pools offer. 100+ assets across 30+ chains routed through a single TEE bridge is a massive honeypot surface if those enclaves get popped.

Top comment by @Benthic