Blast from the past? In 1998, Buffalo Japan introduced the “skeleton hard disk,” a drive designed to showcase its inner workings. To mark its 50th anniversary, the company is releasing an updated version of the original HDD. Priced at 100,000 yen (approximately $696), the new Skeleton Hard Disk offers a 4TB capacity – but getting your hands on one will be a challenge.

Buffalo designed the Skeleton Hard Disk as an external USB drive with a premium package and design, though its technical specifications aren’t groundbreaking. Using a standard USB 3.2 (Gen 1) interface, the drive lets users see the spinning magnetic surface and moving read/write heads during I/O operations. Forget state of the art. We want novelty.

Unfortunately, Buffalo didn’t release specific internal specifications, so it’s unclear whether Buffalo chose CMR or SMR recording technology for this celebratory product. While Buffalo designed the USB HDD as a desk centerpiece, the company reassures customers that it still serves as a standard external USB storage device.

Buffalo offers a dedicated application called SeekWizard, a Windows-only utility that runs the HDD in various “demo” modes. The tool lets users choose from different head movement patterns, including “random seek,” “sequential seek,” and “second hand step.”

Buffalo says the new Skeleton Hard Disk builds on a modernized version of the original concept design, retaining the essence of its innovative predecessor while offering a more refined, contemporary look. The hefty chassis provides a “unique” desk presence and reinforces the product’s premium feel, making it stand out as an exclusive collector’s item. The elegant packaging adds an unexpected touch of sophistication – something rarely seen with standard USB hard disk drives, enhancing the overall luxury appeal.

The company designed the Skeleton Hard Disk to appeal to Buffalo’s most devoted magnetic recording storage technology fans. Only 50 units are available, so the company will hold a Japan-exclusive lottery to determine which lucky customers will receive one of these extremely limited edition HDDs. Winners should expect their shipments sometime in June.

We provide a wide range of cryptographic products and services to millions of clients in over 190 countries. Last year, we received data requests from law enforcement and government agencies in 71 countries.

Combining the demands of global law enforcement and regulatory agencies, an increase of 38.6% in 2024 in 2023

The US agency issued 28.6% of all data requests in 2024

Kraken received 6,826 data requests in 2024. The United States, as ever, issued the largest (1,951) of any country. The FBI had the most demands (614) among US agencies.

Although demands from US agencies were widespread at federal, state and local levels, most of the requests received came from law enforcement. The most common requests from US agencies where data was provided are:

The SEC accounted for only 1.9% of the total requests for US agencies, but issued 37.3% of all US regulatory authorities’ requests.

Provided 57% of the data of requests

Data for a total of 10,369 accounts have been requested. This can mostly be for clients in the US (34.5%), the UK (8.8%), and Germany (8.5%).

Many types of information requests are received, and Kraken has strict policies and procedures to comply with laws and regulations and protect client privacy while providing data when there is a legal obligation.

Promoted by a dedicated team of compliance experts

Our compliance team is an association of veteran AML professionals, lawyers, former law enforcement officers, certified anti-money laundering specialists (ACAM) accredited analysts, and many other cryptocurrency-related accredited experts. It is composed of.

They work to ensure that we carry out appropriate research and monitoring for our clients and the industry. We continue to expand and strengthen our compliance programs to efficiently and professionally meet the requirements of law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

Industry-leading data security practices

The privacy of your personal information is very important to us. We are committed to protecting your information through our dedicated design efforts of our security and data privacy teams. For over a decade, we have built industry-leading security practices led by some of the world’s top security experts.

The following is a guest post by Matthew Niemerg, Co-founder of Aleph Zero.

In the grand halls of Florence’s Palazzo Medici, during the Renaissance, the legendary banking family conducted their affairs with an intricate dance of transparency and secrecy. While their ledgers tracked every florin with meticulous precision, access to these records was guarded as carefully as the gold in their vaults. This delicate balance between accountability and confidentiality wasn’t just good business—it was essential for survival in the complex web of Renaissance politics and commerce.

Five centuries later, as blockchains are innovating both finance and business, we appear at risk of forgetting that fundamental lesson. The idea that all transactions should be permanently visible on public ledgers isn’t just naive—it’s catastrophic for business adoption.

Businesses Take Privacy for Granted

Consider a modern manufacturer negotiating with suppliers. In traditional banking, while transactions are verified and recorded, the details remain confidential—known only to the parties involved and their financial institutions. Now, imagine conducting these same negotiations on a public blockchain where every payment, every contract term, and every business relationship is visible to competitors, customers, and market manipulators. It’s equivalent to forcing businesses to publish their entire accounts payable and receivable in real-time, complete with transaction amounts and counterparty identities.

Transparency should mean verifying that transactions follow agreed-upon rules, not exposing every business decision to public scrutiny. Just as Netscape’s introduction of SSL in the 1990s made e-commerce viable by securing online transactions, blockchain networks need robust privacy mechanisms to achieve mainstream business adoption.

In a 2020 McKinsey survey, healthcare and financial services achieved the highest score for trust from consumers. Both industries are also two of the key adopters of blockchain. Without secure and confidential infrastructure, these sectors risk eroding the very trust they’ve spent decades building. A doctor’s prescription, a patient’s treatment plan, or a company’s financial restructuring can’t be broadcast to the world on a public ledger—no matter how secure the verification mechanism might be.

The stakes are even higher today. As businesses consider moving more operations on-chain—from supply chain management to intellectual property licensing—the need for confidentiality becomes acute. A pharmaceutical company developing a breakthrough drug can’t risk exposing its research investments through transparent blockchain transactions. A retail chain shouldn’t broadcast its inventory management strategies to competitors through visible smart contracts.

The Permanently Readable Public Ledger

Moreover, the permanent nature of blockchain records amplifies privacy concerns. In traditional systems, historical transaction data eventually becomes less accessible. But on public blockchains, every transaction remains visible forever—creating an indelible record that could reveal business strategies, pricing patterns, and relationship networks to future competitors or adversaries.

The solution isn’t to abandon blockchain technology’s promise of improved verification and automation. Instead, we must embed privacy into these systems from the ground up. Zero-knowledge cryptography offers a pathway, allowing transactions to be verified without revealing their contents. This technology could enable businesses to leverage blockchain’s benefits while maintaining essential confidentiality.

Some blockchain purists might protest that this approach contradicts the technology’s founding principles of transparency. But they misread history. Bitcoin’s innovation wasn’t in making all transactions public—it was in solving the double-spending problem without requiring trust in a central authority. Privacy-preserving technologies can maintain this trustless verification while protecting sensitive business information. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Merging Trust and Confidentiality

The history of banking privacy, from ancient temples to modern Swiss banks, demonstrates that confidentiality isn’t antithetical to trust—it’s essential for it. Temples’ religious role gave them a reputation for integrity and discretion. Likewise, the Medicis didn’t survive and thrive for centuries by broadcasting their clients’ financial affairs to all of Florence. They succeeded by innovating a double-entry bookkeeping system that kept client information accurate and private, ensuring trust through discretion.

As we architect the future of business on blockchain networks, we must learn from this history. The next generation of blockchain protocols must incorporate privacy as a fundamental feature, not an afterthought. Zero-knowledge proofs, confidential smart contracts, and private transaction pools aren’t just technical innovations—they’re essential building blocks for practical business adoption. 

The stakes extend beyond individual privacy concerns to the very architecture of our future financial systems. Without robust privacy solutions, public blockchains risk pushing enterprises toward private, permissioned networks—a trend we’re already seeing. JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform and the Hyperledger-based networks used by Walmart and Maersk for supply chain management demonstrate how major corporations are choosing controlled environments over public infrastructure. While these private networks serve immediate business needs, they fragment the blockchain ecosystem and limit the network effects that make public chains so powerful.

Much like how corporate intranets in the early internet era eventually gave way to the public web once security measures matured, public blockchains need privacy-preserving technologies to avoid being sidelined by enterprise-specific solutions.

Thankfully, this remains a limited trend, as major corporations like Ubisoft, BlackRock, and Warner Music Group continue to use public blockchains for their business use cases. However, this progress could reverse unless chains build confidentiality into their core infrastructure.

The Renaissance bankers understood that privacy wasn’t about hiding misdeeds—it was about creating the trust and security necessary for commerce to flourish. As value increasingly moves onchain, we would do well to remember their wisdom. 

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