Ernst & Young Releases Ethereum-Based Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) For Private Payments

One of the biggest auditors EY recently announced the launch of the first zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology on the Ethereum public network. The prototype enables firms to privately and securely generate and trade commodity and service tokens on a public blockchain with private access to their transaction records.

The protocol which is named EY Ops Chain Public Edition (PE) utilizes an alternative algorithm for verifying blockchain records, in which participating users present proof of validity. However, all other information remains encrypted that includes the identity of the participants. Currently they support tokens that are similar to ERC-20 and ERC-721, however, they want to diversify soon.

EY wants to use this to target enterprise that wants to keep transaction record private without having to enter a private network. The company’s Innovation Leader for Blockchain, Paul Brody said:

“With zero-knowledge proofs, organizations can transact on the same network as their competition in complete privacy and without giving up the security of the public Ethereum blockchain.”

With the progress of solutions that improve the capabilities of public distributed ledgers will drive institutional adoption. It is imperative to the growth of blockchain technologies in general. The ability to assure privacy while maintaining the resilience of public blockchains is a significant factor. It allows an opportunity for companies to commence developing real-world resolutions on public blockchains and is an important step in the growth of the technology.

Although the technology has been released, patents are still pending. It is estimated that it will be ready for full-scale launch by early 2019.

ZKPs have been the talk of the town in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. Earlier today BitcoinExchangeGuide had reported of an Israeli startup, StarkWare Industries, who are working on generating similar zero-knowledge proof technologies. They had secured $30 million in funding headed by Paradigm.