There’s been an increased demand for confidential computing (privacy) in recent years. While several projects have attempted to address this need, Secret Network has ushered in a unique approach to Web3 privacy.
In simple terms, Secret Network is all about private smart contracts. These smart contracts allow users like you to build and use Dapps with encrypted data. The project focuses on customizing smart contracts to suit your confidential computing (privacy) needs. This way, you can confidently carry out your transactions. With Secret Network, you control who you share your data with. And for how long?
Secret Network has been around for a few years. They started as Enigma. The focus at the time was to provide a second-layer private computation solution to Ethereum. They’ve undergone several changes over the years. But, their biggest contribution is securing your privacy. And making sure you stay in control of your data. But how do they achieve that? That’s what we want to look at in this article.
For all our new sneakerhead frens…
WHAT IS THE SECRET NETWORK?
Secret Network is the first open-source blockchain with computational privacy where users can use applications without leaking any of their private data.https://t.co/xwpmh4mtwf pic.twitter.com/1ygHlqR2VM
— V-IRL (@V_IRL_DROPS) April 25, 2022
The Hunt for Privacy Solutions
Governments around the world are fighting to reclaim users’ right to their privacy. Companies like TikTok, Facebook, and X, have built their empires around your data. So, blockchain emerges as a viable solution to this. Regardless of the progress made, blockchain projects fall short in one area. And that’s keeping sensitive data private.
But, Secret Network has a solution. Their blockchain supports privacy-preserving smart contracts. So, apps now have both private and public data. Secret relies on a network of validators running special hardware devices. It then handles your data in what it calls TEE. TEE stands for trusted execution environments. This, like zero-knowledge, is a privacy-based technology.
They call it DeCC or Decentralized Confidential Computing #DeCC.
Secret Network's Privacy as a Service (PaaS) brings private computation to other blockchains!
Now, anyone can utilize @SecretNetwork's privacy-preserving features to build powerful new dApps. 🚀
We Keep building 🧱🚀 pic.twitter.com/1ym23skshh
— NFT Baller 🤖💎 (@NftBolaji) October 20, 2023
Picture a TEE like a secret room inside your computer’s brain. It’s super safe and private, like a hidden vault. Even the folks who own or manage the device can’t decrypt your raw data. And here’s the cool part: only the person receiving the information can unlock it from within the TEE. Afterward, the system records the output on-chain.
Let’s talk about Secret’s privacy-as-a-service solution (PaaS).
What is Secret’s Privacy-as-a-Service all about?
Most Web3 privacy solutions cater to one aspect of the market. There aren’t projects that cater to the entire ecosystem. But with PaaS, Secret provides privacy that extends beyond its network. Secret’s privacy-preserving contracts connect to other networks.
How? Secret leverages cross-chain communication protocols like Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC). It also uses platforms like Axelar General Message Passing (GMP). This integration ensures that developers can access top features from these platforms.
Secret Network supports confidential computing from the on-set. Privacy isn’t an afterthought. It occurs at the protocol level. This maintains privacy for data that comes from dApps too. It’s like a smart contract upgrade. Secret Network hides your data before locking it away. Other blockchains store your info first, then think about privacy later.
With Secret, dApps can enjoy MEV resistance. The design and encrypted mempool make attacks impossible. Furthermore, Secret Network doesn’t rely on popular tools like ZK-proofs, Multi-Party Computation. And Homomorphic Encryption. Why? Those methods can slow things down. They can cause tech troubles and put too much control in one place. What can you do with all this confidential computing? Let’s find out.
By utilizing cross-chain messaging with Axelar GMP, the primary contract for your application can live on #Ethereum, while a proxy contract on Secret can be communicated with in order to store and compute over encrypted data.
2/3— Secret Network (@SecretNetwork) November 2, 2023
What are the use cases of confidential computing?
Secret’s approach to safe computing isn’t for show. It has practical use cases that apply to you. Skip the heavy terms, there’s a lot you can do with this. For starters, you can build safer and more front-running-resistant dApps. Secret’s PaaS ensures your dApps can communicate with it. And it can store and compute over encrypted data. This opens up possibilities such as:
Unlockable NFT content
You can make NFT data viewable to ONLY those with permission. No more ownership battles. This is ideal for creating watermarked content, access tokens, etc.
Walletless authentication
This is about making logging in easier by keeping your wallet keys safe in a Secret smart contract. Instead of fussing with a Web3 wallet, you only use a username and password to get in.
Confidentiality and data protection are becoming key topics in Web3. With the growing appetite for institutional adoption and evolving use cases for crypto, it's clear that confidentiality will be one of the key drivers for the next wave of adoption. (2/8)
— Secret Network (@SecretNetwork) October 26, 2023
Private voting
You can vote in private by sending encrypted votes to a Secret smart contract. It counts up all the votes in private and then sends you the results. Your vote stays private, and you still get to know the outcome.
There are several ways confidential computing can improve your dApp. For example, you can access privately computed data. Secret smart contracts can provide you with confidentially computed data. It hides the input used to calculate it. So, it’s super confidential. This comes in handy for verifiable on-chain RNG (random number generator). It ensures that the seed used to generate random numbers stays private.
Here are two other perks of confidential computing for dApps:
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Verify Data Privately. Say you want to check encrypted data without spilling the beans. With a Secret contract, you can compare it to other data sources, without revealing anything sensitive. This comes in handy for creating secure login tools.
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Create a Private Data Layer. You can keep parts of your dApp private. By setting up a “sister contract” on Secret Network, you can keep sections of your EVM app private. This means you can control who sees things like NFTs, certificates, and invoices. Owners can verify their identity to access this hidden info.
Let’s wrap it up
Secret Network is leading a revolution in decentralized confidential computing, or DeCC. Secret has the potential to onboard the next billion Web3 users. It addresses privacy needs. And it also makes it easy for developers. It also promotes interoperability. So, as more projects leverage this network, it can onboard more users to Web3.
Disclaimer
The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment, and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to the accepted levels of risk tolerance of the writer/reviewers and their risk tolerance may be different than yours. We are not responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments so please do your due diligence. This article has been sponsored by Secret Netowrk. Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.