Ernst & Young today announced the launch of EY Ops Chain Public Edition prototype, the world’s first implementation of zero-knowledge proof technology on the public Ethereum blockchain.
This technology is a first that will allow companies to privately and securely create and sell product and service tokens on a public blockchain with private access to their transaction records. EY Ops Chain PE uses ZKP technology to enable private token transfers without breaking the consensus algorithm.
“EY Ops chain PE is a first-of-its-kind application and a major step forward that empowers blockchain adoption. Private blockchains give enterprises transaction privacy, but at the expense of reduced security and resiliency. With ZKPs, organizations can transact on the same network as their competition in complete privacy and without giving up the security of the public Ethereum blockchain.” says Paul Brody, EY global innovation leader, Blockchain.
Public blockchains require a critical mass of participants; they become stronger as more companies join.
James Wester, research director of IDC’s Worldwide Blockchain Strategies, notes “The development of tools that enhance the capabilities of public blockchains will spur enterprise adoption of public blockchains and will be crucial to the growth of blockchain technologies in general. The ability to ensure privacy while retaining the security and resilience of public blockchains is an important consideration. It offers an opportunity for enterprises to begin building real-world solutions on public blockchains and is an important step in the evolution of the technology.”
In addition, this solution includes the EY Blockchain Private Transaction Monitor prototype that captures transaction history for later review.
EY is developing a release roadmap for EY Ops Chain PE and the EY Blockchain Private Transaction Monitor that will aim to improve transaction efficiency and scalability in time for a production offering in 2019.