Blockchain technology offers a beneficial level of publicity and transparency that current centralized networks cannot, but there is private data that users do not want to generally share.
For example, how many people would like to use a network to share their financial and identification information with everyone?
That is the problem that Secret Network wants to solve. By enabling programmable smart contracts to run on the blockchain and compute in a trustworthy execution environment and protect data from the nodes themselves, the Secret Network promises the benefits of blockchain transparency with security and privacy that users of web services have come to expect.
This is how Secret Network works and what the community wants to achieve with the project.
What is secret network?
Secret Network is a blockchain specially designed for data security. By supporting encrypted inputs, outputs, and smart contract states, Secret Network enables programmable smart contracts to protect users’ data. If coins like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) are the privacy-oriented development of Bitcoin, then Secret Network’s smart contracts, like Ethereum’s own smart contract development, are based on this premise and at the same time enable the secure transmission of personal data.
Secret Network grew out of Enigma, a startup that developed the concept of a decentralized protocol for secret smart contracts. Enigma raised $ 45 million in an ICO in 2017, but encountered opposition from the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020 and had to pay a fine.
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decided to continue this vision as an independent, decentralized project. This is how the current version of Secret Network came about. Holders of Enigma’s Ethereum-based ENG token can use the swap to trade 1: 1 with SCRT (Secret Network’s native coin used for administration and fee payment). Enigma remains involved as a major player in the community and supports the development of Secret Network.
How does the secret network work?
Secret Network is a layer 1 blockchain with its own consensus algorithm and on-chain governance, which is based on Cosmos’ Tendermint. It works on a distributed network of nodes doing intelligent contract calculation built on top of the secret network, but the nodes use a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) – like a black box – to make it work. This process avoids prying eyes.
It’s similar to how smartphone processors use TEE to process sensitive data like fingerprints, but instead it’s a blockchain node. The network calls its smart contracts “secret contracts” because they are designed to protect the privacy of the data they contain. SCRT tokens (“Secret”) must be deployed by nodes in order to participate in the network and used to pay fees and transfer the value.
What is special about Secret Network?
There’s a lot to like about blockchains, like immutability and transparency, but this level of openness limits the type of data that many blockchains can securely process – especially top-secret data that individuals or companies cannot see.
The Secret Network aims to fill that void by providing a level of privacy and security while keeping what people like about blockchain technology – theoretically the best of both worlds. While it’s not the only company trying to fill this void, it could be the key to the future of some decentralized applications (dapps), especially in the decentralized financial sector.
What can you do with Secret Network?
Secret Network was designed to enable decentralized applications that require a level of data protection not found in many other blockchain networks. By using a trusted execution environment and keeping data confidential for both node operators and the public, sensitive information can be processed that users and organizations do not want to divulge.
Network operators have suggested many potential use cases, including lending dapps and credit scoring, machine learning to maintain privacy, and enhanced sharing to securely monetize data. In a broader sense, the Secret Network can be useful for any Dapp that processes sensitive data.
You know?
Secret Network builds on Kosmos. Cosmos is known as the “Internet of Blockchains” and aims to create a networked blockchain ecosystem, while many existing blockchains are more like individual networks.
The future for SCRT
With the ENG-SCRT token swap ending in January 2021 and ending the old Enigma project, Secret Network is trying to work towards a future that includes interoperability with other blockchains. The lack of cross-chain compatibility could make Secret Network less attractive and ultimately not make it as popular or useful as the community developers intended. Secret Network also passionately promotes decentralized financing with its Secret DeFi initiative and will launch its decentralized exchange SecretSwap in February 2021. After side FAQ
As part of our vision to always bring privacy to every blockchain. ”The platform leverages Cosmos’s cross-blockchain communication and interoperability as another potential initiative on the roadmap.
In addition, Secret Network seems to be focused on attracting more developers to create dapps on the blockchain, thus presenting more use cases in the process. However, it’s not the only blockchain with privacy-focused smart contracts (Oasis Network is another example) and there are other potential solutions to the processing dilemma: sensitive data on the blockchain – like secure multi-party computation. It remains to be seen whether the Secret Network solution will ultimately outperform the other solutions currently on the market.