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ConsenSys Labs, a ConsenSys Ethereum incubator, was the leading investor in a $ 2.1 million seed investment in the London startup AZTEC, a protocols developer who wants to add privacy to public domain transactions.
Founded by Tom Pocock and Zachary Williamson, AZTEC uses the zero knowledge testing technology (zk-SNARKs) for privacy and hopes it will help global financial institutions to start using the public ethereum blockchain.
zk-SNARKS is a cryptographic technique that is most commonly associated with privacy-focused Zcash cryptocurrency.
Other investors contributed to the seed round including Samos Investments, Entrepreneur First, Jeffrey Tarrant and Charlie Songhurst.
However, AZTEC has stated that the efficiency of their protocol is unmatched in either of them "Known technologies on the network".
And in addition to adding more privacy to transactions, the startup claims that its technology will also significantly increase the speed of settlement in the loan market.
According to Pocock, the AZTEC protocol is intended for use in banks and to achieve this goal, the startup will collaborate with CreditMint, another project based on Ethereum that facilitates the issuance of debt and business for businesses.
It is said that AZTEC has been widely consulted with several major financial institutions specializing in private corporate debt, including the top 10 banks. The company expects to have attracted the first wave of customers by January 2019.
The Ethereum public blockchain can not, at the moment, guarantee "the complete privacy of transactions" requested by the main banks, thus the banks' desire to work with private / authorized blockchains.
But the AZTEC team wants to change everything, using zero-knowledge testing technology.
Min Teo, executive director of ConsenSys Labs for Europe, said AZTEC's zk-SNARKS technology is very impressive, while founder Joe Lubin said his company supports the innovative protocol used by AZTEC and CreditMint.
Lubin added that the technology would bring "privacy, privacy and scalability based on zk-SNARKs on a" wide variety of goods transactions on the public ethereum ".
Min Teo added:
"Based on what we are seeing, AZTEC is the closest to production and the most efficient in terms of gas cost".
Ethereum has had problems with its scalability and some analysts have pointed out that AZTEC's revolutionary technology may not work on a network that is not fast enough or scalable.
But according to Pocock, the AZTEC protocol is already working on Ethereum and can handle one transaction per second, but it will significantly improve with future network improvements. He added that the protocol speed is sufficient and sufficient "Milliseconds to build and verify AZTEC zero-knowledge tests."
Speed and downsizing may not be a big problem for AZTEC technology, especially with different scaling solutions being developed that should significantly increase throughput on the ethereum network.
Incidentally, the AZTEC protocol is not the first effort to add transactional privacy to the public blockchain ethereum through tests with zero knowledge.
Among those already using technology is the Quorum, a private blockchain developed by the banking giant JPMorgan. The other project is the prototype of EY's Ops Chain, which uses zero-knowledge tests to help companies keep transaction records private.
And in September, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin suggested that zk-SNARKS could play a role in helping ethereum hit 500 transactions per second.
But according to Pocock, the AZTEC protocol is significantly different from other projects and proposals; mainly because it is already used in the main network of Ethereum and contrary to being only "theoretical".
He added:
"This finally gives access to the capital markets at the Ethereum public blockchain, without sacrificing privacy, and strong consensus and strong privacy guarantees are no longer mutually exclusive".
AZTEC is currently working on additional features that should see it provide more privacy and liquidity, with a potential release date set for the second quarter of 2019.
(Source: Coindesk)
Disclaimer: This is not an investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile assets and are very risky investments. Do your research and consult an investment professional before investing. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. Never borrow money to invest in cryptocurrencies.
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