Zether Towards Privacy in a Smart Contract World
summary
Zether implements confidential, partly anonymous transfers on Ethereum by replacing clear balances with homomorphic encryptions and zero-knowledge proofs, using ElGamal-in-exponent encryptions so recipients can always decrypt. It introduces Sigma-bullets (Bulletproofs combined with Sigma protocols), account locking to smart contracts, and a temporary vs stable accounts rollover to avoid race conditions and double-spend denial. Prototype is an Ethereum smart contract, needs no trusted setup, fits gas/block limits, and runs at roughly a $1 transaction cost; applies to most account-based chains (7 of top 10).
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:34Bitcoin vs. Ethereum Transactions
- 5:23Confidentiality vs. Anonymity
- 6:24Building block: Commitment
- 7:22Confidential Transactions
- 9:39Zether Smart Contract
- 14:16Anonymous Transfer
- 17:44Zether Locking/Unlocking
- 18:36Applications
- 21:54Zether and the Flash Boys
- 22:05Preventing Front running and Replay Attacks • Accounting for changing accounts • Account based systems are notoriously prone to replay attacks • Ethereum uses a nonce and every transactions signs the current
- 23:43Zether (Stable and Volatile Accounts)
- 25:27Implementation
- 25:51Zether Summary
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