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author:Dylan Bane, Messari analyst and Vinayak Kurup, research director at EV3 Ventures; compiled: 0xjs@Bitchain Vision
zk-TLS technology (Zero-Knowledge Transport Layer Security) subverts Web2 by making all user data cross-platform verification and portability.Using this technology can break the trillion-dollar monopoly while maximizing user privacy with ZKP.This report delves into zk-TLS and explores how this breakthrough technology can revolutionize the Internet by enabling verifiable, portable and private user data.
By allowing third parties to access user data without relying on the Web2 platform, zk-TLS is expected to break the centralized monopoly, empower users and unlock new applications in the fields of entertainment, DeFi, AI, etc.
zk-TLS has the potential to promote Internet sovereignty and composability, and it promises to transform the industry by breaking walled gardens and fostering a decentralized ecosystem.
The first batch of zk-TLS use cases will enter PMF in 2025, realizing on-chain identity ratings, vampire attacks on platforms such as Uber, etc.
Panoramic view of zk-TLS project:
At first, Web2 was built on the spirit of an open network.The company soon realized that profits came from isolated data and built walls to keep users out.Even Twitter shut down its API a few months before its IPO.Web2 has become value-grabbing, depriving users of data sovereignty.
zk-TLS timeline:
In 2014, Ethereum researchers realized that they could verify previously isolated data by focusing on the network layer.On this basis, Cornell researchers released DECO in 2019, eliminating the dependence on server collaboration and introducing ZKP to protect data privacy.zk-TLS was born.
zk-TLS use casesWide range:
From vampire attacks on Web2 platforms like DoorDash, to enabling on-chain credit scores, to providing verifiable private data to train LLMs.Any user data on the internet can be used for new use cases via zk-TLS.
zk-TLS architecture:
When you access a bank account, your computer communicates with the bank’s server.zk-TLS verifies this process by having the verifier observe and verify that the sent data is correct.It can achieve this in 3 ways: multi-party computing (MPC), proxy, or just using TEE.
For example, Opacity uses MPC to solve this problem.Verifiers ensure that login and information access are handled correctly.The validators are randomly selected, minimizing the possibility of collusion.
Take Earnifi as an example, which uses Opacity’s MPC model to ensure people work as long as they claim.zk-TLS enables them to underwrite loans more efficiently than earned-wage-access, EWA, and payday loan companies.The entire industry will be disrupted.
While we expect the first use case to discover PMF in 2025,zk-TLS faces many challenges.
For example: scalability issues, the server may detect a large number of proxy sessions; strong opposition from Web2; and solve frictions that are not familiar with ZKP.
