AntChain, a subsidiary of Ant Group, has announced a major architecture upgrade for its privacy collaboration platform, AntChain FAIR.
AntChain, a subsidiary of Ant Group, has announced a major architecture upgrade for
its privacy collaboration platform, AntChain FAIR. The new development incorporates
Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) as a core technology for secure and verifiable
computation. This advancement expands the scope of trustworthy data transfer to
encompass computation processes, data attributes, and identities.
What is Zero-Knowledge Proof?
ZKP, a cryptographic technique, empowers one party (the prover) to demonstrate to
another party (the verifier) that they possess certain knowledge or information without
revealing any specific details about that information. Recognized as a pivotal
technology for the Web3.0 era, ZKP enables the prover to convince the verifier of the
accuracy of a statement without divulging any additional useful data.
The integration of Ant’s AI security detection platform, “Yijian,” with its privacy
computing platform, “Yinyu,” is regarded as a significant future trend. Given the
substantial amount of data required for large-scale AI model training, privacy computing
ensures the safety and reliability of data, fostering a secure environment.
Organizations and institutions embracing the ZKP architecture can guarantee that the
entire data computation process adheres to predefined conditions, ensuring
correctness and verifiability, all while maintaining privacy. This advancement
significantly enhances the credibility of identity verification, AI model training, data
transfer, asset transactions, as well as on-chain and off-chain collaborations.
Consequently, it accelerates the adoption of Web3.0 in complex industrial scenarios.
Shorter Verification Time
AntChain has streamlined its software algorithms to accelerate the “proof generation”
phase by 2.8 times the original baseline. This phase entails generating a “proof” for
data, identity, computation processes, and more.
To facilitate the usage of ZKP, AntChain FAIR has introduced zkWASM, a new ZKP virtual
machine, into its trusted computing architecture. This innovative approach supports the
conversion of algorithm programs written in various front-end languages, eliminating
the need to delve into intricate underlying algorithm details.
AntChain FAIR, a privacy collaboration platform for data transfer, combines the
strengths of blockchain and privacy computing. It effectively addresses the inherent
conflict between data sharing and privacy protection. Currently, it is being successfully
implemented in several data exchanges, including the Hangzhou International Digital
Trade Center and the Guizhou Big Data Exchange.
Furthermore, ZKPs, although slow and resource-intensive due to complex mathematical
operations, can be accelerated by leveraging specialized hardware such as Field
Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits
(ASICs), which can enhance their performance by 10-1000 times.
As users increasingly demand more expressive, performant, and private computation,
the complexity of statements proven with ZKPs will inevitably grow. Consequently, proof
generation may slow down, necessitating the use of specialized hardware to ensure
timely production of proofs.
The Future Holds More Potential for ZKP
Compensation for the operators of such hardware, akin to Bitcoin miners, will become
essential. Over time, we anticipate the emergence of a full-fledged ZK mining and
proving industry, starting with enthusiasts generating proofs using CPUs, progressing to
GPUs, and eventually incorporating FPGAs. Unlike Bitcoin, the adoption of ASICs in this
context may face significant hurdles due to their inflexibility and long iteration cycles.
ZKPs offer immense potential for secure computation, and their integration into
AntChain FAIR marks a significant step towards enhanced privacy and verification in the
Web3.0 era. With hardware acceleration, ZKPs can address complex computations
effectively, and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are poised to play a pivotal
role in accelerating this process, surpassing GPUs and ASICs in terms of being cost-
effective and energy-efficient.
