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Data security in digital asset exchange
The exchange of digital assets like tickets, tokens, creative work, and financial assets is another major component in this new world.
When exchanging a digital asset, some data must be public or at least shared with all the nodes so they can verify the transfer of ownership but, naturally, parties will wish to keep sensitive information private, not to mention GDPR obligations.
For example, in the settlement of assets, we can verify an order without disclosing the entire order book. This minimises the risk of disputes between counterparties. ING bank has been demonstrating its interest in Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) for privacy for a few years now.
In 2017, the bank released its ZKP range proofs, so a client could prove they are over the age of 18 without having to reveal their birth date or exact age. A year later, they developed another solution with a wider use case including the ability for clients to prove EU citizenship without revealing the specific country of domicile. And the rule of EU citizenship can even be adjusted if a country leaves the EU (Ahem…)
In the case of Corda, a Blockchain-based platform for business, ING announced a solution that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to validate transactions, so contents can remain private without compromising on safety. This is a significant breakthrough as, until now, Corda had to choose the lesser of two evils between acceptable privacy or acceptable security. Now it has both.
Regarding the custody of digital assets, most ZKP solutions have started with cryptocurrency as it has been the low hanging fruit, but we expect to see the spread of wider-use cases in the near future, especially with the increasing role of enterprise interest.