KEEP is a layer of extra privacy created for blockchains that permits both applications and participants to privately reserve data. It features keeps that are off-chain containers for private data, which it randomly assigns to a network of users that are also called signers. What they do is assist in managing and storing off-chain data containers.
The core application of the KEEP network is the Random Beacon, and its primary function is to create the required randomness that ensures that no individual signer can decrypt anything that is reserved in the KEEP network.
The Origin
In 2017, Corbin Pon and Matt Luongo founded the Keep Network while working on a Bitcoin shoving app called Fold that they had previously invented. They both realized that there was a gap in the Ethereum network for a better privacy tooling system. So, they created a data layer that would permit set any blockchain-based application to gain access and reserve confidential data.
The main feature of the Keep Network is its ‘keeps’ that permit interactions between smart contracts and private data intending to preserve transaction auditability and lucidity. Confidential information is encoded by keeps and ensured through sMPC, also known as multi-party computation.
Within the network are signers who are simply node operators who stake KEEP tokens to preserve and manage confidential information at a cost. The issues of criminal intent, dishonest behaviour, or malicious practices become less viable because of the token and staking mechanism. If any signer were to be caught in the act, they stand the risk of losing their stake. All node operators are chosen randomly by the system at random to preserve certain information through Random Beacon. The overarching purpose of the Keep Network and it’s system is to stop signers from taking advantage of the platform or decrypting any existing confidential information.
tBTC Application
The tBTC application is one of the earliest uses of Keep. It is an ERC-20 token that serves as a trustless bridge between the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains. Its node operators make the task of storage and exchange of swapping BTC for Ethereum-compatible tBTC tokens possible for BTC holders to gain access to Ethereum’s (DeFi) sector. In May 2020, tBTC was launched on Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, certain glitches in its system have rendered it inoperable for the time being.
The Capacity Of The Keep Network
The aim has always been for a future where blockchain-based solutions can function in unison. It would be wholesome if there were multiple points of intersections, including benefits between blockchains. Interconnectivity, interoperability, and inclusivity across both platforms will lead to higher levels of adoption, utility, and engagement of the Blockchain technology.
Enter T-ECDSA keeps, which creates a way for cross-chain communication and enables decentralized signing across these blockchains.
What Is t-ECDSA Keeps?
t-ECDSA keeps is applied with an encrypted multi-party computation that is also known as sMPC, and this enables cross-communication of contracts between chains through the act of signing transactions between randomly distributed signers.
The main objective of T-ECDSA keeps is to ensure that transactions are secured with many isolated key shares that are independently held by the many signers. sMPC enables the encryption of decentralized signing, which is performed for the purpose of computation on private key shares.
A threshold number of users are required to generate a signature with their key shares, thereby dividing the responsibility for signatures.
There is also the added option of homomorphic encryption in the threshold multi-signer system, which enables the feature of encrypted peer to peer. What this does is secure the privacy of public keys while enabling its cryptography.
How t-ECDSA Keeps Work?
When an ethereum smart contract requests a t-ECDSA keep from the network, that keep is supported by multiple signers that were randomly chosen from the sMPC pool. t-ECDSA is utilized by the signers to create a key and signature that they can use to sign anything from ethereum to blockchain transactions. Bitcoin is just one of the many blockchains based on ECDSA that the ethereum smart contract can ask the Keep to sign on.
It is a trust-minimized system for the sole reason of its independent signers that operate the cluster nodes of sMPC. The KEEP work token accommodates any signed transaction and the joining of clusters. Entire applications can be built on top of the t-ECDSA, including specific bylaws that function as programs. This makes the Keep network a bridge that connects both chains and closes the functionality gap between them.
Any chain that was built with ECDSA can function with keeps, which expands its function beyond the two most popular chains, Ethereum and Bitcoin.
Final Note
Since their respective inceptions, blockchains have been isolated systems functioning differently with no room for interactivity. Developed within their own ecosystems, they have existed through the years without any form of interaction. They exist in their different worlds and have shown no signs of an intersection. The reason for this is mainly because the developers within individual ecosystems have paradoxically created a regressive climate by focusing more on competing for innovations under the larger umbrella of the crypto world rather than bridging the gaps between their respective ecosystems.
This line of reasoning is bound to hurt the industry in the long run and will limit its capacity, resources, and capabilities of what can be achieved. It will alienate and confuse new participants as new exclusive ecosystems emerge and will eventually slow down both the engagement and adoption rate of new users. This type of exclusivity is not beneficial in any way to the industry.
The best way forward is to bridge the gap between all ecosystems, allowing inclusivity through interoperable exchange across all platforms. Participants and users should not be forced to choose between platforms or their individual features.
The KEEP Network is the mechanism that is bridging that gap and laying the framework for cross-chain communication. We can only wait to see the progress this will mean in the years to come.
