Ethereum researchers are exploring how to deploy a protocol they first proposed earlier this year that significantly enhances privacy through zero-knowledge proofs.
Ethereum developer Artem Chystiakov shared his research titled "Zero Knowledge Secret Santa (ZKSS)" on the Ethereum community forum on Monday. This research presents a three-step "Secret Santa" algorithm. The paper was first published on arXiv in January.
"Secret Santa" is a popular anonymous gift exchange game during the Christmas season, where a group of people anonymously exchange gifts with one another. Each person buys a gift for another as their "Secret Santa," while also receiving a gift from their own "Secret Santa."
The recipient never knows who their "Secret Santa" is.
Chystiakov stated that there are three major challenges to conducting "Secret Santa" on Ethereum, and the protocol can address these issues.
On Ethereum, everything is visible to everyone, so a way to hide who gives gifts to whom and maintain privacy is needed.
Blockchains lack true randomness, so participants must contribute their own random choices, and the game must be designed to prevent anyone from participating multiple times or gifting themselves.
As cryptocurrency increasingly merges with traditional finance, blockchain privacy has recently become a hot topic.
Privacy protocols can be applied to scenarios such as anonymous voting and governance, including DAOs or organizations, where users need to prove they are members and cast a vote while keeping their choices confidential.
It can also be used for reporting systems, where users need to prove they are authorized employees while submitting information anonymously; or for private airdrops or distributions, which require distributing tokens without revealing who received what.
When asked about open-source implementation or deployment, Chystiakov stated, "We are making progress."
This proof-of-concept Solidity protocol uses zero-knowledge proofs to establish a relationship between the gift sender and receiver while maintaining the sender's privacy and confidentiality.
ZK proofs are a cryptographic method that allows one to prove knowledge without disclosing specific information. The ZKSS protocol also uses transaction relayers as intermediaries for submitting transactions, thereby hiding the sender's identity.
To participate, participants register their Ethereum addresses in a smart contract, generating a list of all participants. Each participant then commits to using a specific digital signature.
This prevents cheating attacks by creating different signatures to participate multiple times.
Next, each participant secretly adds their random number to the shared list through the relayer, so no one knows who added what. This allows the recipient to encrypt their delivery address, which only the assigned "Santa" can read.
Finally, each participant selects another's random number from the shared list, revealing the recipient's identity.
Related: The Japanese government supports a 20% tax rate on cryptocurrency profits, equal to that of stocks.
Original article: “Ethereum (ETH) Developer Develops 'Secret Santa' Protocol to Enhance Privacy”
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