Zama's FHE Technology: A New Approach to Blockchain Privacy

In fact, privacy has always been a difficult issue in Web3. Many solutions attempt to hide some data, such as balances or transaction details, but these are just small patches and do not provide sufficient protection. Zama's FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption) technology is different; it is a major breakthrough that fundamentally changes the approach to blockchain privacy.

FHE technology, simply put, allows smart contracts to process encrypted data directly without the need for decryption. This means that the contract itself does not even know what it is processing. For example, when you participate in an auction on the chain, your bid is encrypted, and no one can see it, including the blockchain itself. FHE encrypts both the input and output, and only you can decrypt it. This technology is referred to as the "holy grail of cryptography" because it enables true end-to-end privacy protection.

Zama has developed an FHEVM, which is equivalent to an Ethereum-compatible virtual machine, allowing developers to run smart contracts on encrypted data. They still use the familiar Solidity language, along with some special data types (like euint, ebool, eaddress), and the contracts written this way come with built-in privacy protection by default. Developers basically do not need to change their work habits, but the effect is completely different: the code does not expose the user's data at all.
For example, Xiaoming wants to transfer ETH to Xiaohua. The amount is encrypted first, the Blockchain verifies that the transaction is fine, but no one knows the exact amount transferred. The result is also encrypted, and only Xiaohua can decrypt it. This method protects privacy while not affecting the verification function of the Blockchain.

It's not a new chain, it's a "privacy plugin".

Zama has created a new Blockchain, which is not an L1 or L2, but a privacy layer that can be added to existing chains (such as Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon). You still use the networks and dApps you are familiar with, but now your operations are default confidential. This flexibility makes FHE a universal privacy solution.

Not just a technical upgrade, but a new way of thinking.

Zama's FHE is not just a technological advancement; it changes the entire game rules. In the future, blockchain will no longer be fully public but will be default confidential. Transactions, states, and computations can be encrypted, and only the users themselves can decrypt them. Alex Cryptan said that Zama "is not a follower or imitator of zk but a new paradigm for on-chain data processing." Kaffchad also stated, "FHE is not some magic; it is mathematics." PerrieDExplorer even mentioned that it "truly opens the door to privacy." This technology will impact fields such as finance, healthcare, and government, even prompting us to rethink the meaning of data privacy.

Finally,
@zama_fhe Zama's FHE technology fundamentally changes the landscape of blockchain privacy by performing computations on encrypted data. It protects user data while retaining the verification capability and flexibility of blockchain. From obscurity to complete confidentiality, this marks the beginning of a new era - your data is truly under your control.

#ZamaCreatorProgram FHE