Fairblock, a blockchain technology company, is aiming to revolutionize conditional decryption and pre-execution privacy. By allowing users to set conditions, Fairblock’s protocols can execute transactions without revealing any on-chain information until execution. This differs from existing zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, as information is only encrypted or decrypted under specific conditions.
Fairblock achieves this through advanced cryptography, including identity-based encryption and witness encryption. They are also exploring the use of fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), which will enable computations to be performed on fully encrypted data. To build this infrastructure, Fairblock has secured $2.5 million in pre-seed funding, with leading investors including Galileo and participation from Lemniscap, Dialectic, Robot Ventures, GSR, Chorus One, Dorahacks, and Reverie.
According to Peyman Momeni, co-founder of Fairblock, their infrastructure and cryptographic libraries can be utilized to build applications such as sealed-bid auctions, randomness generation, private governance, and encrypted limit orders. The goal is to empower average crypto users and minimize risks associated with front-running transactions or leaked transaction contents. Momeni acknowledges that the current market favors those with financial knowledge or development experience, and Fairblock wants to change that.
In practice, Fairblock’s system would involve an SDK integrated with the front end of applications that choose to use their technology. For example, in a governance proposal, users can submit their votes as usual but have the option to encrypt them using Fairblock’s system. Encrypted and plaintext transactions would be aggregated until certain conditions, such as a deadline or specific prices, are met. Fairblock would generate a single decryption key using their identity-based encryption, ensuring secure access to the contents of encrypted transactions.
Fairblock is built using the Cosmos SDK but is not limited to the Cosmos ecosystem. It can act as a service provider for generating decryption keys for consumer chains, including rollups or smart contracts on other platforms like Ethereum. The company has recently upgraded to a second private testnet, with a public testnet launch on the horizon.
Overall, Fairblock aims to provide users with the freedom to protect the contents of their transactions by offering conditional decryption and pre-execution privacy. With their advanced cryptographic techniques, they seek to level the playing field for crypto users and create a more secure and fair market environment.
