One of the Big Four accounting firms, Ernst & Young (EY), has announced the launch of a third-generation Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) blockchain technology to the public domain on the Ethereum public blockchain.
Announcing the move in a press release today, the startup stated that the tech is an enhancement of its existing ZKP blockchain technology, which is done to provide scalability for private transactions conducted on public networks.
To this end, up to 20 private transactions can be grouped into a single solution, thus reducing the size of an “on-chain Merkle tree” and the cost of trade to around $0.05, a 400-fold improvement over the initial EY prototype that was launched last year.
Commenting on the development, Paul Brody, EY Global Blockchain Leader, said that the upgraded solution could be seen as a milestone for the firm in terms of making public blockchains more scalable while adding:
In the prior iteration released in April 2019, public blockchains were already getting competitive with private networks. With this iteration, we cut the cost per transaction by more than 90 percent again, making private transactions more accessible for mainstream business application.
The ZKP solution is not limited to only public Ethereum networks, as the firm explained that the tech could also work seamlessly on a private domain built on the Ethereum blockchain.
As per the announcement, when deployed on a private Ethereum blockchain, it would equip the network with an additional layer of security and privacy, thus creating room for more complex privacy models across multiple organizations within the fintech industry.
Brody further explained that private firms are gradually seeing the importance of public blockchains, with about 75 percent of these firms tipped to use these networks in the future.
However, he believes “the third-generation EY ZKP technology brings [firms] even closer to private and secure transactions on the public blockchain.”
EY is known for developing outstanding blockchain solutions for both the public and private sectors.
As reported in October, the auditing firm launched a blockchain-based platform for governments to ensure transparency of public funds.
