Keep Network — Technology Explainer
Disclaimer: The author intends to run a Keep node after the network launches on the 27th April 2020.
Keep Network is an Ethereum smart contract that provides a sMPC Oracle for private data.
I had to read the whitepaper 10 times and ask a lot of questions of the team to really understand how sMPC works and what Keep actually does. To save you some time I have put together a visual explainer.
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Summary
A blockchain can be trusted for correctness, but not for privacy. Anyone can view the code and content of any transaction or smart contract on the network. While this doesn’t pose a problem for many blockchain applications, there are plenty of use cases which require smart contracts to access private data. The Keep Network provides a way for smart contracts on public blockchains to access private data that is stored securely off-chain.
Outline
Smart contracts on public blockchains lack privacy. Their code and contents are available for anyone to view.
Currently there is no way for a smart contract on a public blockchain to securely access private data. This isn’t an issue for the many blockchain applications…