Raised $7 million, interactive tutorial on Privacy Interlink Protocol Webb Protocol

23-05-17 15:22

Read this article in 14 Minutes

AI summary

View the summary

原文标题：《融资 700 万美元的隐私跨链协议 Webb Protocol 产品亮点及交互教程》

Original source: ChainCatcher

On May 8, privacy interlink Protocol Webb Protocol announced the completion of a $7 million seed round led by Polychain Capital and Lemniscap.

With the support of well-known capital and large funds, Webb Protocol has also become the focus of attention in the crypto community. According to encrypted data platform Rootdata, Webb Protocol ranked the second in recent search popularity, and Sui network ranked the first.

I can't help wondering why Webb Protocol, a cross-chain product that is a little strange and only emerged due to financing, has attracted such high attention.

In fact, Webb Protocol privacy cross-chain protocol is not a cross-chain Bridge, but a cross-chain infrastructure. Based on zero-knowledge proof technology, the Tangle Network and the Hubble Bridge of privacy cross-chain bridge were developed.

So, how is Webb Protocol different from previous cross-chain products? What is the principle of Hubble Bridge for privacy cross-chain bridge? What is the user experience like?

What is the Webb protocol? Are there any bright spots?

Webb Protocol (Webb for short) is a privacy cross-chain infrastructure for a multi-chain world. It has developed a range of privacy tools and protocols based on technologies such as zero-knowledge proof (ZK) and Multi-party computing (MPC) solutions, designed to provide new privacy standards for information such as cross-chain applications, assets, data and location. The platform was founded by Drew Stone, co-founder of Commonwealth Labs, a decentralized community management platform.

Therefore, Webb is not a cross-chain bridge, but the underlying infrastructure used to build the cross-chain bridge, and can realize the privacy of message transmission. Developers can integrate or build cross-chain privacy applications based on the tools and facilities provided by the Webb protocol.

The core basic component of Webb protocol is actually Tangle Network, a blockchain built based on multi-party computing (MPC) technology, which mainly provides bridging and message transfer functions.

Tangle Network is an independent chain constructed by Webb based on Substrate (blockchain development framework) to provide cross-chain related services to users. It hopes to bridge the gap between any blockchain networks developed based on the likes of EVM, Substrate and Cosmos to enable information to be passed between networks.

It can be simply understood that Tangle Network is a bridge (intermediate chain) of architecture in different blockchain networks. It can transmit information between different blockchain networks through bridge. It can realize not only asset privacy cross-chain, but also application cross-chain.

Tangle Network Synchronizing messages on a network

The relationship between Webb and Tangle Network could also be understood as that Webb was a privacy cross-chain underlying technical facility tool established based on Tangle network, and cross-chain message transmission was realized by Tangle network.

Specifically, Relayer, a repeater on Tangle Network, was responsible for message transmission and verification between different chains. Once the bridging information passed the verification, it would be signed by DKG (distributed private key technology) to synchronize the bridge information update.

Currently, developers can build privacy cross-chain applications based on Tangle Network blockchain developed by Webb, such as privacy cross-chain bridge, privacy identity proof application, privacy Swap, etc.

Hubble Bridge Private cross-chain bridge

Privacy cross-chain Bridge Hubble Bridge is the first user-oriented use case built by Webb based on Tangle Network, which is mainly used to transfer tokens between different blockchains in a private way, and it confuses users' cross-chain transaction history by using zero-knowledge proof.

The current cross-chain applications in the market, the transfer of assets between different blockchains is generally public information, anyone can track the user's transactions, and possibly use this information to find out their true identity. However, users have cross-chain privacy requirements, and the most well-known private transaction application is Tornado Cash, a coin mixing device on the Ethereum chain. However, it only supports private transactions of assets on a single Ethereum chain, and does not support asset cross-chain expansion. Webb is committed to increasing the privacy of cross-chain applications through zero-knowledge proof technology, for example, it can hide the source chain, cross-chain amount, target chain address and other related transaction information in the cross-chain process.

For this purpose, Webb provided an Anchor System (translated as anchor system), which is an interoperable privacy system based on zero-knowledge proof, mainly used to transfer assets between different blockchains in a private way. The Anchor System Bridges and tracks Merkle Tree data in block headers in different blockchain networks. At the same time, zero-knowledge proofs are used to obfuscate the user's transaction history.

The concrete cross-chain implementation principle is as follows: First, Hubble Bridge was built on the Tangle Network cross-chain network. The Anchor System bridged the block header data of source chain A and target chain B. When a cross-chain transaction request was issued, the Anchor System would receive the block data. Then, the Tangle Network repeater Relayer would forward the cross-chain request information and verify the authenticity of the information. Once the verification was effective, target chain B would be informed to receive or extract assets.

For example, Xiaoming wants to transfer 10ETH on Polygon to Arbitrum chain. At this time, Xiaoming initiates a request data for transferring 10ETH on Polygon, which needs to be encapsulated into 10webbETH on the target chain and stored in the privacy pool, which does not display the specific asset name. The Anchor System can synchronize the 10ETH request data to the Arbitrum chain. After verification, Xiao Ming's operation is effective, which means that Xiao Ming can transfer these webbWETH assets or part of them to the new private address public key with the transaction data, and the types of transferred assets can be hidden. webbWETH can then be unsealed to another address (similar to Tornado cash).

At this time, the user is involved in a total of 3 addresses. The original address is stored in the asset -- transferred to the public key address (private address) -- unsealed asset to the address, and so on. Then the user cannot trace your transaction.

At present, Hubble Bridge test version is online and supports asset transfer and extraction between Ethereum Goeril, Polygon Mubai, Arbitrum Goeril, Avalanche Fuji and other networks. Users can use the beta experience to move assets between different blockchains.

Interactive tutorial on Hubble Bridge (Take transferring ETH to Arbitrum from Goeril test network as an example.)

1) Hubble Bridge test net (https://app.webb.tools/#/bridge). Connect the Metamask wallet and switch to the Goeril network. The user needs to create a NoteAccount (which is used to connect the MetaMask wallet address to the public key);

2) Wrap and Deposit assets, select source chain and target chain, and input the amount of cross-chain assets. After submission, the cross-chain assets will be packaged into webb assets, such as ETH as webbETH.

It should be noted that a Spend note (withdrawal note) will be generated when the Deposit is submitted and needs to be copied. The withdrawal note records the details of the specific information of each transaction (such as private key and transfer amount) and users need to keep it confidential, because the holders of such information can withdraw the users' funds from the bridge. In addition, the transaction information is encrypted on the chain and stored on the local computer's hard drive. Users can use it to manage their assets.

3) Private transfer. Before transferring money, users can create a second private address, such as logging in with another wallet and creating an account, recording the public key;

Select Transfer token and target chain, enter the quantity, in the input step receiver address public key, click Transfer;

4) Unwrap and extract assets (Unwrap). Users can unwrap cross-chain assets to other assets or other addresses. Select Token, Unwrap asset type, amount, remaining assets, and receiving address (new receiving address can be filled in).

Because of this, users can transfer assets between different addresses with Hubble Bridge.