The crypto platform that brings real-world data to on-chain smart contracts, Chainlink, is acquiring Cornell University’s privacy tech solution DECO.
In a press release, Chainlink says DECO boosts the security features of HTTPS and TLS, which are protocols used to send data all over the internet. With DECO, data transmitted from various sources remain confidential and tamper-free through the use of state-of-the-art cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs – a protocol employed by privacy coins such as Zcash (ZEC).
DECO’s creator and former chief scientist of RSA, Ari Juels, will serve as chief scientist of Chainlink Labs after the acquisition. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov says the acquisition opens new doors for the fifth-largest cryptocurrency.
“We have long collaborated with Ari Juels; this acquisition enables us to fully integrate DECO’s unique data security capabilities within Chainlink, which already secures more than $3 billion in value, while also expanding the scope of what Chainlink/DECO validated data can now be used for, well beyond blockchains.“
Chainlink highlights that the new layer of data security is “an order of magnitude improvement” from the status quo. The blockchain company explains that a Chainlink node paired with DECO will enable the secure transfer of premium data into public blockchains and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. The pairing will also allow businesses to prove the condition of private data without sharing any internal data while consumers can provide proof of personal information, like bank account details, without sharing full access to their accounts.