Secret Network Launches Bridge to Bring Transactional Privacy to Ethereum

The Secret Network, a privacy-focused blockchain, has launched its Ethereum bridge, which lets assets be transferred between Ethereum and the Secret Network privately. A bridge essentially offers interoperability between the protocols. 

The Secret bridge, initially announced in December, will make privacy cheaper and more practical for Ethereum and Ethereum-based assets.

According to the blog post announcement, “it allows users to create synthetic (wrapped) ETH and ERC-20 tokens on Secret Network that can be used with full privacy, at lower cost.”  

Tor Bair, the Secret Foundation’s executive director and chairman, said the biggest immediate benefit for users when it comes to this recent move is that they can gain transaction privacy. Users can turn Ethereum-based assets into Secret Tokens, which are “programmable like ERC-20s but privacy preserving like zcash or monero,” according to Bair.

Bair said the cost for ETH or ERC-20 holders using the Secret Network would be lower than using other privacy-preserving alternatives like TornadoCash, a tool for obfuscating the history of ether (ETH) transactions.

Tornado Cash uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), a cryptographic tool that proves a transaction occurred without revealing the information within the payment itself.

Secret smart contracts

The Secret Network’s key offering is the secret contract, a type of smart contract that allows private data to be used in decentralized applications without revealing the raw data. The inputs, outputs and network state are encrypted in a secret contract, which means the data is hidden even on a public blockchain. It is also invisible to the nodes executing the contract.

“In addition, you’ll be able to access upcoming decentralized finance [DeFi]applications on Secret Network, such as a front-running resistant AMM [automated market maker],” said Bair. “After launch we also plan to introduce ‘bridge mining’ rewards, where users of the Secret Ethereum Bridge can earn Secret Tokens for providing bridge liquidity. These rewards are available for both ETH and ERC-20s.”

The bridge will also give users access to Secret DeFi, privacy-preserving decentralized finance apps built on the Secret Network. For example, OCEAN and Secret have partnered to provide “trustless and convenient access control for Ocean datatokens as well as decentralized private compute via Secret Network.”

The full list of ERC-20 assets that are currently supported are BAND, AAVE, SNX, MKR, LINK, OCEAN, TUSD, YFI, UNI, KNC, COMP and DAI.

“Our community will be continuing to launch Secret DeFi applications that utilize Secret Tokens, especially our upcoming Secret AMM,” said Bair. 

“We will also be exploring bridges and support for additional assets and ecosystems, including other Tendermint chains such as Cosmos. As a result, our AMM will feature cross-chain functionality and front-running resistance, and it will also allow you to trade Secret Tokens that are native to Secret Network.”