ING, the Dutch financial group, has announced the creation of a new financier-friendly anonymous proof called a ‘Zero-knowledge range proof,’ or ZKRP for short. The risks of security and privacy for financial institutions have kept many out of the Blockchain technology market.

Anonymity is key

The new proof is designed to maintain anonymity while still confirming the accuracy of a transaction. ING’s Blockchain Lead Mariana Gomez de la Villa claims:

“ING’s ZKRP solution has been proven to be 10 times more efficient than others in the Ethereum test network while upholding the same three principles: completeness, soundness and zero-knowledge.”

The process for verifying transactions in traditional financial systems requires extensive information regarding the counterparties. However, with zero-knowledge proof systems, no additional information is required beyond the simple verification. This makes the transaction fully anonymous and yet confirmed, something critical for any mainstream financial adoption.

The reality that large-scale financial institutions are beginning to consider Blockchain technology for internal transfers has been clear for some time. With companies like Mastercard, American Express, Bank of America and the Nasdaq exchange beginning to search for Blockchain solutions, the future for the technology is substantial.