Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) Rollups: Scaling Ethereum (ETH) Confidentially
Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) rollups offer a novel solution for enhancing the confidentiality of EVM-based networks. The Fhenix team has released a whitepaper explaining how FHE rollups can be implemented in both the crypto segment and real-world spheres.
L2 innovator Fhenix introduces the first tech whitepaper for Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) rollups
Fhenix, a Web3 development team, has published its initial iteration of a “rolling tech whitepaper.” This document outlines the key components of Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) rollups, a privacy-focused scaling technology for Ethereum (ETH) and other popular EVM networks.
Currently, Fhenix ensures data integrity by utilizing a modified version of Arbitrum Nitro’s fraud prover, which can perform fraud proofs on the WebAssembly Virtual Machine (WASM). By compiling FHE logic into WebAssembly and running it securely on WASM code instead of the native Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Fhenix has achieved a secure environment.
Before Fhenix, competing tech designs relied on three pillars for development and adoption. They utilized Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to ensure secure decryption and computation of transactions. Additionally, Secure Multi-Party Computation employed linear secret-sharing and garbled circuits instead of FHE technology. Lastly, ZK techniques were primarily used for verifying computations rather than running confidential smart contracts.
In contrast, FHE by Fhenix is a modular system that separates the Sequencer, Validator, and Data Availability (DA) layers. Ethereum handles the data settlement and DA component, while Fhenix manages the Sequencer (execution) and Validator (transaction validation).
Introducing fheOS library and Threshold Services Network (TSN)
This component separation allows FHE rollups to execute more efficiently while still maintaining necessary access to Ethereum’s DA.
The core FHE logic is contained within Fhenix’s fheOS library, a software programming library that provides developers with everything they need to implement FHE logic into their smart contracts.
A crucial technology utilized is the Threshold Services Network (TSN), which facilitates tasks such as data decryption when required. One example is decrypting data to announce the outcome of a vote, which necessitates vote tallying. The TSN decrypts the data and returns it accordingly.
For further development, Fhenix has chosen an optimistic oracle architecture as it best suits FHE requirements and avoids the need to replicate expensive FHE computations across all Ethereum nodes.
