EY Secures Biz Transactions On Public Blockchains

A new technology protocol announced by corporate accounting and auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY) aims to secure transactions made over public Ethereum blockchain.

EY announced this week that its zero-knowledge proof private transaction protocol will be released into the public domain to fuel adoption of the technology, first unveiled last October at Ethereum Devcon. The solution aims to help enterprises and investors to conduct private, secure transactions on a public blockchain.

“Making public blockchains secure and scalable is a priority for EY,” said Paul Brody, EY global innovation leader, blockchain, in a statement. “The fastest way to spread this privacy-enhancing technology was to make it public. The gold standard in security is only achieved with the kind of intense review and testing that comes with public domain releases.”

The technology supports token payments that adhere to the ERC-20 standard and asset transfers compatible with the ERC-721 standard, EY explained. Only entities authorized to view information pertaining to these transactions will be able to see it, while companies can provide full traceability and transaction history to regulators and auditors.

“The most efficient way to maximize blockchain adoption is to release this work to the community as a true contribution, with no strings attacks,” Brody continued. “The only way that blockchains deliver upon their true promise to the world is if public domain networks are the preferred path for enterprises and investors.”

EY said it plans to release the software code into the public domain in four to six weeks. Separate reports this week in LedgerInsights said that while the technology will not be subject to copyright, EY is pursuing a patent related to the tool.

Earlier this year EY announced a crypto accounting tool, its EY Crypto-Asset Accounting and Tax (CAAT) solution, to allow institutional clients to manage and report their crypto assets held on balance sheets.