ING Bank Launches Zero-Knowledge Tech Solution Aiming At (Increased) Blockchain Privacy

One of the top-rated banks in the Netherlands, ING Bank, seems to be in pair with the other banks adopting blockchain as a technology that could improve the workflow and operations. In the latest daily blockchain news, we have ING and the release of its Zero-Knowledge Set Membership (ZKSM) solution that was announced this week at the Sibos banking conference.

According to the Netherlands-based lender, the zero-knowledge proofs (which are a way of proving possession of a secret without revealing the secret itself) are a technology that could be simplified within the bank for its internal uses, calling it zero-knowledge range proofs.

Speaking of, these proofs can prove a number inside a specific range. For example, a mortgage applicant could prove that their salary sits within a certain range without mentioning the exact figure. The reason why these proofs are being used is simple – they are computationally lighter than regular zero-knowledge proofs and run faster on a blockchain.

The zero-knowledge set membership (ZKSM) allows for alphanumeric data to be validated in specified sets, which in practice could move beyond numbers into other types of data such as proving dimensions and geographic positioning.

Annerie Vreugdenhil, who is the head of wholesale banking innovation at ING, is optimistic about the new system and said that ZKSM has amazing open-source capacity when dealing with data and privacy using distributed ledger technology (DLT). As she summed up the company’s shared beliefs:

“At ING, we are fortunate to have some of the best minds in the industry working on our programme. And we are excited that our ground-breaking solution is now ready to be implemented and tested.”