Trust as the Currency for a Secure Digital Future with Nillion’s Bold MPC Technology

Have you ever wondered what’s next in digital innovation? At Digital Consensus Fund, we’re accelerating the momentum with our latest groundbreaking investment in Nillion—THE boldest entrant in secure computation networks. Nillion decentralises trust for high-value data, much like blockchain decentralises transactions.

Well, the whole mission of this incredible protocol can be summed up in one sentence: “Nillion decentralises trust for sensitive data in the same way that blockchains decentralised transactions.” Trusting a single institution with sensitive data is a real danger in emerging ecosystems, as is the case with identification, decentralised commerce, and personalised artificial intelligence. But Nillion is here to change that.

Understanding How Nillion Works

Unitary and powerful, Nillion’s architecture is designed to ensure secure, decentralised data processing with distinct, robust layers. Nodes equipped with Nillion’s Node Deployment Kit (NDK) form compute clusters in the Processing Layer, distributing trust and securely processing data. This setup prevents any single node from having complete access to the data, strengthening overall security and integrity.

The Coordination Layer operates as a blockchain execution environment, streamlining intra-node activities. It facilitates payments, handles requests, and coordinates network resources efficiently, ensuring smooth operations within the network. In the Connectivity Layer, the network interfaces with external systems and blockchains, expanding access to Nillion’s compute and storage capabilities. Altogether, this integration allows users to seamlessly leverage Nillion’s secure processing power across various platforms and applications.

Challenge 1 – Safe Storage

Conventional methods of protecting high-value data usually consist of encrypting the data prior to storage. Although this method keeps the data safe while at rest, what happens when it needs to be accessed and processed? The cycle of encrypting, decrypting, and re-encrypting introduces vulnerabilities and inefficiencies, creating potential weak points where data can be exposed.

Nillion implements Multi-Party Computation (MPC) to keep data encrypted even during processing. Data stored on Nillion’s peer-to-peer network of nodes can be computed while still in its masked form. This approach eliminates the need to decrypt data before computation, significantly strengthening security levels and reducing the risk of data breaches during processing.

Challenge 2 – Computational Security

Once data is encrypted and stored, traditional processes require decrypting it to perform necessary computations, then re-encrypting it afterward. Most of the time, this decrypt-compute-re-encrypt cycle is time-consuming and exposes the data to potential security risks during the computation phase.

Since it enables computations directly on encrypted (or masked) data, Nillion removes the need for this risky cycle. Computations are performed on the masked data within the network, and the data remains secure throughout the entire process. This advancement significantly improves both security and efficiency in data handling.

Challenge 3 – Decentralisation of Data Management

Decentralisation, often synonymous with blockchain technology, aims to distribute data across multiple nodes to ensure transparency and resilience. Still, this approach can complicate maintaining consistent security standards and efficient processing across the network.

Nillion takes decentralisation to the next level without sacrificing security or efficiency. Data is distributed across multiple nodes in its peer-to-peer network, and thanks to MPC, each node can independently compute masked data. This decentralised yet secure approach guarantees reliable data management, overcoming typical hurdles associated with decentralised systems.

Real, Innovative Use Cases for Nillion

What if sensitive information could be processed securely without any risk of exposure? Nillion’s advanced multi-party computation (MPC) technology makes this possible.

In healthcare, Nillion provides a solution for securely detecting COVID-19 from X-rays. Users can select an X-ray image (healthy or infected), and a neural network processes it to create a neural network view. The masked image data is then sent to various nodes in the network. Each node computes its share of the result without ever seeing the actual data, ensuring complete confidentiality. The recipient reconstructs the prediction from the secret shares provided by the nodes. Sensitive medical data remains private, which is critical for maintaining patient confidentiality while using AI for diagnostics.

To recognise handwritten digits, users draw a digit or select an existing one. The image is processed to create a neural network view, then masked and sent to network nodes. Each node computes its share of the result, and the final prediction is reconstructed from the secret shares. Secure computation can handle personal data, ensuring privacy while achieving accurate results.

Nillion’s technology also improves everyday tasks like spam detection. The model owner uploads an encrypted logistic regression model to the browser while the data owner pastes and tokenises an email. The tokenised message is masked and sent to the network for classification. Each node computes its share of the spam prediction, and the final result is reconstructed from the secret shares. E-mail content remains confidential, as Nillion balances privacy with functionality.

A Phenomenal Team Driving Innovation & Strong Endorsement by Influential Figures for Nillion

Betting on Nillion means betting on a team that knows how to execute and innovate.  The ex-founding Engineer from Uber brings insights from one of the most transformative tech companies. The Co-founder of Hedera Hashgraph adds deep blockchain and decentralised technology expertise, while the Co-founder of Indiegogo offers a unique perspective on crowdfunding and startup growth.

Experts from Coinbase and Goldman Sachs round out the team with critical financial and cryptocurrency experience. Quite clearly, this team’s track record makes Nillion a safer bet for those looking to invest in groundbreaking technology.

Even more, Nillion has garnered attention and endorsement from influential figures in the tech and investment community. In their first fundraising round, which took place on December 12, 2022, Nillion received $20 million. Ansem, a respected voice in tech and investment circles, has endorsed Nillion. Such endorsements don’t come lightly. Ansem’s support clearly demonstrates that Nillion’s technology and business model have strong market potential. Eventualy, this kind of endorsement can be the push needed to jump on board.

The data renaissance is happening right now, and we believe that this is a golden opportunity as Nillion scales and gains adoption.

Disclaimer

Please note: The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. It is not intended to be used to evaluate any investment decision and should not be relied upon for accounting, legal, tax, business, or investment advice. You are encouraged to consult with your own advisers, including legal and financial professionals, for guidance tailored to your specific circumstances.