Enigma Blockchain Has a New Name and a Privacy Boost in the Works

The Enigma mainnet was rebranded the Secret Network after an on-chain proposal by the community unanimously passed on May 17. The new website, Twitter and blog, among other digital assets, went live Wednesday. 

The Secret Network, so named to describe its decentralized governance, is an open source network that protects data for users of decentralized applications, now known as “Secret Apps.” 

With 28 active validators, the vote was, in part, a move to bring the different core contributors under a single, identifiable umbrella, even though they remain separate entities, in part as a way to attract developers and users. With the rebrand now complete, an acute push for developers is one of the next steps. Key contributors to the development of the mainnet and governance include Enigma, Secretnodes.org and Chain Of Secrets, among others. 

“Enigma is thrilled that the branding for the mainnet blockchain now better reflects the communal effort supporting the chain, its growth and its mission — to bring privacy to public blockchains,” said Tor Bair, Head of Growth at Enigma, in a text message.

The Secret Network’s protocol lets decentralized applications utilize encrypted data without revealing it on a public blockchain, or even to nodes themselves, using smart contracts that can utilize private data termed “secret contracts.” The secret contract testnet is a few weeks away from launching but if all goes well it will then be proposed to the mainnet. 

As CoinDesk has reported previously, the aim is “to create a secure, off-chain environment able to process sensitive and private blockchain data with end-to-end encryption.” If the testnet is incorporated into the mainnet by a vote, it will be the first layer one blockchain with privacy-preserving smart contracts, according to Bair.

The mainnet is based on the Cosmos software development kit, a network of parallel independent blockchains, and using the consensus algorithm Tendermint. It was secured by a “Secret” coin when it originally launched in February. This move is an extension to expand that name to the whole network, and reflect its community driven progress. 

This comes a few months after an Enigma MPC settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over charges relating to the blockchain startup’s $45 million token sale in 2017. 

From now on, validators on the Secret Network will be known as “Secret Nodes,” and data being processed will be kept encrypted from the node itself. The network is also planning to conduct an incentivized testnet where validators can help develop this new function. 

“Enigma and the Secret Network community are now looking forward to the upcoming launch of our incentivized testnet and the Secret Games, where we’ll continue to test secret contract functionality for the network,” said Bair.