1. Core Technology
The technical core of Vlayer is the innovative Prover and Verifier smart contract models, which, combined with the zkEVM infrastructure, enable smart contracts to achieve powerful functions.
Prover Smart Contract: Off-chain Computation and Proof Generation
How it works: The Prover smart contract receives input data from the dApp, performs calculations off-chain in Vlayer's zkEVM infrastructure while keeping the input data private, and generates a proof. These calculations do not consume on-chain gas fees.
Output: After the calculation is completed, Prover publishes the tamper-proof calculation result and proof to the Verifier smart contract on the chain.
Verifier: On-chain verification and execution
How it works: The Verifier smart contract is deployed on an EVM-compatible blockchain. It receives computational results and proofs from the Prover smart contract and verifies the correctness of these proofs on-chain without leaking the underlying data. Once the verification is successful, the Verifier contract will execute the corresponding instructions.
Ensure security: Once the verification logic is deployed on the blockchain, it cannot be changed, ensuring consistency and permissionless access. This provides a secure and efficient execution environment for dApps.
2. Core Functions
Time Travel
Time travel is based on the function of the Prover contract, which allows smart contracts to access past block data, which is impossible in traditional Solidity. Traditional Solidity smart contracts can only read the status of the current block and cannot directly obtain the historical status, which is very limited when auditing, verifying data, or handling security incidents. For example, in the DAO attack, developers could only restore the security of the chain through a hard fork, which led to the split of Ethereum into ETH and ETC.
Practical benefits and effects:
Protocol state rollback: The time travel function is very useful in responding to security incidents. Take the aBNBc hacker attack as an example. At that time, the hacker issued a large number of bills through a vulnerability, causing serious asset losses. If Vlayer's time travel function was available at that time, developers could trace the contract state back to before the hacker attack, verify and restore the asset status without affecting the entire public chain and other projects in its ecosystem. This capability provides projects with more flexible and low-cost response measures.
Security defense mechanism: The time travel function can also help developers analyze abnormal behaviors in historical blocks, identify potential attack patterns and suspicious operations, and build security defense mechanisms for smart contracts based on these data. By tracing and aggregating past block data, developers can optimize the security strategy of the contract and prevent possible risks in advance.
Audit and data analysis: Developers can easily trace back historical data of users or projects, providing a reliable basis for contract audits, user ratings, governance decisions, etc.
Teleport
Teleport is a feature based on the Prover contract that enables smart contracts to switch seamlessly between multiple blockchains without the need for traditional cross-chain communication mechanisms. There are many EVM chains in the Ethereum ecosystem, such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base. In the past, it was extremely challenging to develop an application that could interact with multiple chains, but Vlayer's Teleport feature makes this process simple and efficient. Developers can easily switch the execution context of smart contracts to different chains and blocks. This means that smart contracts can access data on multiple blockchains in the same call, thereby breaking the siloed state between chains and improving the flexibility of multi-chain interactions.
Practical benefits and effects:
Multi-chain asset display: Users can view asset balances on all chains in a single interface without having to manually switch networks. This feature greatly improves the user experience of wallet applications and multi-chain asset management platforms. For example, if a user holds USDC on Ethereum mainnet, Arbitrum, and Base, Vlayer's transfer function can aggregate and display the user's total assets without any cumbersome operations.
Multi-chain asset transaction aggregation: The Teleport function simplifies the cross-chain transaction process. By obtaining the user's asset balances on multiple chains and generating on-chain notes, developers can aggregate these assets for trading. Transaction verification is also faster and more efficient, saving costs for users and protocols. For example, a cross-chain decentralized trading platform can use Vlayer to achieve fast and secure multi-chain asset exchange without relying on traditional cross-chain bridges.
Web Proofs
Web Proof allows smart contracts to access and verify Web2 data via HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). Unlike traditional oracles, Web Proof not only accesses public information, but also supports access to private data, allowing developers to use this private data in smart contracts. Only a small portion of the required data will be published on-chain to ensure privacy and security. This capability enables smart contracts to interact securely with the Web2 world and promotes the transition of Web2 applications to the Web3 ecosystem.
Difference from traditional oracles: Traditional oracles are used to provide public data, such as cryptocurrency prices, for use in DeFi and on-chain games. However, oracles are prone to security issues when obtaining private data and may leak sensitive information. Web proof uses HTTPS technology to ensure that data owners can verify the authenticity of data without exposing any sensitive information. This makes web proofs and oracles form a complementary relationship: oracles process public data, while web proofs focus on private data.
Practical benefits and effects:
Binding on-chain addresses to Web2 application accounts: The web proof feature allows users to bind on-chain addresses to Web2 application accounts (such as Twitter accounts), enabling more innovative scenarios such as automated subscriptions, tipping features, or on-chain transactions. For example, users can implement social media-based identity verification in Web3 applications by proving the association between a Twitter account and their wallet. The potential of this feature far exceeds existing Web3 social platforms, such as Blinks on Solana.
Web2 application incentives and on-chain distribution: Web proofs can also help developers design Web2.5 applications and provide a seamless transition from Web2 to Web3. By verifying user behavior on the Web2 platform (such as social media participation or content creation), developers can convert these behaviors into on-chain reward distribution. For example, a Web2 application can distribute cryptocurrency or NFT rewards to users based on the frequency of their interaction on the platform, enhancing user participation and loyalty.
Email Proof
Email proofs allow smart contracts to access and verify email content, bringing Web2 communication data securely on-chain. In today's Internet ecosystem, email remains a core means of creating accounts and verifying identities. With Vlayer's Prover contract, smart contracts can parse emails and use key information for on-chain verification without exposing the full email content. Vlayer verifies the email server's signature to ensure the authenticity and integrity of the email content. This means that smart contracts can trust that email data has not been tampered with and safely use it for on-chain operations.
Practical benefits and effects:
Identity verification and wallet recovery: Email proof can be used as a powerful identity verification tool for wallet recovery, multi-signature contract verification, institutional identity verification, and compliance audits. For example, if a user loses their access key, they can recover wallet access by verifying their email address. In addition, large enterprises can use email verification to simplify the identity confirmation process for multi-signature contracts and improve overall security.
Automated service subscriptions and transactions: By sending invoices via email, developers can automate service subscriptions on-chain. For example, a company can send a subscription invoice via email and automatically complete the payment or subscription process on-chain after the customer confirms it. This feature can also support multi-party on-chain transactions and audits, providing companies with a more efficient and transparent way to manage their finances.
JSON and Regex
JSON and Regex are supporting tools for Web Proof and Email Proof functions, which facilitate developers to parse and verify off-chain data. These tools enable Vlayer smart contracts to directly process and verify complex text and data formats, providing smart contracts with more data interaction capabilities. Please refer to the previous article for application scenarios.
3. Finance and Financing
Vlayer announced on November 5, 2024 that it had completed a $10 million seed round of financing to support technical capacity expansion and ecological cooperation. Investors in this round include a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Credo Ventures, and BlockTower Capital. Angel investors also include Remco Bloemen of World (formerly Worldcoin), Jakub Florkiewicz of World developer Tools For Humanity, and Zac Williamson, Joe Andrews, and Kev Wedderburn of Aztec.
4. Team and core members
The eVlayer team is composed of experienced blockchain, cryptography, and zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology experts, focusing on building Web3 infrastructure that supports decentralized data verification. Team members include professionals with extensive experience in technology research and development, product design, and project operations to promote innovation in the fields of data privacy and on-chain verification. The team's professional background combined with technical expertise supports Vlayer's breakthroughs in ZK technology and Web3 security.
V. Potential Impact and Future Outlook
Vlayer's core innovation is reflected in its subversion of the smart contract development paradigm. It not only greatly expands the capabilities of Solidity in terms of functionality, but also provides a new solution for multi-chain ecology and off-chain data interaction. Time travel and teleportation functions truly change the way smart contracts are written from the underlying language, while Web Proofs and email proofs greatly reduce the technical barriers between Web2 and Web3.Impact on the multi-chain ecosystem: The transmission function can subvert the existing cross-chain communication protocol, reduce the development complexity of multi-chain projects, and improve user experience.
Enhanced security and privacy: ZK proofs and email signature verification provide smart contracts with higher security guarantees while reducing the risk of attacks.
Seamless Web3 experience: By simplifying the interaction between Web2 and Web3, ordinary users can use Web3 applications without having a technical background.
Vlayer has built a decentralized trusted data infrastructure in the Web3 field through zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology, bringing higher privacy and transparency to data verification. This technology creates a trustless verification mechanism for Web3 applications, enhances data integrity, and provides support for scenarios such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and digital identity. In the future, it may serve as a bridge between Web2 and Web3, allowing more traditional Internet users to transition to the Web3 environment in a more convenient and secure way, thereby promoting the mainstream application of blockchain technology.
The article is for sharing and communication only and does not constitute investment advice.
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