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Oh Hyun-wook, a professor at Hanyang University, is one of Korea's leading cryptography experts. A paper he authored on his specialty, 'Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP)', was selected as the 'Best Paper' in global top-tier journals in the security field. He also supplied technology for the Bank of Korea's digital currency (CBDC) simulation experiments. Recognized for his contributions to the field of cryptography, he received awards including the Minister of Science and ICT Commendation and the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Hongjo Geunjeong).
However, there were those who viewed Professor Oh's research with skepticism. The prevailing opinion was that too much computing power is required to implement zero-knowledge proof technology, making the computation speed too slow for practical use. Professor Oh decided to prove that it could be fully commercialized. To demonstrate its social impact, he succeeded in creating and showcasing a 'voting system'.
Once the technology was developed, passing it on to others proved difficult as well. Thus, in the winter of 2020, he started his own company, transitioning from 'Professor Oh' to 'Oh (CEO)'. This marked the birth of the blockchain security startup ZkCrypto.
Ensuring Security for Electronic Voting…Utilization Possible from Next Presidential Election Upon Legal Amendment
The symbolic technology of ZkCrypto, 'Zero-Knowledge Proof', is essentially a technology that mathematically proves the possession and authenticity of information without directly showing one's secret information to the other party. With this technology applied to the voting system zkVoting developed by ZkCrypto, it became possible to prove a participant's right to vote and whether they voted, while concealing 'who they voted for'.
Currently, the electronic voting solution adopted by the National Election Commission is zkVoting. Electronic voting is possible through this system at public institutional investors and schools. Recently, ahead of local government elections, one of the major political parties has also used zkVoting for its internal primaries. However, to use it in general elections, presidential elections, and local elections, an amendment to the Public Official Election Act is required.
Oh Hyeon-ok (CEO) stated, "If election laws are amended, electronic voting can be utilized from the next presidential election onwards for overseas Koreans or shipboard voting." This means that electronic voting can become a powerful tool guaranteeing rights for those with the least access to polling stations.
In fact, while there are estimated to be over 2 million overseas residents eligible to vote, only about 200,000 are registered on the voter rolls. Overseas, citizens face the inconvenience of having to report their intention to vote in person for each election and travel long distances to polling stations. Remote voting is not possible.
While 'shipboard voting' for sailors can be done remotely, it does not guarantee secrecy because the captain collects all sailors' ballots and transmits them via fax. Oh (CEO) explained, "If sailors use zkVoting, they will be able to uphold not only the principle of general elections but also the principle of secret elections."
Bithumb's Overpayment Incident: A Real-Time Monitoring Solution Could Have Prevented It
Oh Hyeon-ok (CEO) stated, "Having secured zero-knowledge proof-based technology made expanding into various fields relatively easy," and added, "However, we decided to prioritize entering areas with significant market potential where trust and privacy are crucial."
Therefore, the field entered after voting was 'finance'. Currently, ZkCrypto is providing a digital asset wallet called 'zkWallet' that guarantees user anonymity while allowing post-audit, and a trading platform called 'Pineapple' that allows financial institutional investors to verify their reserve status in real-time without exposing asset details externally.
Oh (CEO) referred to the tens of trillions of won worth of Bitcoin overpayment incident that occurred at Bithumb last February, stating, "It was an inevitable accident because there was no function to monitor collateral in real time." At the time, the amount of Bitcoin Bithumb accidentally paid out reached approximately 12 times its actual holdings.
Since February, ZkCrypto has partnered with Samsung SDS to integrate digital asset security solution technology into Samsung SDS's cloud environment to verify compatibility. They will also jointly review future commercialization possibilities. The purpose is to build a digital asset trust infrastructure model that can prevent a 'second Bithumb incident' by applying zero-knowledge proof technology to cloud infrastructure and checking its commercial viability.
Infinite Expansion from Logistics to Regulatory Compliance
ZkCrypto plans to expand its business scope in the future with 'zkLogistics', which applies zero-knowledge proof technology to logistics, and 'zkCohort', which applies it to large amounts of personal information. zkLogistics is a solution that shows the flow of logistics to customers without exposing distribution product information. zkCohort can help researchers utilize data held by medical-related institutional investors such as the National Health Insurance Service Review & Evaluation Service (HIRA) while preventing infringement on personal privacy.
Oh (CEO) explained, "Zero-knowledge proof is also useful in responding to the Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulations that will be applied to textile and battery products in Europe starting next year," adding, "It allows companies to guarantee trade secrets while proving compliance with local regulations."
DPP requires proof that a product was made without child exploitation and did not cause environmental destruction. In this process, there is concern that confidential information from battery companies could be transferred to certification institutional investors. However, by utilizing zero-knowledge proof technology, it becomes possible to obtain certification without leaking product information.
High Technical Barriers Built by Academics…The Key is 'Integration with Regulations'
Zero-knowledge proof technology goes beyond simple encryption, integrating various mathematical theories. Implementing this as actual software is also not easy. ZkCrypto has optimized this complex calculation process to be light and fast enough to run on mobile devices. This is an area that general developers find difficult to catch up with.
World-renowned cryptographer Oh Hyeon-ok (CEO), along with Kim Ji-hye, a professor at Kookmin University's Department of Electronic Engineering who serves as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) after co-founding ZkCrypto, constitute the human resources that form ZkCrypto's technical barrier. Cryptographers at Oh (CEO)'s level are rare, but cases where they directly jump into the startup front lines are even rarer. Latecomers cannot catch up simply by using open source. Thanks to this originality, ZkCrypto has consecutively received the Top Innovation Award in the Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection categories at CES 2023-2024.
Oh (CEO) stated, "Before commercializing technology, we first solve difficulties that arise during the concept proof (PoC) process at school," calling it an advantage of lab startups. He further added, "The commercialization of zero-knowledge proof is not just a technical issue but also significantly depends on integration with regulations. In conservative areas like financial systems, it is difficult for new companies to enter, so some improvements are needed."
[MoneyToday startup media platform 'Unicorn Factory']
in FUTURE
