Fhenix, an Ethereum layer-2 platform that wishes to convey totally homomorphic encryption (FHE) to sensible contracts, revealed that it is going to be working with EigenLayer to develop FHE coprocessors.
A coprocessor is a further processor designed to carry out specialised duties in an usually extra environment friendly manner than a central processing unit. An instance of this within the trade immediately is zero-knowledge (zk) coprocessors, that are used to scale zk rollup computations off-chain.
FHE coprocessors are comparable, although their particular focus can be to allow computing over encrypted knowledge with out having to decrypt the knowledge first. FHE coprocessors will be sure that delicate, difficult computational duties won’t be dealt with on Ethereum or a subsequent layer-2 or layer-3, however somewhat by a chosen processor.
Learn extra: What’s totally homomorphic encryption and the way will it change blockchain?
“As soon as thought-about inconceivable, FHE coprocessors resolve the problem of analyzing giant knowledge units on Ethereum with out compromising on-chain efficiency,” Fhenix CEO Man Itzhaki stated in a press launch reviewed by Blockworks.
Itzhaki notes that FHE coprocessors will allow a extra environment friendly solution to course of encrypted knowledge with out exposing private data, unlocking new use instances on the blockchain.
FHE coprocessors are designed in a solution to obtain inputs from the host chain as an alternative of storing a state themselves, enabling them to be performance-optimized and stay idle till wanted. For effectivity functions, they are going to depend on fraud proofs as an alternative of zk proofs, which might be settled on the host chain.

FHE coprocessors might be secured by Fhenix’s FHE rollup and EigenLayer’s staking mechanism. EigenLayer allows actively validated companies (AVS) to inherit pooled Ethereum safety.
Through the use of EigenLayer, the FHE coprocessor can assure the financial correctness of the rollup’s execution. If operations are discovered to be malicious, then the stake of those validators might be slashed. Fhenix believes that this removes the need for a fraud-proof interval. Doing so can even get rid of the dispute interval, making affirmation occasions quicker.
Learn extra: Why knowledge availability sampling issues for blockchain scaling
Man Zyskind, the founding father of Fhenix, remarks that FHE coprocessors might be not solely possible but additionally scalable.
“Confidential computing will develop at scale, and the flexibility to offer fast confirmations wouldn’t be in any other case potential with out our joint efforts with EigenLayer,” Zyskind stated.