Panther’s CTO Discusses Future of DeFi Privacy on Epicenter Podcast
Gibraltor, Gibraltor, April 2nd, 2024, Chainwire
Anish Mohammed, Co-Founder, CTO, and Chief Scientist at Panther Protocol, recently joined Meher Roy on the Epicenter Podcast. They discussed Anish’s journey into crypto, the genesis of Panther Protocol, how Panther will preserve the privacy of its users, what’s coming in its Mainnet launch, and its mission to enable privacy and compliance in the DeFi space.
Who is Anish Mohammed?
Anish Mohammed’s foray into the tech world began at Ericsson, where he developed payment systems and became familiar with cryptography. Over his two-decade career in security and cryptography, he has designed and audited various blockchain protocols and advised on top Web3 projects. Previously, he was the lead security architect at HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group and held strategic roles at Accenture and Capgemini. Four years ago, Anish and Oliver Gale embarked on a journey to found Panther Protocol, a Zero-Knowledge, cross-protocol layer to safeguard user data and facilitate compliant DeFi access.
The need to preserve privacy and enable compliance
Panther Protocol addresses a critical gap in current blockchain technologies, where public ledgers like Bitcoin and Ethereum expose all transactions and smart contract interactions. This lack of privacy can disadvantage high-performing investors and significantly impact high-volume traders and corporations, who may want to protect the insights and advantages (or alpha) gleaned from their trading strategies. Unlike many ‘dark’ pools and privacy chains, which lack transparency and complicate regulatory compliance, Panther provides DeFi users with access to its privacy-preserving protocol but also enables their transaction history to be disclosed to anyone of their choosing, in part or as a whole, at will, enabling compliance. For example, a user might disclose certain information to a tax authority or a regulator, as required in their jurisdiction. Panther uses Zero-Knowledge proof-enabled KYC checks to ensure malicious actors do not use the protocol.
Preserving privacy amid disclosure
While Panther Protocol allows users to disclose transactions as needed, Panther takes steps to ensure there is always sufficient overall volume to mask non-disclosed transactions effectively.
One key component of how this gets done is via network participants who are rewarded for staking their assets to generate additional transactions and increase liquidity pools. In the process, the privacy of non-disclosed transactions is preserved.
The importance of Shielded Pools for DeFi’s future
Shielded Pools are at the heart of Panther Protocol, offering a privacy-centric solution for DeFi transactions. These pools, supported by advanced cryptographic methods like zk-SNARKs, allow users to transact while retaining the option to disclose information for compliance. The Shielded Pool is pivotal for the Protocol, enabling users to interact with DeFi applications privately and securely.
For a deeper dive into Shielded Pools, including the intricacies of Zones and Zone Managers, visit Panther’s blog on Shielded Pools.
What’s coming in Panther’s Mainnet beta launch?
Anish Mohammed presented some of the features that Protocol participants can expect to see in the upcoming Mainnet beta product:
- zAccount registration. A zAccount is a user’s private identity and entry point to Panther, aligning with KYC protocols and using Zero-Knowledge proofs.
- Privacy-staking reward mechanism: Panther incentivizes network participants to enhance the pool’s transaction set and liquidity by staking assets.
- Transactions and communication between Zones: exchange of assets and information across different Zones in Panther.
- Withdrawals: The action of converting and transferring zAssets back to standard tokens.
- Basic disclosures: The user can reveal details about transactions conducted within Panther, allowing for compliance and verification.
- Advanced disclosures: Offers users the capability to selectively disclose specific aspects of their transactions, providing flexibility in privacy and compliance.
- zAccount renewals: Regular verification and update of a user’s KYC information to ensure ongoing compliance and integrity of their zAccount.
- DeFi Swap adapter: A tool that integrates Panther with external DeFi platforms, facilitating private and compliant swaps and other transactions.
- zTrade: Zero-Knowledge trades with others in the same Zone.
Panther Protocol, under the guidance of Co-Founder Anish Mohammed, is at the forefront of addressing this challenge. By pioneering Shielded Pools and facilitating the role of Zone Managers, Panther is setting a new standard for privacy preservation and compliance in DeFi. Panther Protocol’s innovative approach protects users’ data and paves the way for institutional participation in the DeFi ecosystem. As Panther progresses toward its next development phases, the call for testers allows the community contribute to a more private and compliant DeFi future.
Panther invites users to join its journey in shaping a balanced world where privacy meets compliance, empowering users and institutions to navigate the DeFi landscape securely and transparently.
About Panther
Panther is a cross-protocol layer that uses zero-knowledge technology to build DeFi solutions that aim to meet ever-evolving regulatory standards while satisfying users’ on-chain data privacy needs. Panther’s goal is to enable seamless access to DeFi via a cross-chain-supported ZK compliance protocol. The Panther Protocol offers confidentiality across transactions in shielded pools, zSwap for DeFi integrations — enabling private swaps on third-party DEXs, and zTrade for internal OTC book for trading assets privately. Furthermore, Panther Protocol’s zero-knowledge primitives are generalizable to KYC, selective disclosures between trusted parties, private ID, voting, and data verification services.
Disclaimer: Panther is not recommending that readers engage in cryptoasset trading activity, and users or potential users of the protocol should not regard this message or its contents as involving any form of recommendation, invitation, or inducement to deal in cryptoassets. Due to the potential for losses, regulators consider this asset class to be high risk.
