AMSTERDAM (IDCA) - The Dero Project recently demonstrated its DERO homomorphic encryption (Derohe), with implications for the growing use of blockchain within encryption protocols and practices. The Dero Project “represents the ongoing evolution of a thriving ecosystem that protects a user's privacy while enabling lightning-fast transactions and settlement times,” according to Dero's recent update.

Homomorphic encryption enables complex mathematical operations to be performed on encrypted data without compromising the encryption. A homomorphic operation transforms one set of data – such as encrypted code – into another while preserving the original structure.

Homomorphic encryption differs from typical encryption methods because it enables mathematical computations to be performed directly on the encrypted data, which can make the handling of user data by third parties safer. Homomorphic encryption is designed to create an encryption algorithm that enables an infinite number of additions to encrypted data.

Derohe encrypts user balances and transactions before they are operated on, according to Dero, “allowing the blockchain to function, update balances, and transact without ever having to decrypt user balances or exact transaction numbers. The history of transactions and balances is established via mathematical proofs, easily verified without the need for a transparent blockchain, and allows for chain pruning and verification of history without having to scan the entire blockchain.”

Dero's encryption is of use against the criminal organizations and bad actors in governments that try to hack into blockchain transactions. “Even the best (traditional) encryption relies upon first decrypting data in order to analyze it, according to the Project's update. “The decryption stage is where vulnerabilities lie. (With homomorphic encryption), data can be recorded, stored, secured, verified, and even shared without ever decrypting it."

Dero is now hosting an event called dARCH, a six-month hackathon scheduled through May 1, 2023. The hackathon offers a total prize pool valued at over $40,000, with competition taking place in three separate events.