Fully Homomorphic Encryption ( FHE ) The current development status and application prospects of the technology.

Cryptographic technology has played an important role in the progress of human civilization, especially in the fields of information security and privacy protection. In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto creatively combined asymmetric encryption and hash functions to design the proof-of-work mechanism, which promoted the birth of Bitcoin and opened the blockchain era.

With the development of blockchain technology, some cutting-edge cryptographic techniques are gradually emerging, including Zero Knowledge Proof ( ZKP ), Multi-Party Computation ( MPC ), and Fully Homomorphic Encryption ( FHE ), among others. Among them, FHE, known as the "Holy Grail" of cryptography, allows arbitrary computations on encrypted data without decryption, thereby achieving composable on-chain privacy computing and bringing new possibilities to multiple fields.

The core feature of FHE is that it allows for computations and operations on ciphertext, which can be directly mapped to plaintext, preserving the mathematical properties of the encrypted data. FHE supports an infinite number of computations and operations on encrypted data.

In the field of FHE, the open-source products of Microsoft and Zama have significant influence. Microsoft's SEAL library supports fully homomorphic encryption and partial homomorphic encryption, providing an efficient C++ interface. Zama's TFHE library focuses on high-performance fully homomorphic encryption, offering services through a C language interface.

For blockchain applications, using a threshold multi-party secure computation scheme (TMPC) to manage decryption keys is a promising option. This scheme allows multiple participants to jointly manage the keys, and data can only be decrypted when a predetermined threshold number is reached, enhancing security.

In addition to providing the TFHE library, Zama has launched two important products: Concrete ML and fhEVM. Concrete ML is used for privacy-preserving computation in machine learning, while fhEVM supports the use of FHE technology in Ethereum smart contracts.

The Fhenix project is exploring the integration of fhEVM with Rollup technology to build an FHE-Rollups type Layer 2 solution. Fhenix adopts the Optimistic Rollups scheme, with a technology stack that includes a variant of Arbitrum Nitro's fraud prover, the core library fheOS, and components such as the threshold service network (TSN).

Fhenix also introduced the Relay module, allowing various public chains and Layer 2/3 networks to connect to the FHE Coprocessors to utilize FHE functionalities. By collaborating with EigenLayer, Fhenix enhanced the efficiency and flexibility of the FHE Coprocessors.

FHE technology has a broad application prospect in fields such as full-chain gaming, DeFi, and AI:

1. Provide encryption protection in the game to prevent real-time manipulation and protect player privacy.

2. Protect sensitive data in DeFi and reduce the risk of MEV attacks.

3. Protecting personal privacy data in AI model training.

The FHE technology has been recognized by industry figures including Vitalik Buterin. In addition to Zama and Fhenix, there are several noteworthy projects in the FHE ecosystem, such as Sunscreen, Mind Network, PADO Labs, Arcium, Inco Network, and Treat. Non-profit research and educational institutions like FHE.org and FHE Onchain also provide important support for ecosystem development.

With the development of projects like Fhenix, FHE technology is expected to be widely applied in various fields, bringing new innovations and vitality to the blockchain and encryption sectors.