Solana infrastructure company Helius has acquired Light Protocol and is developing Solana privacy solutions.
According to a recent report by The Block, Light Protocol was founded in 2021 with the goal of introducing zero-knowledge proof-based privacy to Solana.
It later changed course to develop ZK Compression with Helius to cut data storage costs. Launched in 2024, ZK Compression is an infrastructure framework that uses zero-knowledge proofs to reduce Solana data storage costs. It supports developers in building large-scale consumer and enterprise apps.
Helius said the acquisition will again step up Light Protocol's work on Solana privacy, its original goal. The Light Protocol team will focus on building a ZK-based privacy protocol for Solana-based private payments and private decentralised finance (DeFi). The protocol can be optimised for retail and institutional uses. Helius plans to unveil the new privacy infrastructure to developers within the next few months.
Helius founder Mert Mumtaz (머트 뭄타즈) said, "Crypto without privacy is not crypto." He added, "Just as HTTPS made the HTTP internet secure and scalable, privacy will play the same role for blockchain."
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr