What are multiparty computations? {MPCs}
When you walked into your first class in uni as a freshman, you knew nobody. But somehow, all of you were converged into the hall, 150 people with a problem to solve and a ticking timer.
No hints. No prior knowledge. Just you, a bunch of strangers, and a challenge you're now learning you have to tackle together.
The seats are barricaded, so it's just you and a box. A fully covered black box you're expected to open and solve your part of the problem.
You can't see what anyone else is doing. And even if you peek at the person next to you, their piece is just as incomplete and lacking context as yours. Any attempt to game the system or secretly collaborate? Nearly useless for cracking the overall result.
When the timer goes off, the system shuts down, your box returns to default, and the answer to the problem the class collectively solved appears on the board.
Remember that:
>> You never saw each other’s data through this.
>> You didn’t know what others were working on.
>> You knew nothing beyond the data in your own box. (Just a fragment)
Which is beautiful.
And even if you somehow managed to team up with the strangers next to you, there’s only so much you can do because the data isn’t complete.
It's in fragments.
And to get the full answer, a certain threshold of participants needs to be met. The threshold you and your sneaky partner, or small group of conspirators can’t hit.
This step ensures privacy and security are maintained throughout the entire process.
A system that works in "parties" not one party, but multiple parties. Making it more distributed, efficient, and secure.
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And it's known as Multi-Party Computation (MPC).
A technology that relies on multiple parties and distributed data to work together without ever sharing their private inputs or revealing the details of what each person contributed.
These blockchains have decentralized nodes (parties), and each of them holds a fragment of the data or computation.
The fragments are part of the whole necessary to unlock the final result if they're using a threshold system. The nodes work together to combine the results in a trustless manner that ensures privacy, security, and decentralization at the same time.
In short, MPC technology provides an environment for secure, decentralized computation to happen, like in the classroom scenario.
It highlights individual privacy while maintaining collective security.
A well spread-out system that keeps everything intact and private, even while working together.
This system takes the trust factor and makes it default, giving you a platform to confidently collaborate even with strangers you barely know.
Like your first friend in uni.
Because I know I immediately clicked with this pretty girl I'd never met before and hugged her when I was done for the day. 😭
I'm Mimi Marcus. An interesting writer obsessed about living and having fun while letting my curiosity guide my pen.
I am the best web3/crypto content writer and virtual assistant, and here on Medium I do a blend of interesting web3 topics and projects while also talking about the things that keep me up, break my heart or make my day.
I hope you had fun today in my lil private corner.
