What is Secret Network? (SCRT)

• Secret Network is a blockchain protocol with privacy-preserving smart contracts that enable decentralized applications (dApps) to perform encrypted computations. 
• The interoperable blockchain improves upon traditional smart contracts by encrypting inputs at a protocol level.
• Secret Network nodes implement data privacy controls within an application that enables developers to build dApps that protect user data.
• Participants who own SCRT, the native cryptocurrency of Secret Network, can create and vote on community-led governance proposals.

Secret Network is an interoperable blockchain protocol with privacy-preserving smart contracts. It enables decentralized applications (dApps) to perform encrypted computations by maintaining privacy at the input level. With a user’s personal information encrypted, they are given greater control over how their personal information is shared. 

Secret Network improves upon traditional smart contracts by encrypting inputs at a protocol level, maintaining privacy for information collected within dApps. This differs from many other blockchain networks, as Secret Network encrypts user data before storing it in a smart contract.

Programmable privacy is the primary feature of Secret Network. The platform is home to a network of nodes that securely perform the computation of smart contracts built on the protocol. These nodes implement the data privacy controls that enable developers to build dApps that protect user data. 

SCRT is the native cryptocurrency of the network, which is used to participate in on-chain governance, pay for network transactions and earn rewards for securing the network via staking. 

Secret Network allows for the transformation of smart contracts into secret contracts. Input data is kept hidden — even from the nodes that verify blockchain activity. 

The Secret Network protocol breaks up sensitive data and distributes it in an encrypted format across nodes who then use it to perform computations without exposing the data itself. This intricate functionality is essential for protecting sensitive data and giving dApp developers the opportunity to build valuable privacy-preserving solutions at scale. 

Every node operator on the Secret Network is equipped with specialized hardware for running code in their computer’s Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). 

A TEE is a protected area inside a main processor where code can be run securely and privately. No one, including the device owners or administrators themselves, can access the raw information being decrypted and processed within these enclaves. 

Nodes, which form the infrastructure of the Secret Network protocol, use asymmetric encryption before committing data to the blockchain as transactions. Notably, encrypted data can only be decrypted and accessed from within the TEE by the receiver of that information. When the computation is complete, the output is recorded on-chain. 

Blocks are created and appended every six seconds with a soft limit of 22 transactions per second (TPS). Theoretically, the network can process 10,000 TPS according to the Secret Network team.

While Secret Network has its own consensus and on-chain governance processes, it is built atop the Cosmos SDK framework and leverages proof-of-stake (PoS) via Tendermint’s Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus algorithm. 

Cosmos SDK is an open source software development kit designed for building application-specific blockchains. Tendermint’s BFT algorithm, in the context of Secret Network, refers to a partially synchronous network model which keeps nodes in agreement about the validity of information stored on the network. 

Importantly, nodes in the network must stake SCRT to operate. However, token holders that do not wish to take up this responsibility can bond their stake to nodes as a delegator. Delegators earn a share of network fees by supporting validators. 
 

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