Nym Technologies has joined forces with the NEAR Foundation to introduce end-to-end encryption and metadata privacy protections to the Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem. This collaboration incorporates Nym’s chain-agnostic mixnet privacy infrastructure into the NEAR ecosystem, concealing user traffic and enhancing privacy for users and validators. The integration empowers users to interact with NFTs, DeFi protocols, and dApps privately, safeguarding user activity from malicious entities.
By encrypting and disguising traffic within the NEAR ecosystem, the Nym mixnet aims to secure transactional data and personal information. It achieves this by breaking down data into encrypted packets and distributing them across a global network of nodes. This approach effectively obscures users’ online activities, making it more challenging to de-anonymize individuals through metadata pattern analysis.
Despite the advantages of public blockchains, their openness poses privacy risks, with transaction data and personal information exposed. Nym Technologies CEO Harry Halpin noted, “Nym is highly modular, and the mixnet can be integrated into any blockchain, ensuring that users and developers can have confidence that they are not being tracked or making themselves targets for cybercriminals.”
The NEAR Foundation echoed Nym’s commitment to web3 privacy, emphasizing that the future of the internet depends on privacy as a fundamental human right. NEAR Foundation CEO Chris Donovan stated, “We are proud to support Nym and its innovative technology, which will help developers and users across the NEAR ecosystem maintain their privacy.”
The NEAR ecosystem had previously supported Nym’s early development in 2021 through the Open Web Collective, a web3 incubator sponsored by the NEAR Foundation. NEAR now joins crypto projects like Monero and Aztec in integrating with the Nym mixnet.
