calle 👁️⚡👁️ on Nostr: A gigantic upgrade that is now merged: Blind authentication for Cashu mints is ...
A gigantic upgrade that is now merged: Blind authentication for Cashu mints is coming!
One of the most requested features from organizations and companies that prevented them from running a mint.
Read to learn more 👇
The most common concern we hear is: "We would like to run a mint but only for the users of our community / app / company."
The problem: How do we balance user privacy (our primary objective) with mint operator control?
The solution: blind authentication.
We designed a two-tier auth protocol that fits the needs of a Chaumian Ecash system.
Step 1: When connecting to a mint, users need to create an account first. Mints control who can create an account with them.
We call this "clear authentication" or CAT.
https://github.com/cashubtc/nuts/blob/main/21.md
Step 2: Now that the user has an account, we allow the authenticated user to mint a special kind of ecash called "blind authentication token" (BAT).
BATs are private and unlinkable, just like ecash. To use the mint, users provide BATs with each request.
https://github.com/cashubtc/nuts/blob/main/22.md
By doing so, users prove to the mint that they have an account – but they do not reveal *which account* they are. Users keep privacy, mint operators keep control. It's a balance.
We're literally using ecash to secure an ecash mint.
Think about it anon.
Blind authentication is a cryptographic primitive that has been used in various applications. A famous example is Google VPN that uses the exact same technique to prove that you've paid for the VPN without revealing which user you actually are.
Super smart.
We're going to see more mints being used for internal uses that aren't meant for the public.
Companies can use it to pay salaries to their employees, physical communities can provide wallets to their members, games can use it for their users.
This is still just the beginning.
One of the most requested features from organizations and companies that prevented them from running a mint.
Read to learn more 👇
The most common concern we hear is: "We would like to run a mint but only for the users of our community / app / company."
The problem: How do we balance user privacy (our primary objective) with mint operator control?
The solution: blind authentication.
We designed a two-tier auth protocol that fits the needs of a Chaumian Ecash system.
Step 1: When connecting to a mint, users need to create an account first. Mints control who can create an account with them.
We call this "clear authentication" or CAT.
https://github.com/cashubtc/nuts/blob/main/21.md
Step 2: Now that the user has an account, we allow the authenticated user to mint a special kind of ecash called "blind authentication token" (BAT).
BATs are private and unlinkable, just like ecash. To use the mint, users provide BATs with each request.
https://github.com/cashubtc/nuts/blob/main/22.md
By doing so, users prove to the mint that they have an account – but they do not reveal *which account* they are. Users keep privacy, mint operators keep control. It's a balance.
We're literally using ecash to secure an ecash mint.
Think about it anon.
Blind authentication is a cryptographic primitive that has been used in various applications. A famous example is Google VPN that uses the exact same technique to prove that you've paid for the VPN without revealing which user you actually are.
Super smart.
We're going to see more mints being used for internal uses that aren't meant for the public.
Companies can use it to pay salaries to their employees, physical communities can provide wallets to their members, games can use it for their users.
This is still just the beginning.