Ever since the inception of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the blockchain and crypto scene has exploded with various protocols other than the OG Ethereum experimenting with smart contracts and customizing them to deploy a wide range of decentralized applications (dApps). However, the EVM was never intended to include privacy; only transparency was the focus. Hence, Ethereum and every other protocol using EVMs have created a blockchain privacy paradox where confidentiality is the cost you pay for a transparent, decentralized setting.
Oasis, which started its journey as a protocol on a privacy-first mission, has a modular architecture separating the consensus from the execution layers that consist of parallel runtimes or paratimes. Initially, only its Rust-based paratime Cipher offered confidentiality solutions while the Solidity-based EVM runtime, Emerald, followed the standard, transparent route. Then Sapphire entered the scene.
The need for a runtime like Sapphire can be best understood when we see the stark contrast between transparent and confidential EVMs.
To date, Sapphire is the only production-ready confidential EVM and has been offering customizable privacy by design since privacy by default is lacking in the traditional web3 space. This essentially redefines the future of on-chain data management, monetization, and security by recognizing data ownership as a fundamental and inalienable right. Oasis defines data sovereignty as the power to choose what to share, when to share, with whom to share, and how much to share. In other words, when you can get privacy when you need it and transparency when it matters, that is the true meaning of smart privacy.
Sapphire uses trusted execution environments (TEEs) to secure on-chain privacy with remote attestations and reproducible builds. Its features include end-to-end encryption, private storage, and integration of the runtime off-chain logic (ROFL) framework supporting off-chain components. As a result, developers can now seamlessly build privacy dApps with full spectrum confidentiality, configurable for every use case and its uniqueness.
Understanding a developer's need to explore fully the possibilities that a confidential EVM helps unlock, Oasis not only opens up its GitHub repository to a deep dive into Sapphire's code but also offers a playground to work with demo dApps.
Also, do check out this tutorial to start the ball rolling.
In conclusion, a brief note to the developers who have already built and deployed in transparent EVMs - you do not need to start from scratch to make use of the confidential EVM's advantages. A frictionless plug-and-play tool is available in the form of the Oasis Privacy Layer (OPL) so that any dApp on any EVM chain can access the benefits of Sapphire.
Come on, then. Let's go BUIDL the future!
Top comments (2)
This was a fantastic breakdown of the blockchain privacy paradox transparency is great until you realize everything on-chain is basically public forever 👀. The EVM ecosystem really needed a wake-up call on privacy, and Sapphire looks like it delivers that in a developer-friendly way.
Love how Oasis approached the issue with a modular architecture and parallel runtimes. That kind of flexibility is rare, and it’s refreshing to see a protocol stick to its privacy-first mission from the beginning. 🔐
Also, huge props for making this tech actually usable ROFL support, private storage, end-to-end encryption, and the Oasis Privacy Layer (OPL) make it frictionless for existing dApps to evolve without a full rebuild. That’s how you drive real adoption.
Excited to tinker with the playground and dive into the GitHub. Time to BUIDL smarter with some privacy baked in 🔍💻
Indeed. It is only recently that web3 has been waking up to the need for privacy, with Vitalik being vocal about the urgency of its integration. With the first and only production-ready confidential EVM, Oasis is uniquely positioned to offer the smart privacy solutions conventional EVMs need. Because only a judicious mixture of transparency and privacy can deliver the blockchain, crypto, and web3 space from being isolated to mainstream adoption. Just my two Satoshis.