Keep Network

Keep Network was founded in 2017 by Matt Luongo and Corbin Pon, who both previously started Fold, a bitcoin shopping app. While working on Fold, the two found there was a need for better privacy tooling for Ethereum. Therefore, Matt and Corbin set out to build a new data layer that allows blockchain-based applications to store and access private information.

The Keep Network features off-chain containers for private data called keeps that allow smart contracts to interact with this data while aiming to maintain transparency and transaction auditability. Keeps encrypt private data and keep it protected through multi-party computation (sMPC).

The network consists of node operators called signers that stake KEEP tokens to store and manage private data in exchange for a service fee. The token and staking mechanism discourage Sybil attacks as well as dishonest behavior (malicious acts can lead to signer losing a part of their stake). Signers are selected at random to store a given data submission through Keep's core application, the Random Beacon. As a whole, the Keep system aims to ensure signers cannot co-opt and exploit the system or decode the private data stored in the protocol.

The first use case for Keep is the tBTC application. tBTC serves as a trust-minimized bridge between the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. Keep Network signers facilitate the exchange and storage tasks of swapping BTC for Ethereum-compatible tBTC tokens so BTC holders can access Ethereum's decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. tBTC launched on the Ethereum and Bitcoin mainnets in May 2020. But a vulnerability discovered in the code a few day post-launch led tBTC's development team, Thesis, to pause user deposits. After several rounds of security audits and retesting the app on a public testnet, the team relaunched tBTC in Sep. 2020.