Ethereum Tests New ZK Secret Santa Protocol for On-Chain Privacy

Ethereum Devs Push Zero-Knowledge Secret Santa System Toward Deploymen

Ethereum developers are moving closer to deploying a new zero-knowledge (ZK) protocol designed to improve privacy on-chain, starting with a Secret Santa, matching system that hides the identities of senders and receivers.

Source: arxiv.org

Solidity engineer Artem Chystiakov resurfaced the protocol, called Zero Knowledge Secret Santa (ZKSS), in a new post on the Ethereum community forum this week. The research was originally published in January on arXiv and is now being prepared for real-world testing.

New Privacy Layer for Ethereum: What the Protocol Tries to Solve?

The blockhain is transparent by design – every wallet, transaction, and interaction is visible on the blockchain.
This creates three major problems for privacy-based apps:

• No anonymity: Sender and receiver details are always public.
  

• No true randomness: Ethereum can’t generate fair random pairings on its own.
  

• Sybil attacks: Users could cheat by registering multiple times.
  

The new proposed Ethereum ZK Secret Santa system solves this by using two tools:

• Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to verify actions without revealing identities

• A transaction relayer to hide which wallet submits each step

Together, they allow private, anonymous matching on a public blockchain.

How the System Works (Simple Breakdown)

1. Participants Register

Users register their addresses in a smart contract and commit to a unique digital signature. This blocks duplicate registrations and prevents cheating.

2. Users Submit Random Numbers Privately

Each participant sends a random number using a relayer, so the blockchain cannot link any number to any wallet. These numbers help recipients encrypt their delivery details.

3. Anonymous Matching Happens

Participants choose someone else’s random number. The ZK Secret Santa protocol reveals the receiver only to their assigned Santa – no one else can see the pairing.

This creates full anonymous matching on-chain using Zero-Knowledge cryptography.

Why Would Developers Care: Bigger Use Cases Ahead

The Secret-Santa use case is only the start. The same zero-knowledge privacy framework could be used for:

• Anonymous voting and DAO governance

• Private whistleblower submissions

• Private airdrops and token allocations

• Membership verification without identity exposure

• Confidential coordination systems
  

As crypto interacts more with traditional finance, privacy-preserving tools are becoming essential.

Deployment Coming Soon: A New Step for Blockchain Privacy

With zero-knowledge proofs becoming one of the most important trends in blockchain, the ZK protocol represents a major step in improving anonymous transactions, secure coordination, and future privacy layers.

When asked about release timelines, Chystiakov said the team is actively working on open-source implementation. This indicates that the Ethereum privacy upgrade is moving closer as researchers are moving the zero-knowledge system closer to live testing or pilot deployments on-chain.

If implemented, the ZK Secret Santa protocol could become a foundational tool for anonymous on-chain interactions, offering a new way to coordinate privately without breaking the network's transparency or security model.