Matter Labs, the developer behind ZKsync, said on Sept. 8 that it had open-sourced the permission engine for Prividium, its privacy blockchain platform for financial institutions, under the Apache 2 license.
The engine handles on-chain roles and access permissions, deciding who can read and write data. After the release, institutions can run permissioned chains in their own environments based on public code without signing commercial agreements. They can also inspect, run, and modify the core code themselves, reducing dependence on a single vendor.
Bundesbank is the first institution to test and deploy it
Germany’s central bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, has become the first institution to test and deploy the open-source permission engine on its own infrastructure. Matter Labs said the two sides will continue to work together on platform design and testing.
How Prividium keeps transaction data private
According to Matter Labs, Prividium keeps transaction data inside the institution. Only zero-knowledge proofs showing that the ledger was updated correctly are recorded on Ethereum or other compatible chains.
More ZKsync components had already been open-sourced
Before this announcement, the ZKsync OS core, the Atlas sequencer, the Airbender prover, interoperability contracts, and block explorer and monitoring components had already been released as open source.
The move does not change the role of the ZK token
Alex Gluchowski, chief executive officer of Matter Labs, said feedback from regulated institutions showed that a commercial-only core created an unacceptable level of single-vendor dependence. The ability to run, inspect, and modify code independently was a prerequisite for adoption.
He also said the latest open-source step does not change the role of the ZK token. What changes is which parts of the Prividium software are public code and which parts remain commercial products.
The management console, user access tools, and connectors for core banking system integrations are still paid products.