Germany’s central bank is testing the Prividium blockchain platform on its own IT infrastructure. The solution uses an open-source access-permission management system and keeps confidential data stored locally.
Matter Labs announced that it open-sourced Prividium’s permission management system. The component defines user roles, access levels, and permitted actions within a private distributed network.
Prividium is a blockchain platform developed by the Matter Labs team using ZKsync technology. It allows financial institutions to launch private distributed ledgers using their own infrastructure and verify the validity of transactions on Ethereum without disclosing confidential data.
Following the code release, financial institutions will be able to:
- Deploy private networks within their own infrastructure
- Review and audit the source code
- Modify software components to meet internal requirements
- Control participant access and define their permissions
- Use the underlying technology without a mandatory commercial agreement with Matter Labs
Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany’s national central bank, is testing Prividium in an isolated environment and contributing to the platform’s development. The solution allows the bank to retain control of its blockchain infrastructure, review the software code, and modify it.
The Bundesbank became the first institution to implement this model in practice. The platform is hosted directly within the German central bank’s infrastructure, meaning information about smart contracts and tokens is not expected to leave its internal environment.
Prividium combines private operations with the ability to independently verify their validity. Transaction data remains confidential within the operator’s infrastructure, while the validity of transactions is verified using zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology and recorded on a settlement layer compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Matter Labs described the code release as a way to reduce banks’ and other regulated institutions’ technological dependence on individual software providers. For such institutions, the ability to independently deploy, analyze, and modify critical software is one of the requirements for adopting new financial infrastructure.
Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski said financial institutions shouldn’t have to choose between adopting new technologies and retaining control over them.
The Bundesbank’s leadership supports the introduction of a retail digital euro, or CBDC, and the issuance of euro-denominated stablecoins to strengthen the European Union’s independence in payments.
