Zether is a privacy protocol for Ethereum and other smart-contract platforms. It was developed by a group of researchers and technologists, including individuals from Stanford University and Visa Research.
The goal of Zether is to add a layer of anonymity to transactions, meaning that while the transaction itself can be seen on the blockchain, the sender, recipient, and amount of the transaction can be hidden.
Zether achieves this by implementing a confidential payment mechanism that hides the sender, receiver, and transaction amount in a given transaction, all while maintaining the security guarantees of the underlying blockchain. This is accomplished through the use of zero-knowledge proofs, a cryptographic method by which one party can prove to another that a given statement is true, without conveying any additional information apart from the fact that the statement is indeed true.
It’s worth noting that Zether is not a standalone blockchain platform but a module that can be added to any existing smart contract-enabled blockchain to add a layer of privacy to transactions. The intent is to provide a tool that can be used to create more privacy-focused applications on these platforms.