Shutter Network Launches Shutter API to Bring Trustless Encryption to Web3
Staff Writer • 2025-03-11
New Decentralized Threshold Encryption API Unlocks Fairness in Auctions, Gaming, DeFi, and More Mainz, Germany – Shutter Network has unveiled Shutter API, a powerful new tool designed to bring decentralized threshold encryption to Web3. With its seamless integration for developers, the API makes secure, trustless encryption accessible to applications ranging from sealed-bid auctions and fair on-chain gaming to private DeFi transactions and corporate procurement. Unlike traditional encryption methods that rely on centralized custodians or Trusted Execution Environments (TEE), Shutter API enables a decentralized approach, ensuring no single entity has control over sensitive information. By leveraging threshold encryption, Shutter allows applications to securely encrypt and reveal data at precisely the right moment, eliminating unfair advantages and preventing manipulation. Solving Blockchain’s Fairness Problem Despite blockchain’s transparency being one of its greatest strengths, many applications require selective privacy to ensure fair competition and equal access to information. Whether it’s a sealed auction, a high-stakes gaming move, or a confidential bid in procurement, encryption allows data to remain hidden until it’s meant to be revealed. "If information is money, then encryption is incredibly powerful because it safeguards that information," said Heiko Franßen, CEO of brainbot GmbH, a core contributor to Shutter Network. "With Shutter API, developers can introduce new privacy-preserving features that weren’t possible before—sealed-bid auctions, private multiplayer games, and front-running-resistant DeFi—all while maintaining decentralization." Shutter API eliminates the need for blind trust in centralized entities, giving developers a provably fair and censorship-resistant way to encrypt on-chain and off-chain data. How Shutter API Works: A Simple 'Sealed Envelope' for Web3 Shutter API enables a three-step process that both developers and users can easily understand: Encrypt – Sensitive data is locked inside a virtual envelope. Commit – The envelope is sealed and timestamped, ensuring no one can tamper with it. Reveal – At the designated moment, the envelope is unsealed, revealing the information transparently and fairly. For users, this means their bids, votes, trades, or game moves remain completely private until they are meant to be revealed. In an NFT auction, for example, bidders can rest assured that their offers remain hidden, preventing others from adjusting their bids unfairly. The Future of Encrypted, Trustless Applications Shutter API has wide-ranging implications for industries that require confidentiality and fairness in decision-making processes. Some of the most immediate use cases include: Parimutuel Betting – Keeping all wagers encrypted until betting closes to prevent unfair influence. Fair On-Chain Gaming – Enabling hidden game moves, like encrypted poker hands or strategy-based games without a centralized server. DeFi & Trading Protection – Concealing transactions to prevent front-running and sandwich attacks. Sealed Corporate RFPs – Ensuring fair procurement by preventing competitors from seeing rival bids before submission deadlines. With encryption natively built into Shutter API, these applications can be developed without relying on centralized intermediaries or hardware-based solutions like TEEs, which introduce single points of failure. Threshold Encryption: No Centralized Authority, No Single Point of Failure Shutter API is powered by Keypers, a decentralized network of node operators that collaboratively generate encryption keys. Unlike TEE-based systems that rely on hardware security modules controlled by single entities, Keypers ensure that no one—not even Shutter Network itself—can decrypt information before the designated time. Each Keyper node holds only a fragment of the decryption key, ensuring strong security even if individual nodes are compromised. The system guarantees high availability and eliminates the risk of data manipulation or premature leaks. A Proven Privacy Solution for Web3 Shutter’s encryption technology has already been integrated into major blockchain ecosystems. An encrypted mempool on Gnosis Chain prevents transaction front-running, while Snapshot, the leading DAO governance platform, has implemented Shutter’s privacy tech for shielded voting. Over 600 DAOs, including Arbitrum and Bankless, currently use Shutter-protected voting mechanisms, and Snapshot is set to migrate its voting infrastructure to Shutter API. "As we move toward an era where information asymmetry threatens both user experience and blockchain’s core values, this technology is a necessity for maintaining a truly fair and decentralized Web3 ecosystem," Franßen added. Solving the 'Free Option Problem' in Web3 Beyond privacy, Shutter API tackles a major issue in blockchain interactions—the ‘Free Option Problem.’ In many financial or gaming scenarios, one party can exploit extra knowledge before making a commitment. For example, in auctions, some bidders may wait until the last second to adjust their bids based on others’ offers. In finance, traders can cancel transactions if market conditions shift in their favor before finalizing a trade. Shutter’s encryption eliminates these vulnerabilities, ensuring all participants are equally bound to their actions. "Shutter API removes the need to trust any single centralized entity," Franßen explained. "It changes the way developers can offer fairness guarantees to their users without additional effort or hardware dependencies." The Future of Web3 Privacy Starts Now Shutter API is live and ready for immediate integration. Developers can start using Shutter SDK, a TypeScript-based encryption toolkit, to implement trustless encryption with just a few lines of code. With four simple API calls, encryption can be integrated into existing dApps or entirely new Web3 innovations. By making threshold encryption easy to deploy, Shutter Network is empowering the next generation of decentralized applications to be fairer, safer, and more private. To start building with Shutter API, visit shutter.network/shutter-api. About Shutter Network Shutter Network is an open-source threshold encryption protocol designed to enhance fairness and security in blockchain systems. Initially developed by brainbot GmbH, Shutter prevents transaction manipulation, malicious MEV, and unfair data access in Web3 applications. By bringing threshold encryption to decentralized finance, gaming, auctions, and governance, Shutter ensures credibly neutral, tamper-proof transaction processing. About brainbot GmbH brainbot GmbH, headquartered in Mainz, Germany, specializes in the development of open-source blockchain software. As a core contributor to Shutter Network, brainbot advances decentralized encryption technologies to protect users and create fairer Web3 ecosystems. The company operates as a technical service provider under Shutter DAO, focusing on innovation without direct involvement in token governance.
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