EY has announced a significant upgrade to its enterprise-focused Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, Nightfall, transitioning to a zero-knowledge rollup. This upgrade eliminates waiting periods for transaction finality and simplifies the previous optimistic rollup architecture. Nightfall_4, as it is now called, utilizes a cryptographic approach to verify transactions before submission, enhancing both speed and privacy without the cumbersome challenge periods inherent in the earlier model. This transition is aimed at providing institutions with the same privacy and scaling features as the previous version, while ensuring nearly instantaneous finality. Despite its open-source nature, Nightfall remains permissioned for EY's corporate clients, allowing for private transactions on Ethereum while maintaining security benefits. The redesign reflects advances in regulatory conditions for privacy technologies, indicating potential growth in adoption among institutional investors.

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