The Ethereum Basis and the Open Anonymity Undertaking have developed zkAPI, a zero-knowledge protocol that lets customers pay for AI providers and different paid APIs with out linking their identification to their requests.
Reside on Ethereum mainnet, the system separates fee information from the prompts and queries despatched to service suppliers, though it doesn’t conceal all community exercise or the content material customers submit.
How zkAPI Separates Funds From API Requests
The Open Anonymity Undertaking introduced its collaboration with the Ethereum Basis in a September 25, 2026, put up introducing its public AI chat providers, OA-chat. The muse additionally promoted zkAPI on October 2, describing it as “a method for personal AI.”
The protocol was initially proposed by Ethereum researcher Davide Crapis and co-founder Vitalik Buterin, whereas the Open Anonymity group constructed the shopper, server, good contracts, and browser integration.
Customers first deposit ETH into the ZkAPIVault contract on Ethereum mainnet. The deposit is then was a dedication by way of the usage of a Merkle tree, which is a cryptographic knowledge construction, whereas the spending stability is saved as a non-public observe on the person’s system.
At first of a session, the browser generates a zero-knowledge proof that proves the person has adequate funds to pay and has not but spent the cash. Fee verification is completed with out realizing the particular deposit getting used for the fee and the person’s identification.
As soon as the verification is full, an API key with a spending cap is issued, with the immediate going straight from the browser to the AI supplier. When the API key expires, you get a receipt of utilization. The system then deducts that quantity from the non-public stability, with a one-way serial quantity known as a nullifier stopping the identical funds from being spent twice.
The protocol makes use of Groth16 proofs, BN254 cryptography, and Poseidon hashing to make the fee system each non-public and verifiable, and customers can withdraw their remaining funds straight by way of the vault contract, even when the zkAPI servers cease working.
What zkAPI Does Not Disguise
The protocol hides the fee hyperlink, not the content material. A supplier nonetheless sees prompts and community particulars comparable to an IP handle, and may attempt to match classes by timing. The builders recommend Tor with a recent circuit per session, since reused dialog historical past, writing fashion or private particulars can let a supplier relink particular person classes.
This undertaking sits near Buterin’s current pursuits. Recall that late final month he shared a longer-term Ethereum roadmap that positioned larger emphasis on cryptographic proofs and verification. zkAPI applies that basic strategy to on a regular basis funds, permitting a service to confirm spending with out receiving a standard account identification.
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