The Bridge Between Web3 and Web2: Breakthrough Applications of zkTLS Technology

The cryptocurrency industry has made significant progress. Layer 2 scaling solutions have been launched, zkVMs technology has emerged, and even cryptocurrency ETFs have received regulatory approval. However, for most ordinary users, the blockchain field remains an unattainable world; they have only heard about these technologies in the news but have never actually used them.

The reason for this situation does not lie in the technology itself, but rather because these technologies have not yet penetrated our daily digital lives. Although Web3 has built powerful tools and infrastructure, ordinary internet users are still primarily active in the Web2 environment, browsing, trading, and socializing on centralized platforms that control users' data. Only when we can connect these two worlds in a trustless and privacy-protecting manner will the mainstream application of blockchain technology become possible.

Reasons Why Web3 Has Yet to Break Through

Our daily online activities mainly take place in strictly controlled ecosystems such as banks, social media, streaming platforms, and government portals. Our digital identities are scattered across various platforms, each of which holds a certain aspect of our lives: bank statements, passport scans, work experience on LinkedIn, etc.

This fragmentation has led to two fundamental issues:

1. Data silos: Users' online identities are scattered across various platforms, each with its own rules and permissions.
2. Lack of Ownership: Users do not actually own their data; they only have access rights at most, and these access rights can be revoked, restricted, or exploited at any time.

These issues manifest in various inconveniences we encounter in our daily lives. For example, when proof of income is required, one may need to provide complete bank statements; when verifying an address, one might need to upload the entire utility bill. The existing systems assume that complete transparency is the only way to build trust, due to the lack of infrastructure to enable selective, verifiable disclosure.

Web3 promises to give users more control, but it has yet to fully deliver on this promise when it comes to handling everyday data originating from Web2.

Missing Links: Verifiable Web2 Data

The real bottleneck lies in how to enable Web3 applications to leverage the data we have already generated, while not compromising user privacy or introducing new trusted intermediaries. This involves two key challenges:

1. Verifiability: How can we cryptographically prove that data sourced from Web2 is trustworthy without relying on centralized oracles or APIs?
2. Privacy: How to prove only the necessary information without revealing the complete data behind it?

Oracle providers like Chainlink have partially addressed the verifiability issue, especially for public data such as asset prices or weather conditions. However, personal, user-specific data (such as financial records, qualifications, identity credentials) requires a different approach. This data typically exists within encrypted channels that require login, and their original design was not intended for extraction or sharing.

This is where zkTLS technology comes into play.

Overview of zkTLS Technology

zkTLS (Zero-Knowledge Transport Layer Security Protocol) is an innovative technology built on top of the conventional TLS protocol. It allows users to extract and prove specific facts from Web2 data streams without revealing the full content and without relying on third parties.

zkTLS implements two key functionalities:

1. On-chain verifiability: It can be proven that the data comes from a specific Web2 source and has not been tampered with.
2. Selective Disclosure: Able to prove specific attributes (such as "annual income exceeding $80,000") without revealing actual bank statements.

The working principle of zkTLS is briefly described as follows:

1. Capture the encrypted TLS session between the user and the website.
2. Generate zero-knowledge proofs to prove a specific statement (e.g., a certain value appears in the response).
3. Verify the proof on the blockchain, achieving trustless and private data validation.

This method avoids the need to expose data to third parties or rely on centralized servers to prove the data. Instead, trust is embedded within the cryptographic proof itself.

Practical Applications of zkTLS

zkTLS technology is redefining the boundaries between Web2 and Web3. By enabling trustless and private access to off-chain data, it allows applications to integrate real-world context without compromising privacy or decentralization. Here are specific applications of zkTLS in various fields:

Financial Services

Due to the lack of reliable identity and on-chain financial data, most DeFi protocols still rely on over-collateralization. zkTLS makes it possible to verify income, cash flow, or account history without exposing sensitive information.

Some projects are building peer-to-pool credit protocols to provide real-time, unsecured USDC credit lines for traders, farmers, and businesses. Borrowers can connect their wallets and Web2 financial data to unlock credit based on verifiable proofs in DeFi, centralized exchanges, and banks, without the need for collateral.

Other projects support a flexible peer-to-peer lending market, where borrowers can privately prove income or account activity to unlock funds using zkTLS.

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization projects are beginning to use zkTLS to verify land or property ownership through government portals, achieving compliant on-chain assetization.

There are projects building decentralized fiat-to-cryptocurrency gateways, allowing users to use zkTLS to prove payments in applications without KYC, without intermediaries, enabling instant settlement.

These systems have expanded capital acquisition channels, brought credit value on-chain, and established a compliant bridge between traditional finance and cryptocurrency.

Consumer Platform

In Web2, access to digital goods, subscriptions, and purchase history is often locked behind centralized APIs. zkTLS makes this data portable and provable without needing permission from the platform.

Some platforms allow users to verify ownership of in-game items and collectibles through game platform data, enabling secure peer-to-peer transactions without platform intervention.

zkTLS is also used to prove access to closed communities, subscriptions, or premium content without the need for account linking or API access.

In the field of e-commerce, users can prove past purchases or loyalty program activities to unlock cashback, token rewards, or resale markets.

This technology enables the proof of ownership or membership of certain digital assets without exposing complete account information.

Identity and Reputation

Current digital identity systems are often fragmented and overly exposed. Proving identity typically requires sharing a large amount of personal information. zkTLS changes this situation by allowing selective disclosure of information from trusted sources.

Some projects are developing privacy-preserving identity oracles that convert files and data from Web2 platforms into selective on-chain proofs.

Other projects support a cross-application reputation layer that can verify information such as credit scores, location, or service usage history without the traditional KYC process, enabling users to build verifiable personal profiles for use across different applications and ecosystems.

There are also projects that allow professionals to create credible and verifiable work profiles based on employment history and social networks.

These applications provide new methods for decentralized platforms to verify user backgrounds without the need to rebuild reputation systems.

Social and Content

Our content consumption and interaction behaviors can reflect a lot of information, but this data is often trapped in various platforms. The zkTLS technology makes this participation data portable and programmable.

Some platforms allow users to prove that they have viewed or interacted with advertisements without revealing their personal identity. This enables advertisers to reach a real audience, while users receive rewards and data privacy is protected.

In the gaming field, some platforms use zkTLS to verify game files and performance data. Players can prove their skills and receive rewards based on game performance without having to provide easily forged evidence such as screenshots.

These applications open up new possibilities for cross-platform attention markets and participation-driven reward mechanisms.

Impact and Behavior

Behavior incentive systems, whether for fitness, sustainability, or other areas, often require handling private and hard-to-verify data. zkTLS makes it possible to prove specific behaviors without comprehensive monitoring.

Some projects utilize IoT and registered data to verify the ownership and usage of solar devices without exposing user identity or specific location.

Other applications link exercise rewards to verified activity from fitness tracking apps without disclosing detailed health or GPS data.

There are projects exploring the use of zkTLS to prove the use of public transportation, recycling behavior, or participation in environmental projects, achieving a transparent and privacy-secure incentive system.

These applications demonstrate how to prove real-world actions while protecting privacy, providing new possibilities for various incentive programs.

Emerging Frontier

In emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, autonomous agents, and decentralized coordination, zkTLS provides critical infrastructure for establishing trust and achieving verifiability.

Some projects are building autonomous agent systems that generate zero-knowledge proof-supported logs of their actions, making the AI decision-making process verifiable and auditable.

Other applications allow whistleblowers and experts to demonstrate their professional background or insights without revealing their specific identity, adding credibility to anonymous communication.

zkTLS is also used to verify the training data of machine learning, ensuring the authenticity of the data while protecting the privacy of contributors.

As artificial intelligence and autonomous systems become increasingly common, zkTLS technology will play an important role in ensuring the transparency and accountability of these systems.

From Certificate to Ownership

zkTLS not only makes Web2 data available in a Web3 environment, but also gives users ownership of that data. Credentials that were once isolated on various platforms have become portable, programmable, and privacy-protecting.

As more applications adopt zkTLS, we will see a compounding effect: more verifiable data will lead to more powerful applications, which in turn will empower users with greater control, creating a positive feedback loop.

The goal of this technology is not to replace existing systems, but to empower users with control over their own data and to build a path of mutual development in trust, privacy, and composability.

Future Outlook

If cryptographic technology is to truly enter the mainstream, it needs to meet users' demands in the current internet environment. zkTLS provides the infrastructure to achieve this goal.

It has realized:

• Encrypted trust in data from Web2 services
• No third-party privacy protection verification required
• User-controlled composable identity layer
• Based on可