The cryptography

The Silent network runs on the Multi-Party Computation Threshold Signature Scheme (MPC TSS) libraries designed by Silence Laboratories.

Our carefully selected and optimised protocols represent state-of-the-art solutions optimized for performance, security, and scalability.

Signature Scheme	Used in	TSS Algorithm implemented
ECDSA	Bitcoin, Ethereum and other EVM based chains	DKLs - 23
EdDSA (Ed25519)	Solana, TON, Aptos and others	Lindell - 22
Taproot	Bitcoin Taproot	(coming soon...)

💡Yashwant Kondi, VP, Cryptography at Silence Laboratories co-authored the DKLs23 protocol.

DKLs23 vs. Other ECDSA MPC TSS Algorithms

Many existing protocols, such as those developed by Lindell and GG, rely on Paillier Encryption to facilitate secure multi-party computations. While effective, these methods have significant drawbacks in terms of performance and complexity. DKLs23 introduces innovative techniques that overcome these limitations. Below, we compare them across four key dimensions: efficiency, protocol simplicity, security, and practicality.

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Efficiency Through Cryptographic Primitives

• Older existing protocols use Paillier Encryption, requiring heavy computations like large modular exponentiations, which slow down signing.

• DKLs23 adopts Oblivious Transfer (OT), a lighter tool that cuts computational overhead.

• Why It’s Better: OT speeds up signature generation and reduces resource use, enhancing scalability for demanding applications.

Protocol Simplicity and Communication

• Older protocols involve multiple communication rounds (3 rounds in 2 parties), causing delays and risks in distributed setups.

• DKLs23 minimizes rounds by optimizing OT and streamlining the signing process. (2 rounds for 2 party)

• Why It’s Better: Fewer rounds mean faster signing and better reliability. It's easier to scale very quickly to complex and large systems with DKLs23.

Security and Resilience

• Older protocols rely on specific assumptions (e.g., discrete logarithm) and are vulnerable to future quantum or cryptanalytic threats.

• DKLs23 uses modern assumptions and proactive measures like key refreshes to counter evolving risks.

  • We also implement identifiable abort, which can identify which party is acting maliciously in no time.

• Why It’s Better: Adaptive security and proactive defenses ensure DKLs23 remains robust over time.

Articles and links

• DKLs23 https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/765.pdf
• 1 out of 2 Endemic OT Fig.8 https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/706.pdf
• All-but-one OTs from base OTs: Fig.13 and Fig.14 https://eprint.iacr.org/2022/192.pdf
• SoftSpokenOT protocol https://eprint.iacr.org/2022/192.pdf
• Instantiation of SoftSpokenOT based on Fig.10 https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/546.pdf
• Proactive security definition, Section 2 https://www.iacr.org/archive/eurocrypt2006/40040601/40040601.pdf