What is 0KN?

0 enables true privacy and anonymity at scale

0KN is a next generation decentralized and incentivized metadata-private mixnet-based anonymous broadcast network with cryptographic security guarantees.

0KN is a decentralized privacy network infrastructure that is designed to preserve user anonymity in the face of an adversary monitoring the entire network and while assuming a fraction of all network servers are malicious. It leverages the next generation state-of-the-art mixnet based metadata-private anonymous broadcast Trellis.

0KN will utilize it's own Cosmos proof of stake implementation to directly facilitate 0-Servers staking rewards for participating in securing the mixnet-broadcast and validating the chain. It will also enable monitoring of network topology and maintaining the integrity and security of the network.

0KN is a far more powerful alternative to the likes of Tor, I2P, VPNs, DVPNs and other onion routed mixnet based privacy systems alike which are vulnerable against determined adversaries capable of monitoring large swaths of traffic when anonymity is of significant importance. Such adversaries (e.g. ISPs or governments) can easily identify users and the traffic content through metadata such as packet timing, packet size, and other identifying features even when all traffic is encrypted.

0KN also provides horizontal scalability—the ability to increase throughput with the number of servers participating in the network. Horizontal scalability is key to real-world efficiency: Tor and I2P are only capable of handling millions of users on a daily basis thanks to similar scalability guarantees.

What can 0KN be used for?

0KN can enable and provide privacy, anonymity and security to a wide variety of very important applications but here are just some examples:

• Anonymous chat and messaging applications: 0KN can be used to create secure and anonymous chat rooms, instant messaging, or social media platforms where users can communicate without revealing their identities or leaking metadata.

• Anonymous social media platforms: 0 can be used to create social media platforms where users can post content, comment, or interact with others without revealing their identities or leaking metadata.

• Private cryptocurrency transactions: 0 can be integrated into web3 protocols to route transactions and hide all metadata relating to the source and destination.

• Anonymous Email: Truly Private Email applications can be built with 0s metadata-private decentralized framework. (Most private email solutions that are marketed as private or encrypted are not actually that private at all specially Protonmail).

• Anonymous IoT communication: 0 can be employed in Internet of Things (IoT) networks to enable anonymous communication between devices, protecting user privacy and preventing unauthorized tracking or surveillance of device activity.

• And many more...

While the underlying Trellis architecture can handle large message sizes and scale with users and servers increasing in the network, there are some inherent performance limitations (latency) that comes with successfully protecting metadata and maintaining strong threat assumptions. If the adversary has a full view of the entire network, then user anonymity can only be guaranteed by providing metadata privacy.

Further reducing latency and bandwidth overheads would require sacrificing security guarantees. Tor for example compromises on (1) removing dummy envelopes between layers, (2) allowing user churn, and (3) reducing the number of layers in the mixnet. All three of these compromises are made by systems like Tor so as to scale to millions of daily users and achieve real-time (synchronous) communication (e.g., web browsing). But this comes at a high cost in the age of AI driven surveillance.

However it's important to note that improvements in this field are on going and very exciting, and 0 will be at the forefront of pushing the boundaries and integrating specific optimizations into the network in the future.