Fhenix FHE-Based L2 Unveils New Testnet, Nitrogen

Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) layer 2 Fhenix has shared the details of a profound upgrade to its testnet. Nitrogen, the newest test network iteration, introduces powerful new decryption capabilities and brings the blockchain closer to its mainnet launch.

Upgraded Nitrogen testnet by Fhenix L2 kicks off

Fhenix, a pioneering programmable blockchain with Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), introduced a major upgrade to its testnet, Nitrogen. Nitrogen significantly upgrades the level of decentralization of the Fhenix network with the Threshold Network, the mechanism it uses to handle decryption in a trust-minimized way. 

Its Parallel Decryptions mechanism represents another tech novelty of the upgraded testnet. Parallel Decryptions mitigate the long and computationally expensive operations FHE schemes entail using asynchronous decryption, providing the fast, seamless experience users have come to expect.

Developers using the Nitrogen testnet will also benefit from Security Zones, providing a flexible approach to dApp security. This will enable applications to be optimized for varying requirements in terms of security and performance. 

Nitrogen supports two Security Zones. Zone 0 is the default setting that emphasizes security and implies less trust for the user, while Zone 1 prioritizes performance over security using a single local keyset held by the sequencer to process decryption.

Fhenix CEO Guy Itzhaki highlighted the paramount importance of the upgrade for Fhenix's progress toward its public mainnet launch:

The Nitrogen testnet is a major step towards providing a permissionless, censorship-resistant platform for confidentiality with FHE. The introduction of the Threshold Network, along with new features such as Parallel Decryptions and Security Zones give developers the tools they need to create powerful confidential applications on Ethereum and bring us one step closer to the Fhenix mainnet launch.

As covered by U.Today previously, Fhenix secured $15 million in its June 2024 funding round lead by reputable VC firm Hack VC.

Fhenix testnet harnesses Celestia (TIA) as DA layer

The latest Fhenix testnet also introduces Celestia for data availability, reducing transaction costs while increasing price stability. Elsewhere, Nitrogen has added the ability to generate random numbers natively and automatically using a simple function.

The Fhenix ecosystem has leveraged Celestia (TIA) layer 1 for data availability since early Q4, 2024, as U.Today previously reported.

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Vladislav Sopov

Nitrogen represents a significant milestone on the path toward a decentralized platform for on-chain confidentiality, delivering major improvements for network security, performance, cost and UX. The Nitrogen test network achieves significant improvements in decentralization, laying the foundation for a thriving ecosystem of confidentiality-enabled applications on Ethereum.