How MetaMask Developer Helps PADO Labs Bring Off-chain Data On-chain to Scale Faster

PADO Labs is an infrastructure company that is building a decentralized zkAttestation and computation network to safely bring private off-chain data into web3. Today, smart contracts can only access public off-chain, real-time, and historical on-chain data. However, the value and importance of users' personal data, such as social security numbers, bank statements, personal identification documents, etc., have been proven in the Internet economy. Yet, these types of private off-chain data are not readily available to smart contracts due to the risks associated with putting them on the public blockchain.

PADO has built the infrastructure and tools that will allow users to securely import their private off-chain data from any internet data source into web3, using Multiparty Computation—Transport Layer Security (MPC-TLS).

PADO also enables users to safely use this data on third-party dapps in a trustless manner, while providing dapps with the tools to verify the authenticity and validity of users' data without revealing sensitive information or raw details to these dapps. PADO achieves this by employing modern cryptographic technologies like Interactive Zero-Knowledge (IZK) Proofs and Zero-Knowledge Fully Homomorphic Encryption (zkFHE).

In this blog, we will explore how MetaMask Developer is helping PADO Labs get to market and scale quickly through the Consensys Fellowship, a partnership with Linea, and the use of our developer tools.

How PADO is building a ZK attestation protocol for web3

The first step for PADO to successfully onboard users and enable them to own and securely manage their private data in this new system is to assign them an Ethereum account. Since many of these users will be non-web3 natives, PADO needs to emphasize security at all stages of the user onboarding process. According to PADO, the best approach would be to completely own and manage the onboarding and authentication process to better uphold the desired level of security.

However, considering its current stage, PADO wanted to focus on building cryptographic algorithms to enable users to handle their private data securely instead of building and managing its wallet infrastructure.

“A decision we made very early was that we did not want to invest our time in building the infrastructure to generate and manage users' private keys or custody their tokens in a way that assured users of their safety. We wanted to focus on building tools to handle users' private off-chain data securely.”— Dr. Xiang Xie, Founder of PADO Labs.

PADO also needed to invest heavily in web3 education as a Go-To-Market strategy since an average web3 user wouldn’t be enthusiastic about sharing their private data on-chain without sufficient education and security guarantees. This also meant that PADO needed to target and tap into an existing and mature web3 user base to get to market fast and scale.

PADO also faced challenges related to access to funding and partnership opportunities within the ecosystem and mentorship from experienced builders who could provide technical advice.

Scaling the PADO protocol faster with MetaMask Developer

By integrating with the MetaMask Wallet API, PADO provided a seamless onboarding experience for its users while leveraging MetaMask's years of industry experience in web3 security and tapping into the expertise of seasoned in-house JavaScript security experts. Additionally, MetaMask’s ethos of being open-source and permissionless, as demonstrated by MIP and Snaps, meant that PADO could easily extend the features of MetaMask by either contributing directly to the Wallet API or by building third-party permissionless Snaps.

“For us, integrating with MetaMask was a no-brainer. We considered how extensive and supportive MetaMask is with Snaps, which made the decision easy. For example, we can build a custom Snap so that PADO users on MetaMask would not need to switch between extensions during the onboarding process but can instead start and finish their interaction on the MetaMask wallet” - Xiang Xie, Founder of PADO Labs.

Through the Consensys Fellowship and Linea Voyages, MetaMask Developer was able to help PADO quickly scale and gain 200k users by including them in the Linea Proof of Humanity Voyage and connecting them with MetaMask's large user base. Additionally, PADO was featured in Verax, an On-Chain Attestation Registry, as one of the few contributors, offering them exposure and partnership opportunities. PADO was also able to raise funds through the Consensys fellowship.

MetaMask’s investment in web3 education, through MetaMask Learn, also available in-app, meant that PADO’s users could easily access educational materials, further assisting PADO in achieving its mission of web3 education.

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