Ernst & Young taps ZK-proofs on Ethereum to automate contracts
Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young has launched an Ethereum-based solution using zero-knowledge credentials aimed at helping its private business clients streamline complex contracts.
The solution, called EY OpsChain Contract Manager (OCM), helps private businesses execute complex business contracts in a timely, confidential and cost-effective manner, the firm said in an April 17 statement.
Some of the types of contracts that can use EY's Ethereum-based solution include purchase agreements, standardized price cards, quantity discounts, discounts and strikes.
EY said it chose Ethereum over a private network. Because it prevents one party from gaining a “strategic advantage” over another and reduces the risk of leaking sensitive business information.
Paul Brody, EY Global Blockchain Leader, said in previous client work that the company built OCM to improve contract accuracy and reduce cycle times and management costs by around 90% and 40%, respectively.
“With our zero-knowledge privacy technology, we've improved this capability in the industry and now we can get these benefits with little upfront cost.”
The solution was launched at the annual EY Global Blockchain Summit on April 17.
In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, former Grayscale executive Celissa Morin stated that TradFi institutions have begun to choose to use public blockchains over private ones in recent months, and BlackRock's BUIDL is a textbook example of this.
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OCM has been in operation since at least September 2021, when the accounting firm selected Polygon to help build its blockchain enterprise product. Polygon helped EY build Nightfall — an Ethereum-based platform for coordinating private transactions — a few months later, in December 2021. However, there is no mention of Polygon in EY's latest product information for OCMA.
EY first began testing ZK-proofs in April 2019 to build a blockchain-based audit, tax and transaction control platform. Ethereum has been the chain of choice to build for a long time.
The company invested $1.4 billion in its new EY.ai platform in late September.
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