STOPE lets institutions mint real-world assets with zero-knowledge proofs, proving ownership without revealing private data.

The Mina (MINA) Foundation has partnered with Mirae Asset, creating STOPE; a neat way of getting real-world items into the blockchain without revealing their details. It’s a secure “vault” for tokenized assets that relies on zero-knowledge proofs to remain confidential.

For financial companies involved in security token offerings (STOs) it solves a huge problem: how to establish ownership of the asset without flying a person’s balance to the world.

The process is simple enough.

A full port of the o1js frontend library for asset issuers: i.e: a way for asset issuers to encrypt and keep their data off-chain, computing and posting cryptographic proof of correctness for it on the Mina blockchain.

It’s like holding sealed envelope in front of someone, and they can test to make sure it is the real thing without ever seeing what the envelope contains. Users can then verify they have assets without showing exactly what or how much.

Here’s a real-world example:

Let’s say you are holding $500,000 in securities and you want to show that you meet the definition of an accredited investors. Rather than displaying your exact holdings, you can create proof that you are in the approved range, so that you can prove your status without revealing it up.

This is important because traditional finance is heading more towards blockchain, but nobody really wants their financial details public to the world at large. STOPE provides a promising solution with trustless proof with confidentiality.

Fast forward, and while it’s still a proof-of-concept, it could totally reinvent how we manage sensitive financial transactions in future.

Picture seeking a mortgage by showing that you meet the criteria using your phone instead of handing over years’ worth of bank statements. That’s the future STOPE is fighting for.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<