Grants Proposal #001 - Safeheron

Project Name: Safeheron Multi Party Compute (MPC) key sharding Snap

Category: Accounts and Key Management

Project Description / Executive Summary: MetaMask and Safeheron would like to continue their collaboration on bringing improved security and usability to MetaMask’s users. On a high level this project will revolve around improving MetaMask’s key management experience, specifically focused on helping users manage their Secret Recovery Phrase (SRP) to reduce phishing attacks and also reducing the chance of these keys being lost. These are extremely important problems to solve with nearly 50% of MetaMask categorized Fund Loss Incidents (FLIs) related to phishing attacks and perhaps as much as 25% of crypto being lost due to a loss of private keys.

In concrete terms, MetaMask will provide the Safeheron team with a $35,000 grant to develop and security audit a key sharding solution across MetaMask Flask, the Keystone hardware wallet, and a mobile app (either MetaMask Mobile or an alternative). Using a 2/3 signing algorithm, two of these devices will be used to sign a transaction creating a multi-factor secure experience for the user. Due to the underlying Multi Party Computer (MPC) algorithm the private keys will never be held in their entirety on one device meaning the possibility of an attacker gaining these private keys and stealing the user’s funds is dramatically reduced. Furthermore, if a user were to lose 1 of their 3 devices, they can use their remaining 2 devices to issue a new key shard to a new device to maintain their security.

The Safeheron team are expertly placed to execute on this solution due to their expertise in creating and implementing MPC algorithms that will provide the technical infrastructure for such a solution. The team already has an existing business running an MPC custodial business and they’re excited to work with the MetaMask team to bring their technology to more retail focused users. MetaMask, Safeheron, and Keystone have already worked together to implement a 2/2 MPC snap and this grant will fund the evolution of this project into a 2/3 MPC snap.

Project Goals: If this project is a success, it will allow the MetaMask team to validate MetaMask snaps as an innovation accelerator for new key management experiences. Ideally we’ll see amazing progress on validating an experience that will solve: The single point of failure risk related to private keys that are prone to be hacked/phished/lost. The difficult user experience surrounding the Secret Recovery Phrase, which is a barrier for wider crypto adoption.

Once snaps are then in the main builds of MetaMask, this solution could then be available to all users to improve their safety and security. Furthermore, this is likely to be the first implementation of an MPC algorithm with an offline hardware wallet, meaning this solution balances both the multi-factor security of MPC and the offline advantages of a hardware wallet.

In regards to the responsibilities of each team, Safeheron will be responsible for developing and designing the solution under the product/project management guidance of the MetaMask team (specifically Alex Jupiter).

Target Milestones: -2/2 MPC solution implemented with MetaMask Flask and Keystone hardware wallet COMPLETE -Compatible 2/3 MPC algorithm developed COMPLETE -Designs for the 2/3 MPC experience -Integration of 2/3 MPC algorithm with Flask, Keystone, and MetaMask Mobile (likely completed 2 to 3 months after grant payment) -Security review -Marketing and PR preparation -Launch

Timeline / Path to Production: Since the initial stages of the project (listed above) have already been completed without any grant payment to the Safeheron team, we expect this entire project to be completed within 2 to 3 months of the grant payment being sent to Safeheron.

About Team:

1. WadeWang - Safeheron CEO As an early founding member of Damai.com he created China's largest concert ticketing e-commerce platform. He was also a key contributor to one of the largest crypto finance platforms in Asia that offered 100% asset transparency. Wade previously independently built platforms such as DeepBlue, an open source free enterprise website building system, and Voosay, a personalized recommendation system, which was later acquired. In founding Safeheron, Wade pioneered the first self-developed digital asset MPC-TEE self-custody technology solution in Asia.
2. MaxHe - Safeheron Chief Scientist Max holds roles as co-founder and Chief Scientist at Safeheron, who is responsible for research in areas pertaining to blockchain and cryptography. Apart from his continued work leading the study and implementation of MPC (Multi-Party Computation), Trusted Computing, Zero Knowledge Proof, and more at Safeheron, he is also the deputy director of a laboratory jointly established by the Turing AI Institute and Safeheron. He graduated with his Bachelor’s and Master’s from Tsinghua University.
3. Meng - Safeheron CTO Bruce has over 10 years of experience in IT systems R&D as a senior engineer and technical team lead for major internet and finance companies such as Tencent and Alibaba. Positioned as the bridge between Safeheron’s scientific research technology and business development, Bruce is mainly responsible for the company’s strategic direction. He graduated with his Master’s from KUST.
4. Kane - Safeheron Head Of Engineer With over 10 years’ experience in cybersecurity programming and implemented new technologies including trusted computing for protecting private keys. Additionally from 2017 to 2020, Kane served as laboratory project lead, writing core code and debugging hardware leading up to the maiden launch of the Long March 5B rocket. At Safeheron, Kane is responsible for laying the foundation for Safeheron's engineering. His work encompasses everything from cryptographic algorithm engineering implementation, to blockchain technology trend tracking and innovation follow-up. He graduated with his Master’s from BEIJING university of technology.
5. Drayce - Safeheron Designer Drayce has been working as senior designer in the internet industry for more than 10 years who has worked with Shanda Games, Tencent on designs of multiple core products. Since 2019, Drayce joined Web3 and now is a senior designer at Safeheron, always providing industry-leading products for crypto industry with advanced user experience and product design.

Safeheron GitHub: https://github.com/Safeheron

Funding Request and Budget Breakdown : $35,000 is being requested for this project. $15,000 will cover the Safeheron development costs and the remaining $20,000 will be for a security audit prior to the public launch of the snap.

Other Information / Relevant Links / Supporting Documents: As linked throughout, it’s important to understand that MetaMask and Safeheron have already completed the first stages of the project with a demo video and write up publicly available here: https://blog.safeheron.com/blog/product/media-reports/safeheron-partners-with-metamask-on-mpc-security-solution