Review Introduction #3
Description
From https://github.com/enigmampc/protocol-discovery/blob/master/docs/source/introduction.rst
Introduction
The Enigma network provides a permissionless peer-to-peer network that allows executing code (secret contracts) with strong correctness and privacy guarantees.
Secret contracts are similar to smart contracts in that are self-executing contracts that exist accross a distributed, decentralized blockchain network that enable the development of decentralized applications (dApps), but with the key difference that the data itself (inputs and outputs to the contract) is concealed from the nodes that execute the computations. This enables dApp developers to include sensitive data in their smart contracts, without moving off-chain to centralized (and less secure) systems.
In the Enigma network, we define a secret contract function call as a single private computation or task. These tasks are initiated by the end users of Ethereum dApps and are offloaded from Ethereum into the Enigma network. The Enigma network then selects a worker node to execute the given task in a modified Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) running inside a Trusted Exectution Environment (TEE), based on Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology (also known as an enclave). After computing a task, a cryptographic proof of the completed task is recorded, and eventually verified, on the Ethereum network.