Users will be able to use blockchain technology to validate email addresses with a new feature created by Proton Mail.
Swiss end-to-end email provider focused on encryption Proton Mail is piloting a new blockchain-based feature allowing users to verify email addresses.
In a Fortune interview, Proton CEO Andy Yen emphasized that the new Key Transparency product is simply a “blockchain in a very pure form” and has nothing to do with cryptocurrencies.
The goal is to stop “man-in-the-middle” attacks, a cyberattack in which the attacker records the entire conversation and gains control of it. Proton CEO Andy Yen stated:
“Maybe it is the NSA [National Security Agency] that has created a fake public key linked to you, and I’m somehow tricked into encrypting data with that public key. In order for the verification to be trusted, it needs to be public, and it needs to be unchanging.”
To make sure that emails get to the correct person, the feature will automatically match users’ public keys, which are created when they create an email on Proton, with the intended recipients.
As of publication, Proton’s private blockchain network was running the feature in beta. When the team is certain the product is ready, Yen did not exclude out transferring it to a public blockchain (like Ethereum).
The CEO of Proton did not specify when the product would be released. Yen openly shared his quandary on the future of cryptocurrency till the end of 2022.
In an interview with Forbes, Yen expressed doubt about Proton’s cryptocurrency holdings, stating he was curious if the business should keep cryptocurrency on its balance sheet.
Since 2017, Proton Mail has maintained Bitcoin (BTC) as an assets on its balance sheet and is still taking cryptocurrency payments.