Ethereum Foundation and Open Anonymity Project: zkAPI launched on the mainnet

The Ethereum Foundation and the Open Anonymity Project have launched zkAPI on the Ethereum mainnet. This system allows users to pre-deposit amounts of ETH, USDC, and other currencies to separate billing identity from requests when paying for AI and other usage-based services.

After users deposit funds, they can authorize payments through zero-knowledge proofs and one-time API keys. After the server verifies the payment proof, it generates a short-term key with a limit. AI service providers can receive prompts but will not know the corresponding payment identity. zkAPI does not hide the content of the prompts; AI service providers can still read the prompts and responses; stable IP addresses, timing patterns, and repetitive behaviors may also be linked to user identities. The project repository marks zkAPI as an experimental project.