The Divide Between Web3 and Web2: Exploring the Potential of zkTLS

Despite the fact that Web3 technology has developed powerful tools and infrastructure, the daily lives of ordinary internet users still primarily take place in a Web2 environment.

Current Situation Analysis

The cryptocurrency industry has made significant progress. Layer 2 scaling solutions have been implemented, zkVMs technology has emerged, and even cryptocurrency ETFs have received regulatory approval. However, for most people, the blockchain space still feels distant - it exists more in news reports than in practical applications.

Challenge location

The core of the problem lies not in the technology itself, but in the areas it currently cannot reach: our digital lives. Although Web3 has built powerful tools and infrastructure, the everyday activities of ordinary internet users still take place in Web2 environments - they browse, trade, and socialize on centralized platforms that control user data.

Mainstream adoption of Web3 still faces challenges before we can connect these two worlds in a trustless and privacy-protecting manner.

The reasons why Web3 has not been able to break through

Our online interactions cover multiple areas - including banking, social media, streaming platforms, and government portals. But all of these activities take place within a strictly controlled ecosystem. Our digital identities are scattered across various platforms, each holding a part of our lives: there are bank statements here, passport scans over there, and work experiences on professional networking platforms.

This fragmentation has brought about two fundamental issues:

• Data Silos: Users' online identities are scattered across various platforms, each with its own rules and permissions.
• Lack of ownership: Users do not actually own their own data. At best, they have access rights - and these access rights can be revoked, restricted, or monetized at will by others.

These issues are reflected in the frictions we face every day. For example, when proof of income is required, a complete bank statement may need to be provided. When address verification is needed, an entire utility bill may need to be uploaded. These systems assume that complete transparency is the only way to build trust, due to a lack of infrastructure for selective, verifiable disclosures.

Web3 promises to empower users with control, but so far it has not fully delivered on that promise - at least not for everyday data derived from Web2.

The Missing Key: Verifiable Web2 Data

This is the real bottleneck: how to enable Web3 applications to leverage the data we have already generated - while not compromising user privacy or introducing new trusted intermediaries.

There are two key challenges:

• Verifiability: How can we cryptographically prove that data from Web2 sources is reliable without relying on centralized oracles or APIs?
• Privacy: How to prove only the necessary content - without exposing the complete data behind it?

Some oracle providers have addressed certain verifiability issues, particularly for public data such as asset prices or weather conditions. However, personal and user-specific data - such as financial records, qualifications, and identity credentials - require different approaches. These data points exist within encrypted channels after logging in, and they are not designed to be extracted or shared.

This is where zkTLS comes into play.

Introduction to zkTLS

Most of the internet runs on TLS (Transport Layer Security) - the encryption protocol that underpins HTTPS. It protects about 95% of web traffic. When a user visits a website, TLS ensures that the communication is encrypted and has not been tampered with.

zkTLS (Zero-Knowledge TLS) builds on this foundation to create some entirely new functionalities: it allows users to extract and prove specific facts from Web2 data streams without revealing the full content or trusting a third party.

This unlocks two key capabilities:

• On-chain verifiability: zkTLS can prove that the data comes from a specific Web2 source and has not been tampered with.
• Selective disclosure: It can prove specific attributes - such as "my annual income exceeds a certain amount" - without revealing actual bank statements.

Its working principle is briefly described as follows:

• Capture the encrypted TLS session between the user and the website.
• Generate a zero-knowledge proof to prove a specific statement (for example, that a certain value appears in the response).
• Then the proof can be verified on the chain - trustless and private.

This avoids the need to expose data to third parties or rely on centralized servers to prove the data. Instead, trust is embedded within the cryptographic proof itself.

This is not just theory. The implementation of zkTLS has been tested and deployed in consumer and DeFi use cases, indicating that verifiable Web2 data will become the default input for Web3 applications.

Practical Applications of zkTLS

zkTLS not only optimizes data processing - it also redefines the boundaries between Web2 and Web3. By implementing trust minimization and private access to off-chain data, it allows applications to integrate real-world context without compromising privacy or decentralization.

The following are its current applications in different fields.

Financial Services

Due to the lack of reliable identity and on-chain financial data, most decentralized finance protocols still rely on over-collateralization. zkTLS enables the verification of income, cash flow, or account history without exposing sensitive documents.

• The Credit Protocol for Pool Credit is providing real-time, unsecured stablecoin credit lines for traders, farmers, and businesses. Borrowers connect their wallets and Web2 financial data through connection tools to unlock credit based on verifiable proof in decentralized finance, centralized exchanges, and banks - without collateral.
• Some projects support a flexible peer-to-peer lending market, where borrowers can privately prove income or account activity to unlock funds using zkTLS.
• Real-world asset tokenization projects begin to use zkTLS to verify land or property ownership through government portals, achieving compliant on-chain assetization.
• Some projects are building decentralized fiat-to-cryptocurrency gateways, allowing users to use zkTLS proofs for payments on mobile payment platforms - no KYC, no intermediaries, instant settlement.

These systems expand the channels for capital acquisition, bring credit value on-chain, and establish a compliant bridge between traditional finance and cryptocurrency.

Consumer Platform

In Web2, access to digital goods, subscriptions, and purchase history is locked behind centralized APIs. zkTLS makes this data portable and provable - without needing to request permission from the platform.

• Some platforms allow users to verify the ownership of game skins and collectibles through gaming platform data, enabling secure peer-to-peer transactions without the need for platform intervention.
• zkTLS is also used to prove access to closed communities, subscriptions, or premium content - no account linking or API access required.
• In e-commerce, users can prove past purchases or loyalty program activities to unlock cashback, token rewards, or resale markets.

Now imagine proving that you have a music streaming subscription - or a luxury brand purchase - without revealing your full account. This is the power of zkTLS.

Identity and Reputation

Today's digital identity is fragmented and overly exposed. Proving identity often means sharing too much information. zkTLS changes this by allowing selective disclosure from trusted sources.

• Some projects serve as privacy-preserving identity oracles, converting files and data from Web2 platforms into selective on-chain proofs.
• Some platforms support cross-application reputation layers. It verifies credit scores, locations, or ride-hailing histories, etc. - without KYC - allowing users to build verifiable profiles that can be used across applications and ecosystems.
• Certain applications allow professionals to create trustworthy and verifiable work profiles based on employment history and social graphs.

Now imagine someone building a Web3 version of a ride-sharing or food delivery platform. Drivers show up with zkTLS-verified credentials - no onboarding friction, no need to rebuild reputation.

Social and Content

The content we watch, play with, and interact with says a lot - but this data is trapped within the platform. zkTLS unlocks this data, making participation portable and programmable.

• Some projects allow users to prove that they have seen or interacted with advertisements - without revealing who they are. Advertisers reach real people, users receive rewards, and data remains private.
• Some platforms use zkTLS to verify game profiles and performance data through gaming platforms. Players can prove their skills and receive game-based rewards - no screenshots required.

This unlocks the next wave of the attention market and participation-driven rewards - ultimately cross-platform portable.

Impact and Behavior

Behavior systems - whether for fitness, sustainability, or rewards - typically require private and hard-to-verify data. zkTLS makes it possible to prove actions without surveillance.

• Some projects use IoT and registered data to verify the ownership and usage of solar panels - without exposing user identity or location.
• Some platforms link exercise rewards to verified exercise tracking activities without disclosing health or GPS data.

Other applications are exploring the use of zkTLS to prove public transportation usage, recycling, or participation in environmental projects - achieving a transparent and privacy-preserving incentive system.

With zkTLS, we can finally prove actions in the real world - without being surveilled.

Emerging Frontier

At the intersection of artificial intelligence, agents, and decentralized coordination, zkTLS provides critical infrastructure for proof and trust.

• Some projects are building autonomous agents that generate zero-knowledge support logs for their actions - making AI decisions verifiable and auditable.
• Some platforms allow whistleblowers and experts to prove affiliation or insights without revealing their identities - bringing credibility to anonymous communication.
• zkTLS is also used to verify the training data of machine learning - ensuring authenticity while protecting contributor privacy.

As agents and AI become more autonomous, zkTLS anchors them in fact.

From Certificate to Ownership

zkTLS not only makes Web2 data available in Web3 - it also makes it ownable. Credentials that were once isolated on platforms become portable, programmable, and privacy-preserving.

As more applications adopt zkTLS, we will see a compound effect: more verifiable data leads to more powerful applications, thereby giving users greater control - and more reasons to unlock data on their own terms.

This is not meant to replace existing systems. Rather, it aims to empower users with control over them - and to build a path of trust, privacy, and composability that expands together.

Future Outlook

If cryptographic technology wants to enter the mainstream, it needs to meet the needs of users - on the internet they are already using. zkTLS provides the foundation to achieve this goal.