IETF Secure Asset Transfer Protocol
Industry Initiatives
Overview
Initiative Name
Secure Asset Transfer Protocol (satp)
Organization
Internet Engineering Task Force
Type
Standard
Description
The goal of the Secure Asset Transfer Protocol (SATP) working group is to develop a standard protocol that operates between two peer gateways for the purpose of transferring digital assets between an originator in the origin network to a beneficiary in a destination network. The protocol is agnostic with respect to the type of asset being transferred, and the type of networks.
Ecosystem
Agnostic
Public Participants
MIT
Quant Network
Blockdaemon
Aiven
IBM
Other confirmed confidential participants
Date Started
2020
Status
Draft - Under development
Link
The IETF Secure Asset Transfer Protocol (SATP) specification was initiated by IBM and Quant Network in 2020. It utilizes a burn-and-mint paradigm to move assets between origin and destination networks and ensures properties like atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability. The specification covers architectural aspects like APIs, flows, identifiers and resource descriptors. It also defines protocols for identity verification, transfer initiation, asset locking, and commitment finalization. Transfer resumption, errors, and security considerations are addressed.
It is important to note that the SATP is still in the development phase. Nevertheless, in its current state, SATP provides a concrete asset transfer protocol that can be implemented for production systems. It is intended to be blockchain-agnostic and focuses narrowly on the gateway-to-gateway transmission aspects. As such, it stands as a robust standard for how regulated digital asset transfers can be achieved securely using a coordinated burn-and-mint mechanism.
Organizations and projects interested in ensuring secure and standardized asset transfers across multiple DLTs should consider staying up to date on the IETF SATP's development and updates.
Analysis
Scope and Purpose
Target Audience
DLT developers, Researchers, Product Managers and technical stakeholders interested in secure asset transfers across multiple opaque distributed networks.
Coverage
Defines architecture, messaging flows, and cryptographic methods for atomic transfers of digital assets between distributed networks.
Technical Aspects
Architecture
Gateway-to-gateway protocol operating between two endpoints. Uses asset burn-and-mint paradigm.
Interoperability
Provides standardized APIs.
Security Measures
Cryptographic signatures, proofs, and hashes to ensure integrity and non-repudiation.
Adoption and Implementation
Vendor-agnostic Reference implementation
Current Adopters/Vendor Implementations
Is there a quant implementation?
Case Studies
None
Ease of Implementation
Governance and Update Mechanism
Oversight Body
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) - SATP WG
Update Mechanism
IETF update processes, which typically involve community feedback, working group discussions, and iterative draft versions.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Advantages
Challenges
Compatibility and Integration
Inter-standard Compatibility
Extensibility
Given its design, SATP is likely to be extensible to accommodate future changes or additions,
Community and Support
Community Engagement
Support Channels
IETF community forums, mailing lists, and working group meetings.
Future Roadmap
Next Step
Long-term Vision
Comparative Analysis
Comparative Analysis
Reviewer
We have contacted or we will contact the proposed reviewer.
Proposed reviewer: Dr Thomas Hardjono, CTO of Connection Science and Technical Director of the MIT Trust-Data Consortium at MIT
Review status: Not started.
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