Tools: Building a Privacy-First URL Shortener on Blockchain

Why Traditional URL Shorteners Are a Privacy Nightmare ## Introducing Cryptly ## How It Works ## Architecture ## Try It ## privacy #blockchain #webdev #opensource When you click a bit.ly link, here's what happens: Even if you trust the shortener, their database can be hacked. I built cryptly to solve this problem using blockchain and encryption. Live demo: cryptly.workers.dev GitHub: Still in early stages but feedback welcome! Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. Hide child comments as well For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse CODE_BLOCK: const encrypted = await crypto.subtle.encrypt( { name: "AES-GCM", iv: iv }, key, urlBuffer ); Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode CODE_BLOCK: const encrypted = await crypto.subtle.encrypt( { name: "AES-GCM", iv: iv }, key, urlBuffer ); CODE_BLOCK: const encrypted = await crypto.subtle.encrypt( { name: "AES-GCM", iv: iv }, key, urlBuffer ); - Bit.ly logs your IP, timestamp, user agent - They see the destination URL - They track your browsing patterns - They sell this data to advertisers - Encryption (Client-Side) - Blockchain Storage Encrypted URL stored on Cronos blockchain Immutable, decentralized No centralized database to hack - Encrypted URL stored on Cronos blockchain - Immutable, decentralized - No centralized database to hack - Decryption (Browser) Browser fetches from blockchain Decrypts locally using Web Crypto API Server never sees destination - Browser fetches from blockchain - Decrypts locally using Web Crypto API - Server never sees destination - Encrypted URL stored on Cronos blockchain - Immutable, decentralized - No centralized database to hack - Browser fetches from blockchain - Decrypts locally using Web Crypto API - Server never sees destination - Cloudflare Workers (serverless, edge deployment) - Web Crypto API (native browser encryption) - Cronos blockchain (decentralized storage) - ✅ Server never sees destination URLs - ✅ No tracking, no analytics - ✅ No database to leak - ✅ Censorship-resistant (blockchain)