ETH Belgrade 2024: ZKPs on Mina, zkPassport and SoulBound NFTs

Web3 currently lacks foundational components to depict social identities, thereby creating dependencies on centralized structures from Web2. This deficiency is exemplified by the reliance of NFT artists on centralized platforms and Web3 users on custodial wallets managed by centralized entities.

An innovative solution to enhance the social experience within Web3 is the integration of non-transferable soulbound tokens (SBTs). These tokens have the potential to foster more robust trust networks in the real economy, facilitate community wallet recovery, and bolster sybil-resistant governance systems.

Accounts or wallets that hold non-transferable SBTs serve as representations of commitments, credentials, and affiliations. Such tokens can enable the development of applications like undercollateralized lending and decentralized key management solutions.

SBTs essentially mirror affiliations, memberships, and credentials that are issued or verified by involved parties. These tokens can be self-attested or issued by individuals, businesses, or institutions, promising a diverse range of potential applications and benefits in the Web3 landscape.

Mina the world’s first ZK blockchain

The Mina Protocol White Paper provides insights into the technical aspects and design of the Mina blockchain, emphasizing its unique feature of being the world's lightest blockchain with a fixed size of 22 KB.

This characteristic sets it apart from traditional blockchains, which can be hundreds of gigabytes in size, enhancing the efficiency and scalability of the Mina Protocol.

Zero-Knowledge Proofs enable to balance scalability, decentralization, and security within the Mina Protocol.

These features contribute to Mina's positioning as a unique and innovative player in the blockchain space, aiming to address key challenges and offer new possibilities for blockchain applications.

The team has chosen to prioritize low storage costs to allow for full nodes to be run by anyone.

Soulbound tokens on Mina enable On-Chain Identity System

Sybil Resistance will be important so that a single person cannot create multiple identities to corrupt, exploit, or capture decision-making processes. This will be especially important in the longer term due to the risk of the advancement of generative AI and deep fakes.

Consequently, identity systems need to be developed. Initially, these could leverage existing identity systems, such as Know Your Customer (KYC) work native to Mina or an implementation of zero-knowledge validation of passports.

For example, the zkPassport Core Grant proposal considers how Mina wallets could facilitate the use of passport data for web3 applications.

These identity systems could be applied to the leaderboard as part of the reputation and contribution system and to mass deliberation tools. Ideally zero knowledge validation of passports will be viable as a solution that preserves privacy for individuals.

If not, KYC could be used. Since KYC is not decentralized, it would be up to the community to decide whether to adopt such an identity system.

In the longer term, this work stream could consider sponsoring grants for decentralized identity solutions, such as leveraging social graphs.

If robust and decentralized, identity systems can enable more democratic, less plutocratic voting, for example via quadratic on-chain voting, and increase the incentives for small block producers to participate in consensus further decentralizing the protocol. Integrating these identity systems with voting mechanisms remains a future improvement that needs more exploration.

zkOracles on Mina

Oracles play a fundamental role in the blockchain ecosystem, acting as bridges between on-chain and off-chain data. They ensure that decentralized applications (dApps) can securely interact with external data sources, providing reliable and verified information crucial for smart contract functionality.

ZKON stands out with its innovative zkOracle leveraging MPC & ZK Technology to prove any data point on a decentralized network of provers.

Recently, ZKON announced the integration of its zkOracle with the Mina Foundation, collaborating with O(1)Labs and the entire Mina ecosystem to integrate off-chain data. This partnership enhances the capabilities for Mina developers, enabling them to build more powerful and private zkApps, unlocking the private data economy.

VRFs: Randomness Events

The incorporation of VRFs (Verifiable Random Functions) will provide secure and unbiased randomness, crucial for applications such as gaming, lotteries, and finance. This ensures that random values are both truly random and verifiable, enhancing the fairness and reliability of these applications. VRFs generate cryptographically secure random outputs, which are essential for preventing manipulation and ensuring transparency.

Off-Chain Data Handling: Price Feeds

ZKON's zkOracle services supply accurate and tamper-proof price data, which is essential for financial applications, smart contracts, and DeFi platforms. This ensures that all price-sensitive operations are based on accurate and up-to-date information, reducing the risk of errors and manipulation.

Conclusion

The integration of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) on Mina blockchain, zkPassport, and SoulBound NFTs presents promising advancements in decentralized identity systems, off-chain data handling, and randomness events. These innovations showcase the potential to enhance Web3's social experience, foster trust networks, and bolster sybil-resistant governance systems. With its focus on scalability, decentralization, and security, Mina blockchain stands out as a unique and innovative player in the blockchain space, offering new possibilities for blockchain applications. This article covers the key features and potential applications of ZKPs on Mina, zkPassports, SoulBound NFTs, and their implications for the future of decentralized identity and off-chain data handling.