Please describe your proposed solution.

Currently many companies are looking into blockchain adoption for use-cases like commemorative NFTs point systems, DID, traceability and more. However, all of these require private data to avoid GDPR violations, which make them hard to manage with open systems like blockchains. Similarly, a lot of decentralized games are interested in similar concepts as they allow building games with information asymmetry like fog-of-war which is an important game mechanic. Additionally, the verifiability of ZK proofs also means that these could eventually be used to cheaply implement DeFi-focused components to games written with Paima (things that resemble casinos)

Currently there is no good way to build these use-cases in the Cardano ecosystem, but fortunately Paima Engine (a framework for creating web3 apps and games) has a fairly clear path to adding these primitives. Notably, as a L2 solution, it has a lot more flexibility in adding new cryptographic primitives which are always hard to add directly to the Cardano L1

Paima Engine allows writing onchain apps with Javascript, making them fairly easy to write for all developers. For the ZK circuit component, we’ve decided to partner with ZekoLabs. The reason is because they also allow writing ZK circuits in Javascript (so it feels like a unified experience for developers), and their system is based on Mina which is also compatible with Ouroboros and so it is a friendly project towards the Cardano community

Notably, the plan for integration will have the following steps:

1. Allow running ZK proofs locally and associating their results to Stateful NFTs.
2. Allow monitoring ZK appchains and merging their state into a Paima app

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

This will benefit the Cardano ecosystem by unlocking many ZK-based use-cases that are seeing massive growth in the crypto ecosystem

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

1. Number of projects associating ZK proofs to Stateful NFTs
2. Number of projects using ZK appchains

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We will share a template that shows how to integrate ZK proofs into your app / game

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

dcSpark and Paima Studios are well renowned companies in the Cardano ecosystem that have a long history of delivering on Catalyst proposals. You can find progress on grants we have previously received at https://dcspark.io/grants

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goal is to enable use-cases that require ZK functionality either for compliance reasons or simply to unlock interesting functionality

We know this project is technically feasible as we have a lot of experience with ZK cryptography. Notably, dcSpark has a ZK R&D team that is one of the contributors to both Zeko (project mentioned above) as well as Lumina (zk-based DEX)

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

1. Allow running ZK proofs locally and associating their results to Stateful NFTs.
2. Allow monitoring ZK appchains and merging their state into a Paima app

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

1. Reference implementation
2. Reference implementation

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

1. 50k
2. 50k

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

• dcSpark (development support)
• Paima Studios (advising on the use-case)

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

This will enable many interesting applications both in Web3 and in gaming that will make the ecosystem competitive against other ZK efforts in other platforms