Hack around the world!
On April 29th, Antalpha Labs and Mantle jointly held a zero-knowledge proof (zkp) themed HackerHouse in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which officially came to an end after three wonderful weeks in the beautiful and vibrant city.
Prior to this Antalpha HackerHouse (AHH), aside from a brief zkp co-living development at ETHDenver, this marked Antalpha's first time hosting such a large-scale and long-duration HackerHouse abroad. Chiang Mai, as a global and international crypto community, definitely brought plenty of pleasant surprises:
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Friendly coffee and work environment: Chiang Mai's Nomad livability index is among the top in the world, with a well-developed and welcoming infrastructure for foreigners, including apartments, international schools, eco-communities, and various shared office spaces, cafes, and communities.
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Warm and friendly local people, a rich artistic and creative environment, and all kinds of delicious northern Thai snacks. There's also a large number of digital nomads and artist groups gathering around the old city and Chiang Mai University.
During this AHH, we rented a resort in the southwestern part of Chiang Mai, with over 40 hackers from countries like China, Spain, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, the United States, Brazil, and South Korea, all of whom passed interviews and gradually arrived here to learn, build, and explore the local food scene together.
Throughout these three weeks, hackers from all over the world not only delved deeper into zkp research, brainstormed ideas, and collaborated on development, but also attended nearly 10 whiteboard sessions on PLONK, Nova, and other zk protocols, taught by *Guo Yu@Secbit*. Additionally, there were 9 technical sharing sessions from various project teams – jam-packed with valuable content and high-quality information.
Week1：Opening, Share & Workshop
Opening！(04.09)
During the opening of the event, hackers took turns introducing their backgrounds and individual project ideas, which they then wrote down on paper and posted on a designated wall. Later during dinner, many hackers gathered around the wall, plates in hand, and engaged in discussions based on the content displayed on the papers:
Considering the rapid advancements and complexity of zkp technology, we did not require any deliverables from the hackers during the first week. Instead, we focused on sharing cutting-edge techniques and knowledge acquisition. The following are some of the presentations and brainstorming activities from the first week:
Chiquito and the infinite garden by Leo Lara from Ethereum Foundation
Leo Lara is now working on zkEVM of EF, and Chiquito Is a high-level language abstraction that makes seamless most the abstractions used in zkEVM and can compile to "plonkish machines"
About Chiquito：
Working prototype that passes the tests of one of the circuits of zkEVM
DSL in rust
Backend in Halo2
Can compose with other pure Halo2 circuits
Github Repo: https://github.com/privacy-scaling-explorations/chiquito
zkMemory, a reusable module for zkVM based on Verkle tree by Chiro | Orochi Network
zkMemory is a module that can be reused by any zkVM project. It utilizes Verkle tree and KZG commitment to commit the memory state in an efficient way. The Verkle tree is a data structure used for efficient key-value storage and retrieval, and the KZG (Kate-Zaverucha-Goldberg) commitment scheme is a cryptographic primitive that allows for efficient and secure commitment of data. By using zkMemory, a zkVM project can take advantage of these technologies to efficiently commit the memory state and provide privacy-preserving computations using zero-knowledge proofs. This can be particularly useful in applications where data privacy is critical, such as in financial transactions or voting systems.
Project url: https://orochi.network/
Workshop: Matheus from risc0 by Cardoso
RISC Zero is a zero-knowledge verifiable general computing platform based on zk-STARKs and the RISC-V microarchitecture.
The code runs in a special virtual machine, called a zkVM. The RISC Zero zkVM emulates a small RISC-V computer, allowing it to run arbitrary code in any language, so long as a compiler toolchain exists that targets RISC-V. Currently, SDK support exists for Rust, C, and C++.
Project url:
Whiteboard session：PLONK、LOOKUP、Nova by Yu Guo@Secbit (04.14 ~ 04.27)
Every day at 4:00 pm, Mr. Guo will discuss the technical details of PLONK, Nova and other protocols on the whiteboard of the Town Hall. Since there are not many related technical materials on the Internet, everyone can gain different perspectives and ideas during the discussion. New insights, thanks to Teacher Guo!
Week2：buidling & Songkran
In the second week, everyone gradually got to know each other better, and most teams had refined their ideas, recruited teammates, and started working on development. In addition to the first week's presentations and workshops, there were continuous sharing sessions and workshops during the second and third weeks, such as:
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Autonomous world&quick intro to tornado cash’s privacy By Yoyo (4.17)
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Dompute,a zkp outsourcing computing platform By YANG ZHOU (4.18)
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Mantle Workshop By Arun From Miana (4.20)
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Schnorr Sequencer By Wanseob from PSE. (4.28)
Songkran Festival!
During the busy development schedule, the most exciting event was undoubtedly the Thai Songkran Festival (Water Festival) held from April 13th to April 16th. In Buddhist traditions, water symbolizes purification and blessings. During these days, people splash water on each other on the streets to bless the new year.
Out on the streets, various water guns and large water buckets were everywhere, and people didn't hesitate to shower pedestrians and motorbike riders with their "crazy blessings." Screams, laughter, and deafening music echoed through Nimman Road and Chiang Mai Old City. In the sweltering heat, our clothes constantly switched between wet and dry. Since we couldn't find any water guns for sale, we followed the "if you can't beat them, join them" principle, occupied a street-side water bucket, bought small basins, and happily started splashing people in the old city streets lol.
First Demoday (4.22)
During the first Demoday on the afternoon of April 22nd, each project presented details about the project, team members, and the week's development progress (more detailed descriptions of each project will follow).
Week3：buidling & Demoday
After the lively Songkran Festival, the third week was the busiest. The lobby lights were often on until late at night, and the resort was filled with intense discussions or quiet coding sessions.
April 29th marked the final Demoday, showcasing the projects developed during this HackerHouse. Let's take a look at what was produced: Demo
ZKBlind
zk anonymity allows individuals to share potentially sensitive information without revealing their identity, ZKBlind uses zk/DKIM technology to hide the user's actual email address, anonymously verify the signature of the e-mail, and verify the validity of the user's corporate email.
Project url: https://zk-blind-next-js.vercel.app/
Chiquito
Chiquito is a high-level DSL that provides syntax sugar and abstraction for constraint building and column placement when writing Halo2 circuits. It allows the user to manipulate an AST that’s compiled to a Chiquito Halo2 backend, which can be integrated into any Halo2 circuit.
ZRCLIB
SDK for Private Token Primitives on EVM chains!
Solidity SDK: Our library for smart contracts
TypeScript SDK: Bridging the gap between web3 and DApps
Github repo: https://github.com/blockhackersio/zrclib
ZK Biohazards
This project aims to protect privacy and keep DNA research safe by using a new method that doesn't reveal sensitive DNA details. Although still in development, it's a big step towards a secure and private way to create DNA sequences without risking harmful consequences.
Github repo(Private): https://github.com/Cardosaum/zk_biohazards
DOMPUTE
DOMPUTE is a zkp outsourcing computing platform & a zkp development & debug assistant & a zkp common circuit community.
Github repo: https://github.com/dompute/
Arcane Assembly & More
pychiquito is a python interface for chiquito ZKP DSL.
Github Repo:
Blazing Blake in Halo2
implementing the Blake2 hash function in Halo2, by using a spread table for optimization.
Github repo: https://github.com/amit0365/zk-odst
MagicKey
One of the applications of on-chain assets is as a pass card, such as a some NFT that can be used to enter a private community or claim certain airdrops/benefits. However, people dont want to expose the wallet address where their high-value assets are located, due to potential security risks. By using zk, users can obtain the corresponding "pass" by submitting a zk proof that they are the holder of certain asset, without exposing their address.
Github Repo(Private): https://github.com/Jensenczx/MagicKey
Synergy
Synergy is a Private credential curater and aggregator
- Github repo: https://github.com/Mobius3-3/Synergy
Treat or Be Slashed
The "Treat or Be Slashed" Project is a Web 3.0 solution designed to protect free APIs from abuse. Some users exploit free APIs, creating an unfair environment for ethical users. This project, based on RLN on KZG polynomial commitment by Wanseob Lim, serves as a bridge between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, ensuring that free APIs are protected while promoting equity for all users. It discourages greedy behavior and encourages responsible use, creating a fair and secure ecosystem for free API services.
written by Demian, 2023-05-04