[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Privacy-Aware DAO Voting & Treasury Management

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

87000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

9

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Cardano DAOs lack privacy; sensitive votes and treasury actions expose identities and reduce participation.

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No Dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

MIT/Apache-2.0

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

DAO

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Mention your open source license and describe your open source license rationale.

Apache-2.0 for smart contracts, backend, and frontend. The repository will include a LICENSE file and headers where appropriate. Apache-2.0 is permissive and includes a patent grant, enabling broad adoption, forking, and contributions. It is commercial-friendly and widely used across web3, encouraging ecosystem reuse without restrictive obligations.

How do you make sure your source code is accessible to the public from project start, and people are informed?

• Public repository from project start: https://github.com/nightswaplabs The repo remains public throughout the project.
• Version control: semantic versioning, Conventional Commits, and a CHANGELOG. We will tag releases for each milestone with release notes.
• Regular commits and monthly progress updates. Issues, roadmap (project board), and discussions will be public.
• Notifications: links and updates shared via Telegram, X and the repo’s releases page.

How will you provide high quality documentation?

Standard Scaffolding for Large Software Projects:

• User docs: README, quickstart, setup guides, UI walkthroughs, FAQs, optionally demo videos.

• Developer docs: architecture sketch, local dev setup, smart contract interfaces, integration guides, code examples

• Tooling & standards: Docusaurus for a versioned docs site, Markdown for guides, and OpenAPI/Swagger for any HTTP APIs. We will include diagrams and code examples. CI will build docs and check links on each release.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

What

How we perceive the problem:

• Public-by-default governance reduces turnout and distorts decision-making on sensitive topics.
• Treasury operations require both accountability and discretion; current tooling forces either full secrecy off-chain or full publicity on-chain.

Our approach:

• Eligibility proofs: Users prove DAO membership and voting weight (e.g., stake snapshot, token holdings, or allowlist) via zero-knowledge without revealing addresses.
• Private ballots and verifiable tally: Votes are cast privately on Midnight; the tally is publicly verifiable via proofs anchored on Cardano.
• User experience: A simple, accessible web app integrates with Cardano wallets and Midnight connectivity, requiring minimal new tooling for users.

How

Who we will engage:

• Cardano DAOs and communities (protocol teams, SPO collectives, guilds, Catalyst-funded projects)
• Treasury stewards and governance facilitators who need discretion without losing accountability
• Developers via example integrations

How we will demonstrate impact:

• Measure voter participation and retention improvements compared to prior public votes
• Track adoption (number of DAOs, proposals, votes, treasury actions)
• Publish verifiable proofs and audit artifacts for independent validation

What’s unique and why it matters:

• First-class privacy for governance on Cardano using Midnight while preserving verifiability
• Modular design that supports multiple voting types (single choice, ranked choice, approval) and membership models
• Bridges the gap between privacy, compliance, and audit needs, unlocking sensitive on-chain governance use cases

Technical Insights: Voting

1. Snapshot on Cardano

• Fix block height h and compute balances of token T per stake key using clear, deterministic rules.
• Build a Poseidon Merkle tree with leaves = Poseidon(id_key, weight), where id_key = Poseidon(stakeKeyPub).
• Publish the full holder list (CID) and the Merkle root R_h so anyone can reproduce the result; no co-signers required.

1. Publish + propose

• Anchor (h, CID, R_h) in a Cardano transaction (metadata) or sign a canonical message with the project key.
• Create a Midnight proposal that references R_h and the anchor; set the voting window.
• Optional: allow disputes with concrete evidence without blocking immediate proposal creation.

1. Private voting

• Wallet signs a one‑time challenge with the Cardano stake key; the voter app derives id_key = Poseidon(stakeKeyPub).
• Submit a ZK proof of Merkle inclusion for the leaf (id_key, weight) under R_h, plus a one‑of‑N choice and a per‑proposal nullifier (avoids double-voting).
• Weight is not trusted from user input; it is bound to the Merkle leaf proven inside the circuit.

1. Verify + tally on Midnight

• Contract verifies the proof binds stakeKeyPub → id_key and Merkle path → weight, rejects reused nullifiers, and updates private tallies.
• Users cannot inflate weight: only the leaf’s weight (from R_h) is accepted; using another leaf requires that stake key’s signature.
• Interim results remain hidden; only totals are revealed at finalize.

1. Finalize + anchor

• Publish final totals with a succinct proof; optionally anchor the result hash on Cardano for public audit.
• Anyone can re-run the snapshot at h to recompute R_h, verify the proof, and validate the published totals.

Technical Insights: Treasury approvals

• Eligibility: fixed approver set (k-of-m; avoids whale self-authorizing transactions, keeps stewards accountable and operationally responsive).
• Proof: approver proves membership (Merkle path under A_root, which is the Merkle root committing to the registered approver set) and approves a specific payment instruction hash; no weights (separation of powers vs. governance).
• Aggregation: count distinct approvals and require threshold ≥k; use nullifiers to prevent double-approval.
• State: commit to the payment hash and an approval counter/bitmap; reveal only that threshold was met, not who approved.
• Outcome: on ≥k approvals, emit an execution artifact, then anchor the approval proof on Cardano.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Expected impact on Cardano:

• Higher voter turnout and more representative decisions for sensitive proposals
• Safer multi-stakeholder collaboration by reducing fear of retaliation or targeting
• Reusable privacy components for broader Cardano dApps via open-source

Measurables (targets for first 6–9 months):

• ≥ 1 DAO piloting the tool
• ≥ 1 proposals voted privately
• ≥ 10 unique voters; ≥ 10% increase vs prior public votes
• ≥ 1 privacy-preserving treasury actions executed

Sharables:

• Open-source repos, documentation site, and recorded demo walkthroughs
• Regular progress threads and Q&A at Cardano Town Halls and forums
• Final public report and explainer video outlining learnings, metrics, and next steps

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Core team with experience across Cardano and zk privacy tech. Related ongoing development operations: https://nightswap.io/

Delivery confidence:

• Milestone-based plan with clear, testable deliverables and public demos
• Code reviews, automated testing, and optional third-party security review prior to mainnet pilots
• Funds management via multi-sig, monthly public updates, and milestone-linked disbursements

Operations:

• Security-by-design development, threat modeling, and privacy impact assessments
• Documentation and handover materials to enable community adoption beyond the grant

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Foundations & Setup

Milestone Outputs

• Public repository with scaffolding (contracts + web app), CI, and docs skeleton

• Wallet connect (Cardano + Midnight devnet) with hello‑world contract and local flow

• Draft architecture and eligibility approach (stake snapshot, token-based, allowlist)

Acceptance Criteria

• Repository is public and accessible; CI passes build, lint, and basic tests on PRs and main

• Hello‑world contract deployable and callable from the web app against Midnight devnet

• Architecture document and eligibility spec committed under docs/ with at least one system diagram

Evidence of Completion

• Public repo link and a v0.1.0 tag; green CI badge/screenshot

• Short demo video showing wallet connect and calling the hello‑world contract

• Links to architecture and eligibility docs in the repository

Delivery Month

1

Cost

10000

Progress

10 %

Milestone Title

Private Voting Prototype

Milestone Outputs

• Proposal creation and private ballot submission on Midnight devnet
• Mock/off‑chain tally for demo to demonstrate a basic allowlist eligibility
• Minimal admin UI for proposal creation and viewing mock results

Acceptance Criteria

• Users can create a proposal, cast private ballots, and view a mock tally end‑to‑end for ≥ 10 test voters

• Allowlist eligibility enforced; attempts from non‑allowed identities are rejected/logged

• Quickstart updated to run the prototype locally; sample DAO configuration included

Evidence of Completion

• Demo video of the full flow; screenshots of proposal list and results screen

• Release v0.2.0 with release notes and a CHANGELOG entry

• Test logs or script output demonstrating allowlist enforcement

Delivery Month

4

Cost

30000

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

Treasury Approval Prototype

Milestone Outputs

• Basic N‑of‑M treasury approval flow (e.g., 2‑of‑3 approvers) for authorizing a payment instruction

• Exportable JSON audit artifact (draft) and outline for integrations

• Usability pass and documentation for setup and typical actions

Acceptance Criteria

• Create payment request -> collect approvals (>= 2 approvers) -> finalize instruction works on devnet with deterministic outcomes

• Audit artifact generated per action and validated against a documented JSON schema

• Integration guide demonstrates calling the API/SDK with a runnable example

Evidence of Completion

• Demo video of the approval flow; example outputs of the audit artifact

• Release v0.3.0 with docs links and sample integration code committed

• JSON schema for audit artifact checked into the repository

Delivery Month

6

Cost

30000

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Anchoring, Pilot & Close‑out

Milestone Outputs

• Verifiable tally with succinct proofs anchored to Cardano

• Configurable disclosure policies for treasury; performance testing; scoped security review with fixes

• Governance templates; SDK/API alpha

• Pilot with at least 1 DAO; feedback and metrics collection

• Close‑out: Public report covering metrics, lessons, roadmap; recorded video demo and walkthrough

Acceptance Criteria

• Public verification script validates tally proofs; Cardano anchor transaction IDs published

• Treasury disclosure policies configurable and enforced; performance report includes throughput and latency benchmarks

• Security review summary with remediation list merged; governance templates and SDK/API alpha released

• Pilot report includes target metrics (≥ 1 DAO, ≥ 1 proposal, ≥ 10 voters with ≥ 10% uplift, ≥ 1 treasury action)

• Close‑out materials published; repositories tagged v1.0.0 with detailed release notes

Evidence of Completion

• Links to verification script, anchor tx IDs, performance test report, and security review summary

• Pilot report (PDF/Markdown) and recorded video demo link

• v1.0.0 release/tag URL and CHANGELOG entry

Delivery Month

9

Cost

17000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

• Engineering (contracts, backend, frontend): 40.000
• Cryptography review / security: 12.000
• Product & design: 14.000
• Community, pilots, and documentation: 4.000
• Infrastructure (hosting, CI/CD, monitoring): 3.000
• Legal/compliance and accounting: 4.000
• Contingency (10–15%): 10.000
• TOTAL: 87.000

Notes:

• All code open-sourced; no proprietary licensing fees
• Security review scoped prior to wider rollout
• Hosting sized for pilot scale; can be minimized via community infra where possible

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

Why this is good value:

• High-leverage public goods: privacy-preserving governance and treasury modules usable by many DAOs

• Open-source deliverables reduce duplication of effort across the ecosystem

• Uses Midnight to unlock sensitive on-chain use cases otherwise not feasible on public ledgers

Cost justification:

• Engineering and security costs align with regional rates of Central Europe (i.e. Germany) and comparable web3 protocol development

• Milestone-linked disbursements and transparent reporting reduce funding risk

• Contingency reserved for findings during security review or pilot feedback

Long-term value:

• Reusable components (contracts, SDKs, UI) lower barriers for future Cardano privacy applications

• Increased voter turnout and safer governance processes strengthen Cardano projects and community resilience

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes