ZK from zero on Cardano [ebook] by elRaulito

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

ZK from zero on Cardano [ebook] by elRaulito

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

60000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

8

[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?

Material for writing ZK DApps on Cardano is not easy to find and developers are struggling to build on Cardano ZK applications

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://x.com/ElRaulito_cnft/status/1953449466582737243

[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

AFL-3.0 license

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Education

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Who you’re targeting, how you’ll reach them, and why this matters for Cardano.

New developers coming from other ecosystems or Cardano and people that is already developing on our blockchain. The idea is to attract new people to build ZK products on Cardano. ZK makes blockchains more efficient and reduce the onchain footprint.

My personal twitter account @Elraulito_CNFT has over 8000 followers that are interested in my educational material

Provide a list of key activities of your project?

Writing an ebook involves the following activities:

• Collect material and documentation, zk material is not related only to cardano but other chains like Zcash and Monero have much more history regarding ZK
• Study the material, understanding what is the best source and content to bring to the users
• create the content, text and media files
• Review the text and grammar
• File creation, hosting
• Marketing and awareness

What are your success metrics?

The success of this project is the adoption and use of the ebook, therefore any star and fork on github or any bookmark on the social medias used to promote the ebook.

How many new users are developing on cardano after the relase of this?

How many users raed the ebook and what's their use case?

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

This proposal aims to write an ebook, free and opensource for everyone, where contributors can even keep increasing and updating the content just by doing a PR on github.

This ebook will be structured in the following way:

1. Introduction to Zero-Knowledge Proofs

1.1 What is a Zero-Knowledge Proof?

1.2 The Core Principles: Completeness, Soundness, and Zero-Knowledge

1.3 Types of ZKPs: Interactive vs Non-Interactive, zk-SNARKs vs zk-STARKs

1.4 Use Cases Beyond Blockchain

2**. The History of ZK**

2.1 The Cryptographic Roots: 1980s to Present

2.2 The Emergence of ZK in Blockchain

1. ZK in Web3: Privacy Coins and Beyond

3.1 Why Web3 Needs ZK

3.2 Zcash: A Deep Dive into zk-SNARKs in Action

3.3 Monero: RingCT, Stealth Addresses, and the Contrast with ZK

3.4 Other ZK Applications in Web3 (Mina, Aztec, Polygon zkEVM, etc.)

1. ZK for Compression and Privacy

4.1 ZK for Data Minimization and Proof Compression

4.2 Succinctness and Scalability

4.3 Privacy by Design: Applications and Limitations

4.4 The Trade-offs in Performance vs Privacy

5. Understanding ZK Circuits and Verification

5.1 What is a ZK Circuit?

5.2 From Logic to Circuits: Arithmetic Constraints

5.3 Circuit Compilers (ZoKrates, Circom, Halo2, etc.)

5.4 Verification Process On-Chain

6. Writing Your First ZK-Powered Smart Contract on Cardano

6.1 Overview of Cardano's Smart Contract Platform

6.2 Introduction to ZK Support in Cardano

6.3 Using Aiken and Off-chain ZK Compilers

6.4 Example: Proving Identity Without Revealing Data

6.5 Deploying and Testing on Testnet

7. Implementing Off-Chain Logic for ZK in Cardano

7.1 Cardano Off-Chain Architecture

7.2 Interfacing Circuits with Plutus

7.3 ZK Proof Generation Pipelines

7.4 Handling Verifier Contracts Efficiently

1. Tornado Cash on Cardano: A Case Study

8.1 What is Tornado Cash?

8.2 ZK Mixers and Anonymity Pools

8.3 Designing a Mixer dApp on Cardano

8.4 Performance Considerations and Benchmarks

1. Final Thoughts and Future Directions

9.1 The Future of ZK in Web3

9.2 Cardano’s Position in the ZK Landscape

9.3 Ethical and Regulatory Considerations

9.4 Further Resources and Communities to Follow

9.5 Final Words

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

This ebook aims to be the lighthouse for new ZK builders that are looking for a blockchain to build on, in order to make Cardano the point of reference for ZK projects and Dapps that want to increase their scalability or privacy for their data.

[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?

I am a senior blockchain developer with years of experience on Cardano, I have also studied Zcash and monero while exploring all the papers available regarding Tornado cash and how it uses merkle trees for generation of privacy pools.

My CV and portfolio: https://www.raul.it/

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

ZK Intro

Milestone Outputs

Creation of:

• Repository for hosting the ebook
• 2 chapters regarding zero knowledge
• Social media reach to create awareness of the project
• Raising feedback from the community using PR on github or comments on twitter

Acceptance Criteria

• The pdf is available and easy to reach for everyone
• The content is what has been stated in the index and easy to understand
• Social media posts have been created and community is aware of the project

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the repository of the ebook
• Link for providing feedbacks
• Link for readme of the ebook
• Any additional information that can help to understand the project

Delivery Month

2

Cost

15000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Web3 and use case

Milestone Outputs

Creation of:

• New material in the repository for hosting the ebook
• 2 additional chapters regarding zero knowledge
• Social media reach to create awareness of the project
• Raising feedback from the community using PR on GitHub or comments on Twitter

Acceptance Criteria

1. The PDF is available and easy to reach for everyone
2. The content is what has been stated in the index and easy to understand
3. Social media posts have been created and community is aware of the project

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the repository of the ebook
• Link for providing feedback
• Link for README of the ebook
• Any additional information that can help to understand the project

Delivery Month

4

Cost

15000

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

ZK on Cardano

Milestone Outputs

Creation of:

• New material in the repository for hosting the ebook
• 2 additional chapters regarding zero knowledge
• Social media reach to create awareness of the project
• Raising feedback from the community using PR on GitHub or comments on Twitter

Acceptance Criteria

1. The PDF is available and easy to reach for everyone
2. The content is what has been stated in the index and easy to understand
3. Social media posts have been created and community is aware of the project

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the repository of the ebook
• Link for providing feedback
• Link for README of the ebook
• Any additional information that can help to understand the project

Delivery Month

6

Cost

20000

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Use Case and final chapter

Milestone Outputs

Creation of:

• New material in the repository for hosting the ebook
• 2 additional chapters regarding zero knowledge
• Social media reach to create awareness of the project
• Raising feedback from the community using PR on GitHub or comments on Twitter

Acceptance Criteria

1. The PDF is available and easy to reach for everyone
2. The content is what has been stated in the index and easy to understand
3. Social media posts have been created and community is aware of the project

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the repository of the ebook
• Link for providing feedback
• Link for README of the ebook
• Any additional information that can help to understand the project

Delivery Month

8

Cost

10000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Total Budget: 60,000 ADA

Reserved for Market Volatility (20%): 12,000 ADA

Available for Allocation: 48,000 ADA

Research (210 hours) 21,000 ADA

Writing (160 hours) 16,000 ADA

Marketing 6,000 ADA

Content review 5,000 ADA

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

This educational resource helps onboard developers, researchers, and enthusiasts by guiding them from theory to Cardano-specific practice and in particular to the universe of zero knowledge, currently ZK is widely used but not on Cardano, therefore other chains are winning the competition, it's time to change this

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes