zkMesh: June 2020 Recap

Welcome to zkMesh - a monthly newsletter that collects recently published resources and links about decentralised privacy-preserving technologies, privacy protocol development and zero knowledge systems.

We cover research, useful articles, videos, podcasts, tweets, tools, project updates, happenings & more. 

zkMesh is put together by Mikerah (HashCloak) and Anna (Zero Knowledge Podcast).

Expect a new edition at the beginning of every month and be sure to subscribe! 

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Research 

• An airdrop that preserves recipient privacy by Riad S. Wahby, Dan Boneh, Christopher Jeffrey, Joseph Poon

• Using GKR inside a SNARK to reduce the cost of hash verification down to 3 constraints discussing an asymptotic x230 improvement for massive batch gMiMC hash verifications inside a SNARK. Goal is to increase roll-up efficiency

• Diogenes Octopus* : Playing Red Team for Eth2.0 VDF

• Expanding instruction set of Distaff VM by Bobbin Threadbare

• Using GKR inside a SNARK to reduce the cost of hash verification down to 3 constraints by Alexandre Belling, Olivier Bégassat

• Trustless Groups of Unknown Order with Hyperelliptic Curves by Samuel Dobson, Steven D. Galbraith and Benjamin Smith

Articles

• So You Want to Build an End-to-End Encrypted Web App on the ZCash Foundation Blog

• Evaluating Ethereum L2Scaling Solutions: A Comparison Framework from Matter Labs

• Validium And The Layer 2 Two-By-Two about StarkEx coming to Ethereum Mainnet

• Matter Labs Deploys zkRollup-based Scaling Tool on Ethereum Mainnet 

• Lelantus Review

• Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #102

• On PLONK and plookup by Metastate 

• Introducing HOPR: Your Next-Generation Data Privacy and Protection Platform

• PlatON Has Confirmed to Get Involved in Ethereum 2.0 Work by Validating and Implementing the PoC Scheme with MPC

• There’s now an even worse anti-encryption bill than EARN IT. That doesn’t make the EARN IT Bill OK on the Stanford Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School blog

Videos/Podcast: 

• Trusted Setup Ceremonies Explored on Zero Knowledge Podcast

• zkStudyClub: Halo series with Sean Bowe and Daira Hopwood

• zkStudyClub: Multi-scalar multiplication: state of the art & new ideas with Gus Gutoski (Consensys)

• STARK @ Home 7: The Cambrian Explosion of Crypto Proofs

• ethSTARK - Open Source STARK (Fastest Prover Included)

Blockchain Privacy in a TweetShell

Justin Ðrake @drakefjustin

Arguably the most ambitious production MPC (targeting 1000+ parties) is being reviewed by 8 experts right now. Besides finding security bugs, Omer and his team tries to exploit them. MPC enthusiasts and applied cryptography junkies should enjoy this first post in a series :)

Omer Shlomovits @OmerShlomovits

We illustrate a covert attack : - vulnerability due to MPC optimisation - exploit using Threshold Homomorphic Encryption https://t.co/FQhdWKOMrO credit: @schollster , @claudiorlandi (and many others 🙏)

Steven Galbraith @EllipticKiwi

Announcing major update to "Trustless Groups of Unknown Order with Hyperelliptic Curves" with @meshcollider and Ben Smith. 1/4

eprint.iacr.orgCryptology ePrint Archive: Report 2020/196 - Trustless Groups of Unknown Order with Hyperelliptic Curves

Tools 

• Basic standard PLONK JSON tool

• Plonky Recursive Proofs based on Plonk and Halo 

Project Updates

• Recap of Filecoin’s Trusted setup Phase 1

• Nucypher announces the NuCypher DAO

• Matter Labs’s zksync is now live 

• Loopring Pay is Live: zkRollup Transfers on Ethereum

• STARKs over Mainnet DeversiFi’s DEX powered by StarkEx is now live on Mainnet

• Announcing Number Protector: Anonymous Phone Numbers for Receiving SMS Messages

• Pegasys Tech announces Privacy-upgrades-for-hyperledger 

• Coda Protocol Allocates $2.1 Million USD in Project Token Grants

• Enigma rebrands as Secret Network

• Presenting: VeeDo by Starkware

Happenings

Trusted Setups:

• Filecoin Phase 2 Trusted Setup (On now)

Hackathons:

• Protect Privacy Hackathon on Gitcoin - Until July 7th

• Hacking @ Random: Starkware’s Hackathon - Starting July 8 2020

Bounties: 

• Loopring Exchange’s Frontend Open-sourced; Loopring Pay Frontend Bounty

• Other Privacy related Bounties on Gitcoin

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There you have it! Hope you liked this edition of zkMesh. Be sure to subscribe to get the next edition in your inbox.  

Also if you have something you think should be included in the next edition, or something you think we should do different with the format - Tweet at us!

- Mikerah and Anna