Cosmos News /// by ZKV #106

ZK Accounts

A little bit of chit chat

Lava Network released its whitepaper. According to the paper, it will offer decentralised access to any blockchain to RPC, indexing, subgraphs, etc.  

You can read our latest State of ZK report (Q1-2024) here.

ZK Accounts in Cosmos 

Ethan Buchman recently posted on X his work introducing incorporating Zero-Knowledge controlled in CosmosSDK accounts by leveraging the gnark library, all without necessitating alterations to the core Accounts or Transactions structures. 

This enhancement facilitates the management of a Cosmos SDK account using any arbitrary ZK circuit. The implementation relies on a new Public Key (PubKey) type that wraps a Groth16 bn254 verification key, effectively becoming the account's address. This design choice ensures that the PubKey remains independent from the circuits, allowing users to define their circuits. The chain’s operation depends solely on the serialized verification keys, proofs, and witnesses compiled from these user-generated circuits.

Buchman's initiative allows for experimental and flexible use of ZK circuits in account control, positioning these enhancements akin to ZK smart contract accounts. Initially, Buchman developed a basic example circuit based on a single EdDSA signature. However, he suggested that more complex configurations could be more beneficial, such as a multisig functionality similar to the existing SDK multisig but with concealed public keys and signatures. He also noted the potential for incorporating stateful circuits using recursion, although this aspect remains unexplored.

According to Celestia co-founder Mustafa Al-Bassam, this could allows Cosmos chains to have user programmability without needing to enshrine a smart contract VM to Cosmos chains.

Venture Grants

The Cosmos Hub is poised to implement Venture Grants as a strategic approach to capturing and leveraging the interchain's growth potential. These grants, sanctioned through community governance, aim to drive quantifiable benefits back to the Cosmos Hub. The ATOM Accelerator spearheaded this initiative.

One of the objectives of the venture grants is to diversify the services offered by the Cosmos Hub, which traditionally includes security and liquidity. By financing various projects, the initiative seeks to expand the ecosystem's scope and introduce new avenues for value creation. The grants are designed to align strategically with the Cosmos Hub’s agenda, focusing on initiatives expected to contribute to the sustainability of the ecosystem.

Furthermore, the program encourages community participation by allocating funds to community-driven projects, promoting engagement and collaboration within the Cosmos community. The grant funding is sourced from the Cosmos Hub's treasury, comprised of a significant amount of digital assets. This allocation is intended to leverage the treasury’s resources to drive growth and innovation in the ecosystem while supporting projects that enhance the Hub’s capabilities in security, liquidity, and interoperability.

Wrap Up

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