Please describe your proposed solution.

ENCOINS enables private holding and transactions of Cardano native assets. ENCOINS v1 is currently available at <https://app.encoins.io>.

This proposal is mostly concerned with protocol improvements that we want to bring in version 2.

Bring proof verification on-chain

This upgrade will make the protocol more secure by removing one of the last centralizing elements. The feature becomes possible thanks to the newly added built-ins in Plutus V3. We will use zkFold Symbolic smart contract language for the ENCOINS v2 smart contracts.

Native asset support

A single encoin NFT will represent a bundle of native assets instead of just an ADA value. This change enables many new use cases and collaborations with other DApps.

Composability with other protocols

ENCOINS v1 minting policy is restrictive in certain ways that prevent it from being used together with some other protocols in the same transaction. In v2, thanks to the use of zero-knowledge protocols on-chain, we can remove some unnecessary technical limitations, making the policy less restrictive.

In addition, the protocol allows minting encoins that can only be burned under the condition that some additional scripts are executed in the same transaction. This feature enables developers to create private versions of such smart contracts as escrow, atomic swap, and vesting contracts, to name a few. Under certain conditions, invoking such contracts is indistinguishable from simple burning and minting of encoins in the ENCOINS Ledger script.

Integrations with other Cardano-based applications

We have collaboration plans with several notable ecosystem projects that we can put into active development if this proposal is funded.

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

Confidential transactions and smart contracts matter a lot for blockchain adoption. Our privacy features enable users to transact confidently, knowing that their transaction history will not be publicly available for everyone they interact with on the blockchain.

We will measure the impact of this proposal by the growth in usage of our DApp after the upgrade.

ENCOINS v2 will enable several ecosystem collaborations that we are currently working on.

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?

ENCOINS team has successfully completed the Project Catalyst Fund6 grant and delivered the ENCOINS DApp, which is now on the mainnet.

What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Develop the on-chain code.

On-chain code is the main source of truth for blockchain applications. By completing the on-chain part, we provide the full specification of the ENCOINS v2 protocol.

Outputs and verification: the code is open-source and will be published on GitHub.

>Develop the off-chain code.

We will upgrade the business logic for building the ENCOINS transactions and introduce the new modes of operation for the DApp.

Outputs and verification: the code is open-source and will be published on GitHub.

>Upgrade ENCOINS infrastructure components.

To transition to version 2 of the protocol, we need to introduce certain upgrades to our infrastructure components. Specifically, we need to make numerous adjustments to the relay component, including the API changes.

Outputs and verification: the code is open-source and will be published on GitHub.

>Developing the test suite for ENCOINS v2.

Before ENCOINS v2 can go live on the mainnet, we must follow a rigorous testing process to ensure the best quality and security we can. For this, we need to create a comprehensive testing suite to verify the safety of our protocol.

Outputs and verification: the code is open-source and will be published on GitHub.

>Improve developer documentation and create an integration guide.

As the protocol becomes more composable and open to integrations, we need to provide developers with clear instructions on what can be done with the protocol and how.

Outputs and verification: the documentation will be publicly available.

>Produce the completion report and the video illustrating the solution.

Outputs and verification: the report and video will be publicly available.

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

The project is developed in-house by the ENCOINS team who previously brought to you ENCOINS v1, which is now live on the mainnet. Our development team consists of one researcher/smart contract developer, one backend, and one frontend developer.

Vladimir Sinyakov

Founder and protocol architect of ENCOINS. Founder of zkFold.

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimir-sinyakov/>

Ph.D. in Computational Mathematics. Prior experience includes five years of postdoc in applied mathematics (Control Theory), publishing in top journals in the field. Previously completed a Project Catalyst Fund6 grant leading the ENCOINS team. ENCOINS is a DApp on Cardano that has been recently launched on the mainnet.

Grigory Petrov

Developer

Grigory is the developer for ENCOINS. Early into the development, he joined the team and built the relay app for the ENCOINS protocol as well as the delegation server and other backend tools.

Vladislav Sabanov

Developer

Vlad is the frontend developer for ENCOINS. He is a senior Haskell developer. His previous experience includes building various blockchain applications on Cardano at MLABS.

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Smart Contract Development and Protocol design: 75 000 ADA

1x software developer @ $3,000 per month for 6 months = $18,000 (~45,000 ADA)

1x ZKP researcher @ $4,000 per month for 3 months = $8,000 (~30,000 ADA)

Backend Development: 65 000 ADA

1x software developer @ $3,000 per month for 6 months = $18,000 (~45,000 ADA)

1x senior software developer @ $4,000 per month for 2 months = $8,000 (~20,000 ADA)

Frontend Development: 60 000 ADA

1x senior software developer @ $4,000 per month for 6 month = $24,000 (~60,000 ADA)

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

The project requires a deep understanding of the Cardano smart contracts as well as expertise in zero-knowledge cryptographic protocols. As we have to pay competitive salaries to our developers and researchers, we've arrived at the budget breakdown above. Ultimately, the cost of the project is on par with other notable DApps on Cardano.