Private Voting Research Sprint: Aragon ZK Research and Aztec Proof-of-Concept for Nouns DAO
Breaking new ground in the world of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), Aragon ZK Research and Aztec recently joined forces for a groundbreaking research project. Over the course of the last few months, the two organizations worked diligently to explore private voting for Nouns DAO.
The Nouns DAO Private Voting Research Sprint, funded by Nouns DAO, aimed to find solutions for private voting within the organization. With a three-month timeline, the teams set out to answer a crucial question: how far can we push the boundaries of trustless, fair, and secret voting systems on Ethereum?
The results of their research are incredibly promising. A proof-of-concept was developed, along with general and technical reports. Additionally, two time-locked cryptography protocols were created to support their work.
Private voting is a critical component for many DAOs, as it allows members to cast their votes without fear of coercion or reprisal. By encrypting votes on the blockchain, the integrity of the voting process is maintained while still protecting the privacy and anonymity of voters.
The proof of concept built by Aragon ZK Research and Aztec demonstrates the feasibility of trustless private voting on Ethereum. While the current version allows for one vote per NFT, the potential for weighted voting and additional features is within reach.
With the successful completion of the research sprint, the teams are now looking towards the future. Aragon ZK Research plans to apply their findings to DAOs built on Aragon OSx, unlocking powerful functionality for organizations. Aztec will continue to enhance private voting through their work on Noir, further improving the developer and user experiences.
Overall, the collaboration between Aragon ZK Research and Aztec represents a significant step forward in the world of decentralized governance. By demonstrating the possibility of private, trustless, and fair voting systems on the blockchain, they have opened the door to new possibilities for DAOs everywhere.
To learn more about their research and explore the technical details, be sure to check out their documentation and repositories. The future of DAO governance is brighter than ever, thanks to the innovative work of these two dynamic teams.
