Gabozago

Gabozago

Proving an algorithm was ran fairly, without revealing what the algorithm actually is. This is the first implementation of ZK Mechanisms, a new cryptographic construction from a reserch paper in 2023.

The problem Gabozago solves

Our project solves a fundamental misalignment of incentives between the need for transparency to foster trust, and the need for secrecy to protect sensitive information. For example, tech companies need to gain trust from users that they are following appropriate data protection, content moderation procedures and etc., while not exposing their algorithmic process for it is their proprietary rights and trade secret.

In this specific demo using an art auction, the misalignment of incentives would look like:

  • What if potential buyers want to be sure that the auction process is fair—that the seller won't accept a lower bid from a favored buyer, for instance?
  • Buyers might not want to reveal their maximum willingness to pay for an item, for fear of being taken advantage of in future auctions.
  • Sellers might not want to reveal their reserve price or the details of how they are running the auction, as this could be commercially sensitive information.

Challenges we ran into

A very high level of advanced level of cryptography was demanded to make Gabozago come true. Challenges were solved with a lot of effort.

Discussion