Why are you participating for Based Africa?

Our participation in Based Africa comes from a genuine passion for tackling real-world challenges through blockchain technology, especially when it comes to financial inclusion and identity management. We’ve seen reports highlighting the billions companies spend annually on Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, and we understand the frustration users feel when they have to repeatedly upload the same identity documents across different platforms. This current KYC setup is not only inefficient but also poses significant security risks, creating major headaches for both businesses and users. Blockchain, particularly Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), offers a game-changing solution to streamline and secure these processes.

Having personally experienced the struggles people face in accessing digital services due to inefficient identity verification systems, we’re even more motivated to help address these issues. Across many parts of Africa, the difficulty in meeting strict KYC requirements limits access to essential financial services. The need to submit the same documents multiple times across different platforms becomes a significant barrier, especially for those with limited access to reliable documentation.

Our involvement in Based Africa is rooted in the belief that blockchain and ZKP technologies can ease the burden of KYC, strengthen privacy, and create a smoother, more user-friendly verification system. By working to develop decentralized systems that simplify these processes, we’re committed to empowering both businesses and users in Africa and beyond.

What challenges are you focusing on?

1. Streamlining the KYC Process: One of the major hurdles we’re addressing is the inefficiency of current Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. Traditional KYC processes require users to repeatedly upload the same documents across different platforms, which is not only time-consuming but also costly for companies. We aim to solve this by building a decentralized identity verification system using blockchain and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), where users can securely verify their identity without needing to upload documents multiple times.

2. Reducing KYC Costs for Companies: Another challenge is the high cost associated with verifying customer identities. Financial institutions and businesses spend billions annually on KYC compliance, which often diverts resources away from innovation. Our solution focuses on creating a decentralized, cost-efficient system that allows businesses to verify identities without managing sensitive data themselves, which cuts costs and enhances security.

3. Improving Access to Financial Services: In many parts of Africa, access to financial services is limited due to stringent and repetitive KYC requirements. We are working on creating a system that removes these barriers, enabling easier access to banking and financial services for underserved populations. By reducing the friction in identity verification, we’re opening up new opportunities for individuals to participate in the digital economy.

4. Enhancing User Privacy and Security: The current centralized approach to KYC presents significant security risks, as users must trust multiple platforms with their sensitive personal information. By utilizing Zero-Knowledge Proofs, we’re focusing on ensuring that users can prove their identity without exposing their personal data. This approach significantly enhances privacy and reduces the chances of data breaches.

How does your submission address this challenge?

Our submission addresses these challenges by developing a decentralized identity verification system powered by blockchain technology and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP). The project aims to streamline the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, reduce the cost for businesses, and enhance user privacy while increasing access to financial services for underserved populations.

Project Description:

1. User Onboarding and KYC: Users register on the platform by connecting their wallet and uploading their identity documents (e.g., passport, utility bill). These documents are encrypted and stored on IPFS, a decentralized file storage system, ensuring they remain secure and immutable.

2. Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Once the documents are uploaded and verified, users can generate a Zero-Knowledge Proof, which allows them to prove their identity to third-party services without revealing their actual documents. This proof can be used across multiple platforms, eliminating the need for repetitive document submissions.

3. Business Integration: Businesses can integrate with the platform to request identity verification from users. Instead of requiring users to upload documents again, they can simply submit their ZKP, and the business can verify their identity without accessing personal information. This reduces the burden on businesses to store and manage sensitive user data and cuts down on KYC compliance costs.

Potential Impact:

1. Efficiency and Cost Reduction for Businesses: By eliminating the need for businesses to repeatedly collect and store customer identity documents, our system drastically reduces the cost of KYC compliance.

2. Increased Access to Financial Services: For individuals in Africa, particularly those in underserved regions, this system lowers the barriers to accessing financial services. Users only need to complete KYC once and can use their ZKP to access multiple platforms, making it easier for people to open bank accounts, access loans, etc.

Challenges we ran into

1. Writing the Circuit for ZKP: Writing an efficient circuit for Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) was challenging due to the complexity involved in generating the proof while maintaining performance. The circuit had to handle cryptographic operations without consuming excessive computational resources or generating large amounts of data, which would result in high gas costs.

• Solution: To address this, we designed the circuit using optimization techniques like batching computations and reducing the number of variables involved. Precompiling the circuit helped reduce redundancy and optimize performance.

2. Automating the ZKP Process: Automating the generation and submission of ZKPs in a user-friendly and scalable way posed a challenge. The process was computationally heavy, leading to delays or failures during generation.

• Solution: We decoupled the ZKP generation from the main UI thread and moved it to an asynchronous background process. This will allow users to continue interacting with the platform while the ZKP is generated in the background.

3. ZKP Storage and Gas Optimization: Storing Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) and public signals on-chain was expensive, with high gas fees impacting scalability.

• Solution: We reduced on-chain data storage by hashing ZKPs and public signals, storing only the essential components on-chain while keeping the full data off-chain. This minimized gas fees and reduced storage costs.

Additional Features

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