The problem PROVEHANCE solves

Provehance bridges Open Banking with blockchain technology, allowing users to generate verifiable, privacy-preserving proofs of financial data from real-world banks in the blockchain, in a SBT format. This innovation offers a secure, transparent solution that maintains user privacy while providing reliable financial verification, bridging the gap between privacy concerns and the necessity for financial transparency in digital and decentralised environments. Here are some useful Provehance features:

• Proof of Reserve: Users can verify their possession of specified funds in their bank accounts, maintaining privacy while affirming their financial solidity.

• Proof of Regular Payment & Fidelity: This feature validates the consistency of financial transactions, such as periodic payments or subscriptions, showcasing reliability without exposing detailed transaction data.

• Creditworthiness Proof: A privacy-first approach to illustrating a user's credit health, drawing on their banking history but keeping sensitive information confidential.

• Transaction Authenticity Proof: Users can prove the genuineness of specific transactions, enabling them to confirm past payments or transfers from their bank account without disclosing their entire financial history.

• Income Verification Proof: This allows individuals to substantiate their income for applications or agreements, sidestepping the need to expose extensive financial details or personal data.

• Asset Backing Proof: Facilitates the tokenization of real-world assets, offering credible proof that the user owns assets corresponding to digital tokens, securely linking physical and digital assets.

You can find many use cases of the services offered by Provehance in the README.md of our GitHub repo.

Challenges we ran into

Throughout the hackathon, we encountered numerous challenges across different aspects of our project. Below is a detailed account of the obstacles we faced and the measures we took to overcome them.

Development Time and Learning Curve

• Issue: The development process of the front-end was significantly time-consuming, primarily due to our team's initial unfamiliarity with Next UI and Tailwindcss.

Internet Computer (ICP)

• Issue: To maintain transparency and functionality we use ICP presented a steep learning curve, with each error leading to another, creating a seemingly endless cycle of debugging.
• Solution: With the assistance of our mentors, we were able to navigate through these challenges. However, we encountered a limitation with ICP only supporting IPv4 calls, which conflicted with our APIs designed for IPv6, forcing us to run them locally.

ZkPass

• Issue: Although we initially grasped the basics of ZkPass, its alpha stage meant we frequently encountered bugs and issues.
• Solution: The responsiveness and support from the ZkPass team were instrumental in helping us identify and resolve these issues, allowing us to integrate ZkPass successfully into our project.

Polygon ID

• Issue: The overwhelming amount of information in the Polygon ID documentation made it difficult to pinpoint the exact solutions needed for our project.
• Solution: Through persistent research and trial and error, we gradually understood how to utilize Polygon ID effectively, despite the initial information overload.

XCD

• Issue: The necessity to create a SBT for our smart contracts added an additional layer of complexity.

These challenges, while daunting, provided us with invaluable learning opportunities. Each obstacle pushed us to explore new solutions, seek mentorship, and collaborate more effectively as a team. The experience has not only enhanced our technical skills but also strengthened our problem-solving capabilities