Verifiable DAO Governance built on Lit Powered Multi-Stage privacy Voting-Proposing Protocol

[peersky]

Verifiable DAO Governance built on Lit Powered Multi-Stage privacy Voting-Proposing Protocol

Summary:

This proposal focuses on enhancing DAO governance with use of Noir by leveraging Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to ensure the integrity of a multi-stage voting process proposed in autonomous competence identification paper. We will design a system where critical proposal & vote calculations occur within a secure "black box" (TEE) generating proofs of correct execution. These proofs will then be verified on-chain using Noir, ensuring transparency and trust in the voting outcome without compromising the anonymity of voters or the confidentiality of proposals.

Methodology:

Our approach involves the following key steps:

1. Off-Chain Secure Computation:

   • Design and implement the multi-stage voting protocol (proposal submission, shuffling, voting, tallying) within a Lit protocol actions. This "black box" environment ensures that sensitive computations are performed securely and confidentially.
   • Generate cryptographic proofs within the TEE environment attesting to the correctness of each stage of the voting process.

2. On-Chain Verification with Noir:

   • Develop Noir circuits to efficiently verify the proofs generated by the TEE environment. These circuits will ensure that the off-chain computations adhered to the defined rules of the voting protocol.
   • Deploy these Noir circuits by generating a solidity verifier, enabling on-chain verification of the voting process integrity.

Assumptions:

• TEE Security: We assume the security and integrity of the chosen TEE implementation.
• Noir and Aztec Security: We rely on the security of the Noir language and the Aztec network for on-chain proof verification.
• No Aztec implementation delivery: Some pieces of infrastructure needed by us might be yet missing on Aztec (e.g. Aragon DAO OSx Framework), hence we are committed to the theoretical research on possible integration benefits, but not an implementation.

Timeline and Deliverables:

• Month 1:
  • Design the multi-stage voting protocol and define the specific computations to be performed within the TEE.
  • Implement the TEE component and the proof generation mechanism.
  • Begin developing Noir circuits for proof verification.
• Month 2:
  • Complete the Noir circuit implementation for proof verification.
  • Integrate the Noir component with the Aztec network.
  • Conduct thorough testing and security analysis of the TEE and Noir components.
• Month 3:
  • Optimize the performance of the Noir circuits and the overall system.
  • Finalize documentation and open-source the code under the MIT license.
  • Explore potential integrations with existing DAO frameworks on Aztec.

Team:

Tim Pechersky: (LinkedIn, X, website): Team lead, Architecture & Solidity

Pavels Mironovs: (LinkedIn): TEE backend code

Aleksandrs Levinskis: (LinkedIn): Protocol Architecture

Start Date:

15 November 2024

Questions:

• We would appreciate any guidance or recommendations from Aztec Labs regarding existing tools or libraries that could facilitate integration with Noir and the Aztec network.