Hackathon Spotlight Vol. 04: Vote Like No One’s Watching: AGYSO ZK-DAO-VOTE Privacy-Preserving DAO Voting
On-chain voting has always promised transparency—but what happens when that transparency undermines privacy? Bribery, social pressure, and herd behavior can distort results, making DAOs less democratic than intended. AGYSO ZK-DAO-VOTE sets out to change that, offering a protocol that keeps votes secret while ensuring every vote is valid and accurately tallied. To learn more about the team and the project check out their presentation on youtube, or visit the submission on Devfolio!
The Privacy Problem
Traditional token voting on blockchains reveals who voted and how many tokens they hold. This can lead to:
Bribery & Retaliation: Bribers can verify a person’s vote, while disagreeing parties may punish dissenters.
Social Pressure: Voters might follow popular sentiment or influential figures instead of voting honestly.
Herd Behavior: Early votes can sway subsequent decisions, undermining truly independent choices.
These issues compromise the very spirit of DAO governance.
Enter AGYSO ZK-DAO-VOTE
AGYSO ZK-DAO-VOTE introduces privacy-preserving measures to keep voting fair and transparent—without exposing how individuals voted. Its approach:
Homomorphic Encryption: Votes remain encrypted on-chain, but the final count is still accurate.
Secure Token-Weighted Voting: Each voter’s weight matches their token holdings, preventing anyone from exceeding their stake.
Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Voters prove they followed the rules—no double-voting, no invalid choices—without revealing who they are or what they chose.
In simpler terms, each proposal’s outcome is verifiable, but no one can trace individual votes.
Challenges & Learnings
During the hackathon, the team:
• Switched from Groth16 to Plonk due to verification issues.
• Balanced Performance & User Experience by offloading some proof generation to a server instead of purely client-side.
These hurdles highlighted the need for flexible cryptographic tools and careful trade-offs between speed, convenience, and security.
Other Private Voting Protocols
• MACI: Employs encryption and zk-SNARKs to prevent bribery, but often involves a coordinator and can handle advanced features like quadratic voting.
• UniRep: Manages user identities and reputation with ZK proofs, offering a broader privacy framework.
• Semaphore: Enables anonymous signaling for group members. AGYSO similarly hides identity but also uses homomorphic encryption for tallies.
• zkvot (by node101): Offers a zero-knowledge voting framework with its own cryptographic approach, ensuring privacy and verifiability.
AGYSO ZK-DAO-VOTE blends these ideas—fully private vote aggregation plus on-chain zero-knowledge checks—to preserve token-weighted fairness.
Looking Ahead
AGYSO ZK-DAO-VOTE shows that DAOs can combine individual privacy with collective transparency. As more communities tackle sensitive proposals, the demand for private yet verifiable voting will grow. Future plans include:
• Efficiency Gains for browser-based proof generation.
• Open-Sourcing the toolkit for wider adoption.
• Feature Extensions like quadratic or ranked-choice voting, or integration with identity protocols for one-person-one-vote scenarios.
Ultimately, AGYSO ZK-DAO-VOTE is a glimpse into a democratic, trustless future where DAO members can vote freely, knowing their preferences remain secret while outcomes stay accurate. It’s a significant step toward truly unbiased, privacy-first governance on the blockchain.
Stay tuned: 🐦 Twitter | 🗨️ Telegram | 👾 Discord | 🌐 Website | 📝 Manifesto
