Eryx: Zero-Knowledge Capabilities
Eryx
ID: 69fd0b20b05ff80adc7d5c55
Over the last years, zero-knowledge technology has grown to solve many challenges in scalability, decentralization, and privacy. It is the core of fourth-generation blockchains. In Cardano, we currently lack variety and accessibility of on-chain proof verification tools for most modern ZK systems. Competing ecosystems are investing a lot of resources into ZK and privacy infrastructure. Ethereum has already built a solid ZK infrastructure layer that developers rely on to build private and scalable dApps. Cardano, despite strong demand, motivation and innovation, sees its ZK initiatives limited by the lack of a common stack. We aim to make ZK accessible for developers and end users alike. While Midnight is a big step forward, building ZK infrastructure on the L1 strengthens its own ZK capabilities and enhances interoperability with Midnight. This proposal tackles these issues by delivering concrete ZK framework solutions for Cardano, bringing ZK and privacy infrastructure directly to the L1. Contributions: 1. A PLONK verifier in Aiken, as an alternative verifier for Circom/SnarkJS proofs. 2. An adaptation of the RISC Zero zkVM to integrate its general-purpose verifiable computation with Cardano. 3. An extension of our ZK library in Aiken to improve robustness, usability and AI compatibility. 4. An implementation of the Semaphore protocol for anonymous on-chain group signaling. They will be open-source, and done by Eryx, a 15-year-old company experienced in both Cardano and ZK. Although this initiative delivers infrastructure rather than a product, the ultimate beneficiary is the regular Cardano user. It expands what is possible to build on Cardano. Computations only being verified on-chain lowers fees and speeds up interactions. ZK lets users prove eligibility, membership, or compliance without exposing sensitive information. Applications already competitive on other chains, including private voting, ZK-based DeFi, and cross-chain identity, become viable here.
Scorecard
How this score works
Each criterion is worth between 1 and 4 points. The score is the points earned out of the points on criteria that have been answered — shown as a percentage. Green is 75% or higher, Amber is 50–74%, and Red is below 50%.
Some criteria are checked automatically against the proposal data (open source, doxxed team, treasury return clauses, etc.). Others are human-judgment calls — value for money, public good, whether the deliverables are realistic. Those stay blank until a DRep ticks them.
Criteria can also be marked Not applicablewhen they don't fit the proposal — for example, "open source" doesn't apply to a DAO governance proposal with no software output. Those are excluded from the score entirely, neither helping nor hurting.
Green requires 80% coverage. If less than 80% of the applicable criteria (by points) have been answered, the verdict stays at Amber — "pending review" — even when every answered criterion passes. This proposal's coverage is currently 68% (13 of 19 applicable criteria answered).
Vote intent
Export & audit
↓ Download scorecard.mdRaw payload · Treasury (true) / Admin (intersect)
{
"_meta": {
"schema_version": "1.2.0",
"filename": "hydra-eryx-zero-knowledge-capabilities.json",
"ingested_at": "2026-05-11",
"source": "Cardano Budget Process 2026 - Hydra/Ekklesia",
"proposal_id": "69fd0b20b05ff80adc7d5c55",
"title": "Eryx: Zero-Knowledge Capabilities",
"proposer": "Eryx"
},
"proposal": {
"id": "69fd0b20b05ff80adc7d5c55",
"title": "Eryx: Zero-Knowledge Capabilities",
"proposer": "Eryx",
"last_updated_at": "2026-05-08T13:16:00Z"
},
"ask": {
"total_ada": 3661033,
"total_usd": 915258,
"proposer_ada_rate_usd": 0.25,
"duration_months": 11,
"usd_peg_vs_market": "neutral",
"usd_peg_vs_market_set_by": "ai",
"milestone_payments_disclosed": true,
"milestone_schedule_disclosed": "amounts_only",
"milestone_schedule_disclosed_set_by": "ai",
"admin_fee_ada": 106632,
"contingency_reserve_ada": 0
},
"identity": {
"doxxed": true,
"doxxed_set_by": "ai",
"applicant_type": "company",
"named_leads": [
"Agustín Garassino",
"Carlo Giambiagi Ferrari",
"Facundo Decroix",
"Tomás Grosso",
"Bruno Weisz",
"Ezequiel Cribioli",
"Julian Arnesino"
]
},
"metadata": {
"open_source": "yes",
"open_source_set_by": "ai",
"has_prior_delivery": true,
"has_prior_delivery_set_by": "ai",
"prior_delivery_notes": "Eryx delivered multiple Catalyst grants (Aiken ZK, Proof of Innocence, ZK Login). ZK Bridge funded through 2025 Intersect-administered budget process is on track to finish ahead of schedule despite ADA price decline. Worker-owned labour cooperative with 15-year history. Core contributors to Lambdaworks; CircleSTARKS GPU implementation with Nethermind; Plonky2 backend for Aztec's Noir.",
"admin_model": "intersect",
"admin_model_set_by": "ai",
"duplicate_of_existing_solution": {
"value": "partial",
"confidence": "medium",
"set_by": "ai"
}
},
"treasury_return": {
"has_return_clause": true,
"return_clause_set_by": "ai",
"treasury_favourability": "moderate",
"treasury_favourability_set_by": "ai",
"return_mechanism_notes": "Asymmetric return mechanism: if ADA price at payment time exceeds $0.35, the excess value over $0.35 is refunded to Treasury. Note this is more favourable to the proposer than typical $0.25-pegged returns: no cap return between $0.25 and $0.35 means proposer captures upside in that band."
},
"relationships": {
"competes_with": [],
"related_proposals": [],
"notes": "Public comment from 'perturbing' raises duplication concerns: existing plutus-plonk-example implementation at github.com/perturbing/plutus-plonk-example; existing BLS12-381 trusted setup ceremonies (Midnight); existing aiken stdlib BLS12-381 support; SnarkJS incompatibility with Cardano (fork required) and whether upstream is committed; technical risk of STARK-to-BLS curve conversion in RISC Zero work. These are unresolved at time of ingestion."
},
"ecosystem_demand": {
"evidence_level": "weak",
"evidence_level_confidence": "medium",
"evidence_level_set_by": "ai",
"active_users_known": false,
"active_users_examples": [],
"developer_demand_signals": [
"Endorsement quote from Jesús Díaz Vico (IOG Innovation)",
"Endorsement quote from Agustin Salinas (Modulo-P co-founder)",
"Reference to Cardano lacking variety of ZK proof verification tools"
],
"adoption_risk_notes": "Proposal asserts strong demand based on general industry trends (Ethereum ZK infrastructure, Midnight context) and individual endorsements but does not name verifiable production Cardano teams currently building applications that would consume PLONK verifiers, RISC Zero zkVM proofs, or Semaphore on Cardano. The reference to projects like Wormhole, Taiko, EZKL is about other ecosystems' usage, not committed Cardano adopters. The Semaphore-to-MACI-for-Cardano-voting pathway is aspirational. No named Cardano-side dApp committed to integrating these primitives."
},
"incumbents": {
"has_existing_solution": "partial",
"has_existing_solution_confidence": "medium",
"has_existing_solution_set_by": "ai",
"existing_solutions": [
{
"name": "plutus-plonk-example (perturbing)",
"url": "https://github.com/perturbing/plutus-plonk-example",
"status": "shipped",
"overlap": "substantial",
"notes": "Existing PLONK verifier in Plutus per public comment by perturbing. Eryx acknowledges in WP1 that a PLONK verifier already exists in Plutus and a Groth16 verifier already exists in Aiken; argues Aiken-language implementation diversity adds robustness. Whether this justifies the WP1 budget is contested in the public comment."
},
{
"name": "Aiken stdlib BLS12-381 primitives (aiken-lang)",
"url": "https://github.com/aiken-lang/stdlib/tree/main/lib/aiken/crypto/bls12_381",
"status": "shipped",
"overlap": "partial",
"notes": "Public commenter argues existing aiken stdlib BLS12-381 work may be sufficient for the 'Aiken ZK Library Extensions' work package, contested by the proposer's framing of aiken-zk as a higher-level developer toolkit."
},
{
"name": "Midnight BLS12-381 trusted setup",
"url": null,
"status": "shipped",
"overlap": "partial",
"notes": "Public commenter notes existing BLS12-381 trusted setup ceremonies (e.g. Midnight) that could be reused rather than running new ceremonies for each work package."
}
],
"differentiation_claim": "Eryx claims (a) Aiken-language implementation of PLONK verifier rather than Plutus to lower barrier for less experienced developers; (b) implementation diversity reduces cryptographic risk; (c) aiken-zk is a developer-facing toolkit higher-level than raw BLS12-381 primitives; (d) RISC Zero zkVM porting to BLS12-381 is novel work.",
"differentiation_credibility": "medium"
},
"risk_flags": {
"aggressive_peg": false,
"self_administered_no_oversight": false,
"incumbent_already_delivering": true,
"no_evidence_of_demand": false,
"competes_with_in_batch": false,
"concentration_risk": false
},
"notes": {
"ai_review_notes": "Strong technical team and track record; ZK Bridge from prior Intersect budget is reportedly on schedule. Public comment from 'perturbing' raises substantive overlap and technical risk concerns that warrant DRep attention: (1) PLONK in Plutus already exists; (2) BLS12-381 setups already exist; (3) RISC Zero STARK-to-BLS conversion may be high technical risk (the comment specifically flags 'how are you going to convert this'); (4) SnarkJS fork commitment to upstream is unclear. The asymmetric peg-return clause (only refunding above $0.35) is unusual and worth surfacing. Of the four work packages, Semaphore V4 for Cardano and the RISC Zero zkVM port appear most differentiated; the PLONK Aiken work and aiken-zk extensions are more contested."
},
"id": "hydra-eryx-zero-knowledge-capabilities",
"source": {
"hydra_id": "69fd0b20b05ff80adc7d5c55",
"channels": [
"hydra"
]
}
}