The Road to Adoption is Paved With Privacy - ZKPassport Summary

Video

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Summary

Michael Elliott from ZKPassport presented on leveraging privacy-preserving technologies like zero-knowledge proofs to enable mainstream adoption of private cryptocurrencies and smart contracts, while addressing regulatory concerns around financial privacy.

Key innovations include using government-issued identity documents like passports to generate zero-knowledge proofs of compliance (e.g. not being on sanction lists, residency in allowed countries) without revealing personal data. These compliance proofs could be attached to private stablecoin transactions and smart contract interactions to satisfy regulators.

ZKPassport demonstrated an app that scans passports and generates country proofs used to qualify for a Devcon ticket discount. The Obsidian Wallet aims to integrate private transactions, token swaps, and interactions with private smart contracts using zero-knowledge cryptography.

To balance privacy and compliance, Elliott proposed self-enforcing monthly transfer limits via zero-knowledge circuits, making large-scale money laundering difficult while preserving privacy for legitimate users. Gaining regulatory acceptance for this novel approach is a key challenge discussed.

Key Takeaways

• Zero-knowledge proofs can enable privacy-preserving identity verification and compliance checks without revealing personal data
• Using government-attested identities like passports as a basis for generating compliance proofs lends credibility
• Private cryptocurrencies and smart contracts are envisioned, with compliance proofs attached to transactions to satisfy regulators
• Self-enforced transfer limits via zero-knowledge circuits can restrict money laundering while preserving privacy
• Gaining regulatory acceptance by demonstrating efficacy of the zero-knowledge compliance approach is a key challenge
• Practical implementations like ZKPassport app and Obsidian Wallet aim to bring these concepts to reality
• Balancing privacy needs and regulatory requirements is crucial for mainstream private cryptocurrency adoption

Speakers

• Michael Elliott
• Co-founder of ZKPassport and Obsidian Wallet
• Former software architect at MakerDAO
• Expertise in privacy-preserving technologies, zero-knowledge cryptography
• Presented core ZKPassport concepts and Obsidian Wallet vision
• Other Speakers
• Asked clarifying questions around multi-passport scenarios, legal/KYC requirements, and trust assumptions in identity attestation
• Demonstrated understanding of the technical and regulatory challenges involved