Betswirl recently integrated BOB to their application on both Polygon and BNB, and just announced a new Arbitrum One deployment on the way.

The first BOB integration is with the ‘Russian Roulette’ game on Betswirl. In this game, the host starts by selecting a number of parameters. They set the number of seats at the table, the number of seats that remain at the end, the buy-in amount and token type, and the closing date.

Depending on the parameters, one or a number of participants are left standing at the end, and split the pot. The host also gets a small portion of the pot for setting up the game, with remaining fees going to the protocol.

The host can share the link privately with friends or open up the table and share the link with anyone to participate. This is a simple shared link that takes a participant directly to the table buy-in. All they need to do is connect their wallet, approve the amount, join the round, and hope for the best!

The experience is seamless, and the addition of BOB gives users a dollar-like token they can use for games of chance and skill. BOB also provides privacy options when used with zkBob. Players can break the link between their holding wallets and their playing wallets, providing additional safety and anonymity for games when desired.

Using BOB with zkBob is also easy, and can be done on either side of a Betswirl bet.

Anonymity before using Betswirl

If you purchase BOB on a decentralized exchange, you can first deposit it to zkBob to provide additional privacy for your funds.

To start, go to the app and connect your Web3 wallet like MetaMask or WalletConnect to create a zkAccount (you can also create a fresh zkAccount without a Web3 wallet).

Once created, you can deposit BOB directly to your zkAccount. You can then transfer some BOB to your friends if they want to play Betswirl with you, or if you want to use your own BOB on Betswirl, withdraw a portion of your BOB directly to a new wallet address on Polygon. This can be a brand new wallet, or a secondary wallet without a history of your prior purchases or holdings to preserve anonymity. 

You can then play on Polygon, or bridge your BOB to BNB or Arbitrum if you’d prefer to play Betswirl there.

Anonymity after using Betswirl

If you win some BOB on Betswirl, you can deposit it into your zkBob zkAccount after your win. This makes sense if you prefer to keep your winnings private from other blockchain users or if you’d like to send a portion of your winnings to other zkBob friends. If you are playing on Polygon, you can deposit directly. Or you can bridge your BOB to Optimism and deposit there, the choice is yours! 

Either way, it’s easy to use BOB on Betswirl while protecting your winnings and preserving your privacy!

Give BOB a try on Betswirl with your friends on Polygon and BNB, and look for the Arbitrum One announcement soon!

18 projects in Tokyo explored adding zkBob into their Dapps! It was difficult to narrow the winners down, but in the end we chose 5 teams that came up with interesting use cases and incorporated privacy into their projects with zkBob.

🇯🇵 Community

We’re grateful for our community members around the globe 🌎🌍🌏! Our friend @zuckzuckland in Japan helped with the booth and to spread the word about the BOB stablecoin, optional privacy, and compliance best practices.

A nice walkthrough of the zkBob app in Japanese!

Bloggers and media were more than happy to spread the word about zkBob! (Starts at 10:37)

We had some sweet custom designs for Tokyo including stickers, shirts, and bags. The zkBob swag was snatched up quickly….!

Blake Gao

@BlakeGao

If you’re at Eth Tokyo, don’t miss zkbob @zkBob_ booth and catching up with @barinov team for the novel payment solution

13

2:35 AM • Apr 14, 2023

We enjoyed speaking with many new friends, and it was nice to visit with zkBob fans from around the world, including many we first met in Denver!

Presentation

Kirill presented a well-attended workshop on incorporating zkBob into DeFi workflows using the direct deposit feature. He also did a live demo of the app and fielded questions from the audience. Check it out to learn how to start adding privacy to your everyday blockchain activity (starts at 39:26).

Hackathon Winners

18 projects applied for the zkBob bounties! That’s nearly double from ETHDenver, and it’s exciting to see zkBob gaining momentum as a privacy option for stablecoin users. We selected the following projects based on the code implementation, use-case strength, creativity, and effort.

$5000 First Place: HyperBob

HyperBob is a wallet implementing one-click private transfers. HyperBob incorporates account abstraction and bridging to achieve private transfers on Ethereum, and uses the direct deposit functionality to interact with zkBob accounts. Learn More

$2000 Second Place: ZKChat&Pay

ZKChat&Pay gives users an option to fund public goods proposals around the world anonymously with zkBob. Learn More

$1000 Third Place: 3-way-tie!

1000 BOB was awarded to each of 3rd place projects.

DeFi Struct

DeFi strategy infrastructure with a private withdrawal functionality courtesy of zkBob. Learn More

splash X

Video incentives platform that rewards early and loyal viewers, giving them a stake in the content they love. Rewards can be collected privately if desired with zkBob. Learn More

AniMATE

zk-based age verification for access to appropriate anime video content. This app lets users verify that their age is over 18 without providing other identity-compromising info. It uses zkBob for deposits during the KYC process, preserving user’s anonymity.

Team Animate at the hackathon!

The Phoenix Guild

@PhoenixGuildHQ

Congratulations to Team AniMATE, the visionary cofounders of #TPG !
Their impressive victories at #ETHTokyo have earned them over $5k in bounty prizes.
From @Livepeer ,@Filecoin to @zkBob_ and beyond, their innovation and hard work are truly inspiring. Keep up the amazing work!

74

11:04 AM • Apr 16, 2023

Conclusion

It was great to see our frens, fam, and zkBob supporters in Tokyo! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth to chat, and to all the hackers who chose to work with zkBob. Basic personal privacy is needed for so many different applications, and it’s great to see new implementations with zkBob at each hackathon we attend. We are excited to see how these projects continue to unfold over the coming months and help bring basic, responsible privacy to all blockchain users.

We look forward to seeing you at the next event!

💜 The zkBob Team

1) BOB on Arbitrum

Last week we announced BOB on Arbitrum. BOB stablecoin is now on 5 chains and can be traded, swapped, and bridged between Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum. Be on the lookout for some upcoming Arbitrum integrations coming soon!

2) All Things Wombat

Did we say soon? We meant now! Wombat is launching on Arbitrum and BOB is joining the party 🥳. Check out Wombat exchange where you can swap and stake your favorite stables https://app.wombat.exchange/

Want a boost? BOB holders can boost rewards by providing liquidity for Wombat through the boosted BOB pool on Wombex.

Wombex

@WombexFinance

Let's get ready to rumble #WombexWarriors !

Wombex has deployed the LP Pools on @Arbitrum

Now you can stake your @WombatExchange LPs to Wombex's #Arbitrum Dapp to enjoy your boosted yields!

wombex.finance/#/arbitrum/sta…

Available Pools are:

vote-locked $WMX
$USDC

38

6:52 AM • Apr 5, 2023

On Magpie

Magpie

@magpiexyz_io

Check the two new #stablecoins pools on Magpie.

The #boosted BOB liquidity pool is live.

$BOB is a stablecoin designed to operate on various blockchains and can be transferred #privately using @zkBob_, a zero-knowledge proof protocol.

More
blog.magpiexyz.io/privacy-and-pr…

blog.magpiexyz.io

Privacy and Profit: Boost Your BOB Holdings with Magpie

BOB token holders can increase their earnings by depositing assets on Magpie.

65

7:53 PM • Mar 7, 2023

And on Quoll!

zkBob

@zkBob_

Did you see the $BOB Wombat Boosted Pool on @QuollFinance?

Check it out nowquoll.finance/deposit

Quoll Finance

@QuollFinance

@zkBob_ is coming!

14

1:37 PM • Mar 7, 2023

3) Welcome to the Velodrome

We’re super excited to announce BOB on Velodrome! Velodrome is the leading trading and liquidity marketplace on Optimism. BOB pools are already getting deep 🏊🏼 https://app.velodrome.finance/

4) KyberSwap 💪

The latest BOB KyberSwap campaign is moving full steam ahead🚊. We had a great AMA with the KyberSwap crew Wednesday on Twitter spaces where we answered community questions about liquidity, upcoming plans, and BOB borrowing. Don’t miss out on this trading campaign, you can still participate and win but only for the next few days!

Also, interested 🧑‍🌾 should visit the Polygon and OP KyberSwap farms for some healthy BOB harvests!

Kyber Network

@KyberNetwork

 @zkBob_ farms continue on #KyberSwap with $KNC $BOB rewards!

Farm with $BOB $stMATIC $ETH on @0xPolygonDeFi @optimismFND and earn optimised rewards with concentrated liquidity + auto-compounding

Farm now on bit.ly/TW_KyberSwap_z… bit.ly/TW_KyberSwap_z…

30

11:14 PM • Apr 2, 2023

5- BOB CDP Sneak Peek

Speaking of borrowing BOB, the BOB CDP app is almost ready! Once live, you will be able to use a curated selection of Univ3 LP positions to mint and borrow BOB from your LPs. As we finish the final touches, check out this sneak peek 👀 👀 👀

The BOB website is here! A landing page dedicated to BOB stablecoin is now available at http://bob.zkbob.com

2) Bridging with BOB

BOB is on 5 🖐 chains (that’s right, BOB is now on Arbitrum!), and it’s easy to bridge BOB to your chain of choice with Jumper exchange by Li.Fi.

3) BOB IRL

Igor joined luminaries in the space including Andre Cronje, Mudit Gupta and more on 2 panels at EthDubai to discuss security and the latest in zk advancements! Watch them below ⬇️

Security Panel: Starts at 9:05:05

zk Panel: Starts at 7:57:55

4) Getting to know BOB

Get to more about BOB at https://dappback.com/zkbob.

It’s easy to earn your first NFT by completing simple tasks which help you get to know BOB. Things like watching a quick video, following BOB on Twitter, visiting our website and reading our blog! Simple and fun, check it out.

zkBob

@zkBob_

We've joined forces with @DappBackHQ to launch our NFT Loyalty Program!

Level up your web3 reputation and get cool #NFT rewards.

Level 1 reward is our mascot "Yellow". Stay tuned for more levels & surprises!

Task away at dappback.com/zkbob

574

10:59 AM • Mar 20, 2023

5) BOB Trading Campaign PT 2!

The first Kyber trading campaign was a runaway success, and it’s time for pt 2! If you participated last time, you know the ropes so get to it! If you’re new to trading campaigns, it’s a fun one to start trading with stables. Sometimes the sequel is better than the original… find out here

zkBob

@zkBob_

The $BOB trading campaign in collaboration with @KyberNetwork is back!

This time, with a different reward structure and a new Arbitrum pool!

Find all details and how to join below
kyberswap.com/campaigns/kybe…

Kyber Network

@KyberNetwork

The next round of KyberSwap’s Trading Grant Campaign has begun with @0xcarbon @elk_finance @handle_fi @Pomerium_space @MetavaultTRADE @zkBob_!

Trade the eligible tokens on KyberSwap and climb up the ranks to win a share of $30,000 KNC rewards!

bit.ly/KyberSwap_Proj…

13

11:56 AM • Mar 15, 2023

The official conference began on Thursday, and the zkBob booth was primed for action.

Privacy was a major topic of discussion throughout the conference - Vitalik mentioned it in his opening remarks about the need for better privacy applications to support important use cases. 

As soon as the doors opened, the zkBob booth began seeing tons of visitors interested in privacy, zero-knowledge apps and of course our awesome swag! This constant stream of visitors kept up throughout the entire conference, with one final wheel spin for our last pair of BOB socks.

ETHDenver 🏔🦬🦄

@EthereumDenver

Interested in stable privacy? Come visit us at @zkBob_

#Day2 #ETHDenver

24

1:48 PM • Mar 3, 2023

🎤 Presentation

The full presentation is available here ⬇️

The conference was the largest ever Ethereum ecosystem gathering, and zkBob made a big impression!

🎉 Hackathon Winners

zkBob was a popular choice for teams at the hackathon. We introduced a new feature just in time for EthDenver - direct deposits. This allowed projects to deposit BOB directly into the privacy solution with a simple call to the contract address. It greatly simplified the process, giving devs access to private and secure transactions from an external environment.

While 9 teams applied for our bounty, in the end 3 projects were selected which used the zkBob direct deposit features most elegantly in their hackathon solutions.

🥇 First Place: 5000 BOB to Alice’s Ring

Alice’s Ring created a solution for solvency proofs using ring signatures. A user can apply for a Soulbound token which proves their solvency, then request payment using the zkBob private payment solution. This solution has many possible applications - one highlighted by the team was for the landlord/tenant relationship where tenants can prove they have enough funds to rent an apartment without revealing their wallet address or transaction history. They can then pay with a private account, protecting their privacy.

• Demo: https://web-app-xi-rose.vercel.app/ 

• Work Link: https://github.com/KS-ETHDenver2023

🥈 Second Place Tie: 2500 BOB each to STACKS and TalentPay

STACKS

Stacks is an indie gaming platform where gamers can vote for their favorite games, increase their reputations, and pay for discounted game bundles using the zkBob private payments solution. A portion of the proceeds goes to support charitable organizations.

• Demo: https://bumblebee-raccoon-m7we.squarespace.com/

• Work link: https://github.com/bubblemelon/stacks

TalentPay

TalentPay is designed to match talent with commissioners seeking talent. Contractors (the talent) earn on-chain reputation from past projects and commissioners use this to find and hire them for their next projects. The solution uses zkBob to process private payments, which can be deposited without any outside monitoring or centralized services.

Demo & work link: https://github.com/carol-x/talent-pay

🎬 That’s a wrap

We really enjoyed EthDenver and are looking forward to attending more hackathons this year. Keep an eye out for zkBob at EthGlobal events including Tokyo, Lisbon, and Paris where hackathon participants will have more opportunities to build with zkBob!

As always, follow us on Twitter and Telegram for the latest updates.

The stablecoin ecosystem was severely tested over the past weekend. What started with a USDC depegging event related to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse quickly spread to other stablecoins including DAI, FRAX, MAI, and BOB. Like many of these tokens, BOB was impacted by market forces responding to risks associated with underlying collateral.

Fortunately, stablecoins throughout the ecosystem have re-pegged, largely due to actions taken by the US federal government to ensure depositors (Circle/USDC) will receive all of their funds from the failed bank. While this is welcome news in this situation, the BOB protocol cannot rely on future government interventions as a way to maintain a stable peg. Below is an explanation of the timeline of events, how these events impacted BOB, and plans to improve BOB stability mechanisms to better handle future challenges.

Timeline of events

March 10, 2023

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure. SVB was unable to meet all withdrawal requests. Approximately $3.3 billion, which accounts for 8% of the total reserve backing USDC, could not be withdrawn at the time.

Due to this news, many investors rushed to redeem USDC. Curve stable pools, which play a role in maintaining pegs, were highly impacted. USDC redemptions reached over 2.3B in 24 hours.

USDC was depegged from the dollar, reaching a low of $0.88. Many other stablecoins including BOB followed suit as they had exposure to USDC as a source of collateralization or were impacted by the general market fallout.

March 11, 2023

Protocols and projects responded to the situation. Coinbase announced they were suspending USDC conversions during the weekend. Aave DAO analyzed and froze some stablecoin positions, MakerDAO introduced an emergency proposal to limit exposure to potentially impaired stablecoins.

March 12, 2023

Stablecoins including BOB began a recovery towards the dollar peg as the US government and others announced 100% of deposits in SVB would be redeemable and available on Monday.

March 13, 2023

USDC reserve risk was removed and Circle announced partnerships with new banking partners for minting and redemption. Stablecoins impacted by the events returned to their approximate pegged positions.

Why BOB was impacted

While there are BUSD/BOB and USDT/BOB inventory pools, the majority of BOB pairings contain USDC as a mechanism to maintain the peg. Most inventory pairs hold BOB/USDC, and when USDC lost its peg, BOB pricing followed relative to the price of USDC. The mechanism worked as expected; unfortunately, too much reliance on USDC for stability resulted in BOB also losing its 1:1 stability with the US dollar.

The flawed assumption in this model is that USDC will maintain its peg to the dollar. Unfortunately, this is no longer an appropriate assumption. Due to the fact that a majority of the BOB inventory is held in DEXs such as Uniswap, Quickswap, and Kyberswap, the protocol had little control over any parameters that could have been tuned to manage stability fluctuations. Despite the market turmoil, it is worth mentioning that the zkBob application was unaffected by price volatility and users were able to make transfers, and complete deposits and withdrawals throughout the weekend.

In light of these events, BOB protocol is exploring ways to add additional tuning features and lessen reliance on DEX-based inventory pools to maintain stability.

Future plans

The BOB protocol will work on multiple levels to avoid future deviations from a stable peg. Items being explored include:

1. Inventory positions deferral. Additional inventory positions to DEXs will be paused for the time being. Inventory pools have been used as a primary pegging mechanism for BOB and this does not work in the context of a mass depegging event. Since stablecoins have returned to their pegs, no assets will be moved manually. Assets should continue to migrate organically as current inventory pools become collateralized (with 50/50 utilization) over time. Peg mechanisms can then be widened in these pools and collateral can be gradually moved to BobSwap.

2. BobSwap utilization. BobSwap is a headless, stable automated market maker (AMM) currently deployed within the 1inch environment. BobSwap contains a peg stability module (PSM) where stables can be traded 1:1 for BOB. The current design needs to be improved (see 3 below), however with these improvements BobSwap will be more resilient to volatility risks. Currently, BobSwap does not hold a majority of BOB, but liquidity from inventory continues to move in this direction, and the process can be expedited if needed. BobSwap offers more parameters to help maintain BOB stability. Plans also include adding additional aggregator environments in the future.

3. BobSwap parameter updates. BobSwap contracts are upgradeable and new features designed to mitigate risks will be explored. This may include enabling additional fees and introducing pricing limits and/or circuit breakers to make swaps expensive or unattractive in times of extreme volatility. Research will continue in these areas along with learnings from other stablecoin protocols to introduce new mechanisms and best practices into BobSwap.

4. Dynamic pricing accommodations: Rather than depending on 1:1 parity with USDC for BOB pricing, oracles can provide dynamic pricing algorithms when stable prices are not equal between pairs. This model will be explored to help protect the BOB peg if the asset with which it is paired suddenly gains or loses value.

5. Continued security focus. The protocol is committed to conducting additional security audits to maintain integrity. In the context of the current events, the depegging and repegging were not a result of any exploits or bugs within the Bob protocol. All necessary steps, including prudent security audits, will continue to ensure the BOB protocol is sound and all updates are completed in a responsible and secure manner.

Conclusion

This unprecedented depegging event was a wake-up call for the stablecoin ecosystem. Luckily, impacted stablecoins have mostly returned to their pegs and the "collateral damage” has been contained. Once again, a reliance on a singular entity (in this case USDC which was relying on SVB) resulted in a point of failure. The lesson of centralized failure continues to be taught. However, it has yet to be fully learned, and the results from the next depegging event could be even more severe.

The BOB protocol is taking measures to improve the protocol and reduce the impact of these events in the future. The BOB community is vitally important and your comments and input are welcome on Telegram/Twitter around this event including ideas you’d like to see implemented. BOB is built to support responsible, stable transactions for everyday users, and the protocol will continue to learn from these events, proactively address problems, and make ongoing improvements to the ecosystem.

• Community Telegram: https://t.me/zkbobcommunity

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/zkBob_

• BOB Analytics: https://dune.com/maxaleks/bob-stable-token

A few updates we wanted to share with you on the latest zkBob happenings.

We hope you are enjoying the optional privacy zkBob brings to the BOB stablecoin.  If you have any issues or feedback while making private transfers you can always fill out a canny request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can! Subscribe to receive the latest updates in your email and follow us on twitter for regular news.

What’s New with zkBob

zkBob updates and improvements are ongoing, which often result in new functionality added to zkBob. We’ve incorporated a What’s New feature to help you navigate these changes. If you haven’t seen it yet, when you open the application you’ll be presented with a popup that runs through the latest features. You can also skip and get right to the app. We’ll add in items whenever a new release impacts zkBob functionality.

Compliance and AML

We support responsible privacy for all users. To do this, some measures need to be in place to prevent illicit funds from entering the zkBob pool. We’ve teamed up with TRM to ensure that suspicious wallets cannot send funds to zkBob, and funds cannot be withdrawn to suspicious wallets. This creates a safer atmosphere for all honest users. More about TRM and our collaboration is available in this announcement.

Kyberswap Campaign Wrapping Up

We’re in the final days of the inaugural Kyberswap campaign, but it’s not too late to join! You receive an exclusive Galxe NFT for participating and have a chance to win one of 64+ KNC prizes. The project trading grant program ends on 5 Feb, so enter soon! 

KyberSwap - Limitless Access To DeFi

KyberSwap is a multi-chain aggregator and DeFi hub that empowers users with the insights and tools to achieve financial autonomy. All the above while being fast, secure, and easy-to-use.

https://kyberswap.com

Fill out a simple survey, win $100 BOB!

Follow this link to take the survey ➡️ https://airtable.com/shrdAiBS3B9UXiY1R

Calling all zkBob users! Your feedback is vital to improving our platform. We've been hard at work adding new features and enhancements since our beta launch 4 months ago, and now we want to hear from you.

Take our survey to let us know how you're enjoying zkBob and where we can improve. Plus, by leaving your zkAddress, you'll be entered for a chance to win 100 $BOB tokens! 

Follow this link to take the survey ➡️ https://airtable.com/shrdAiBS3B9UXiY1R

Your participation is completely anonymous, but by leaving your zkAddress, you'll have the chance to be one of five randomly selected winners of 100 $BOB tokens.

See you at EthDenver

We’re very excited for our EthDenver sponsorship and chance to introduce zkBob to a wide audience of enthusiastic devs and blockchain users! We will have bounties for hackathon participants who incorporate zkBob into their projects, and can’t wait to see what is developed. If you are in Denver, please stop by our booth and say ✋ ! Mention you read this update on Mirror or Paragraph and we’ll save some special swag for you!!

zkBob, a leading blockchain application for stable, private transfers, has implemented a screening solution from TRM Labs, the leader in blockchain intelligence solutions, to provide a more secure and compliant environment designed for private value transfer. zkBob will leverage TRM Labs’ suite of AML compliance and screening tools to prevent stolen, hacked, or otherwise risky funds from entering the zkBob privacy pool, protecting all users

“Zk (zero-knowledge) protocols are changing what is possible for blockchains by introducing advanced scalability and privacy features,” said Igor Barinov, principal researcher with zkBob. “Privacy is essential for regular use cases like salary payments, remittances, fundraising, and donations. This integration  with TRM labs enables everyday privacy for zkBob users while deterring bad actors and illicit funding sources.”

To satisfy regulatory requirements and promote AML/CFT compliance, zkBob will leverage TRM’s tools to conduct wallet screening and pre-deposit transaction monitoring to protect the integrity of the zkBob private pool and promote a safe and secure platform for private transfers.

“TRM Labs is committed to building innovative trust and safety products that ultimately support the growth of the crypto economy,” said Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs. “Having zkBob integrate our suite of AML compliance tools furthers our goal of building a safer financial system for all crypto users.”** **

About zkBob

zkBob is a privacy application deployed on the Polygon blockchain that anonymizes stable transfers between users. The protocol uses zkSnarks to prove certain actions have occurred without revealing specific details about participants or amounts transferred. zkBob leverages the BOB stablecoin, an innovative multi-collateral, multi-chain asset for private and predictable transfers. Advanced compliance features deter illicit usage while promoting lawful use cases such as salary distribution and anonymous donations. zkBob gives privacy back to the everyday user.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zkbob_

Telegram: https://t.me/zkbobcommunity

BOB and zkBob have been growing by leaps and bounds 🦸‍♂️ over the past several months. It’s easy for news to get lost in the eternal scroll, so we’ll highlight some recent achievements in one convenient place.

We hope you are enjoying the optional privacy zkBob brings to the BOB stablecoin.  If you have any issues or feedback while making private transfers you can always fill out a canny request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can! Subscribe to receive the latest updates in your email.

Highlights

✅ New major zkBob release ✅ ChainSecurity completes security audit of BOB and zkBob contracts ✅ Kyberswap BOB trading contest is live ✅ Multiple integrations announced ✅ BOB and zkBob usage on the rise ✅ 2 minutes to privacy: a video intro to zkBob

🆕 Major zkBob Releases

ZkBob is made up of multiple components. In the latest release on January 2nd, updates were made to the relayer (v2.2.0), UI (v1.0.0), and JS library (v1.2.1). These updates included an integration with Li.Fi, support for ID functionality, and faster sync. For more information on the upgrades and how they improve zkBob functionality, see the release notes at https://docs.zkbob.com/resources/release-notes/january-2-2023.

New releases are occurring on a regular basis as we continue to make improvements to the application. The next release is scheduled on Monday, January 16th at 12:00 UTC. The upgrade can take several hours, though it is typically much faster. During that time zkBob will not be available. We will send out a reminder before the update.

🔐 Security Audit Completed

ChainSecurity delivered their final audit report on January 5, 2023 covering the zkBobPool, BOBToken, and BobVault contracts along with relevant dependencies. We worked closely with the ChainSecurity team to address potential issues and are happy to report we’ve corrected or accepted risks for all findings from the report.

https://chainsecurity.com/security-audit/zkbob-smart-contracts/

Based on the findings the working governance group has updated and released v1.0.0 of the BOB and zkBob protocol contracts. For more information on this multi-sig process and what updates were completed, see this post in the zkBob docs.

🥇 Kyberswap $BOB Trading Contest

Want to maximize your BOB trading experience? Kyberswap announced a unique month-long initiative to reward $BOB traders. It’s simple to register and start swapping any tokens with $BOB to qualify.

→ Trade now!

🎉Multiple integrations announced

Integrations in the past 2 months include:

• Li.Fi integration for multi-chain swaps and bridging to zkBob.

• Itez fiat on-ramp integration. Buy $BOB directly with fiat.

• Sablier integration for continuous streaming stable payments in $BOB.

• DefiLlama Meta-Dex aggregator to source $BOB rates across multiple chains.

• Zerion full-featured web3 wallet.

• Coinpaprika cryptocurrency research platform.

• Stable.fish stable farming platform for best APY research.

• Rabby open-source web3 wallet.

• Suarmi MXN peso crypto exchange.

📈 BOB & zkBob on the rise

View the latest usage statistics for BOB and zkBob on our Dune Analytics Dashboards.

• BOB Stablecoin Dashboard

• zkBob Private Transfers Dashboard

📺 2 minutes to privacy: A zkBob Video

Want to share something to introduce new zkFrens to zkBob? Share this fun video! It walks you through using zkBob for easy, private & stable transfers in under 2 minutes!

We were psyched to see so many fresh faces representing the next generation of web3 application developers. Change is in the air, and many coders with web2 backgrounds are making the leap to web3. It was exciting to be a part of it and we look forward to many future hackathons in the upcoming year.

Before we get to the recap, we want to acknowledge the winners of our hackathon prizes totaling $10,000 BOB!

Project Winners

zkFundRaise - $2000 BOB

A fundraising app that allows for creation of anonymous campaigns where users can donate funds anonymously. This app makes it easy to create a campaign and fund a campaign using the zkBob API.

• Video: https://www.loom.com/share/15a691cba5ba4277b00acb86ef28fd02

• Github: https://github.com/bharathbabu68/ETHIndia2k22

zkPay - $2000 BOB

A payment gateway that allows buyers and sellers to exchange value anonymously without disclosing any personally identifiable information.

• Video: https://youtu.be/evYzzT1BcrI

• Github: https://github.com/0xZkPay

zkPayroll - $2000 BOB

zkPayroll allows DAOs, corporations, and Individuals to generate invoices and salary payments using the BOB stablecoin. This is an important use case for maintaining privacy for employers and employees working in different contexts.

• Github: https://github.com/jadd22/zkpayroll

zkJob- $2000 BOB

Create resumes, hire, and pay salaries with a single wallet, all without adding personal information.

• Github: https://github.com/luka1104/ETHIndia-ZKJob

Liria - $500 BOB

Privacy preserving and secure donations to writers and whistle blowers, preserving rights for those who may not be able to speak freely.

• Github: https://github.com/kousthubraja/liria-web

zkKYC - $500 BOB

Integration with zkBob and PolygonID for zk kyc services.

Github: https://github.com/ehteshaxm/zkyc

DACRJ - $500 BOB

Platform for journalists to publish uncensorable news and maintain privacy.

• Github: https://github.com/neerav1234/Samaritans-zkBOB

Web3Patreon - $500 BOB

An anonymous platform for subscribers of web content and videos, allowing subscribers to keep their details private.

• Github: https://github.com/Siddesh7/web3Patreon

zkBob team at ETHIndia

Timeline

1 week before: Get zkBob API MVP ready for the road

zkBob was first designed as a standalone application which constructs zero knowledge proofs locally on a user’s machine. For the hackathon, we put together an API MVP so users could incorporate zkBob directly into their projects. It’s semi-custodial, but provides an easy way to access, play, and experiment with basic zk operations. We’ll expand this API for future hackathons to include multiple addresses and more robust functionality.

2 days before: Arrive in India and present at the Gweithering on zkBob.

We got to India just in time for Igor to present at the Gweithering , a superb event put on by our friends at Biconomy, Superblock, and Frontier. There were lots of interesting projects in attendance and the outdoor party was a chance to mingle and get into the vibe.

1 day before: Pick up t shirts, visit temples and prepare for the hack.

We had 1 day to center our minds before the upcoming chaos. We toured Bangalore a bit and stopped to pick up t-shirts and stickers. As it turns out we’d ordered way less than we needed, and zkBob shirts ended up as a rare trait shirt for hackers. Live and learn, we’ll be swagged out next time!

Day 1: Manning a busy booth

We ordered more t-shirts, ran out of them again, and talked with a bunch of amazing young hackers! We met many projects interested in integrating privacy, saw old friends, and met some new ones.

We finally had a chance to sit with the awesome team at Li.Fi and talked more about our upcoming widget integration. They were one of the first teams to engage with zkBob and we’re looking forward to doing more things together. We also talked with Push protocol and will explore adding push notifications to the zkBob interface.

It was great to spend some time with the Polygon team at the hackathon and we were able to swing by the Polygon Connect event as well, which was action packed. We are currently exploring ways to integrate PolygonID with zkBob to help privacy and KYC live together in perfect harmony!

Day 2: Booths and presentations, presentations, workshops and booths

Kirill presented a workshop on the zkBob API and showed hackers how to easily incorporate the REST API into an application using our Insomnia playbook. 

There’s so much interest in zk protocols, and zkBob is establishing itself as an easy and friendly gateway to access the zk Universe. From our perspective, responsible privacy is the next big thing needed for blockchain adoption, and we’re right where we want to be with zkBob.

Day 3: Hackathon judging

The teams that chose to build with zkBob were outstanding, including use cases for private donations, payroll, hiring and journalism. Project details are at the beginning of the article, be sure to check them out!

Day 4: Sleep, eat, sleep, repeat

The hackathon was amazing and exhausting, and just like the hacking teams out there we took Monday to get some delicious food and well deserved rest.

A few days later: Pay the winners

It was satisfying to make payouts to the zkBob hackers using zkBob! We were able to use the multisender feature to pay everyone (a total of $10,000 BOB sent) for a single  $0.10 transaction fee.

zkBob

@zkBob_

Prizes for #ETHIndia distributed

10,000 $BOB sent to 8 teams in a single transaction and with a fee of just 0.1 BOB.

Hackers received their prizes privately, with KYC automatically inherited to the protocol - all hackers are already KYC'd by the @ETHGlobal.

24

2:49 AM • Dec 9, 2022

Feedback and Observations

The hackers provided us with some excellent feedback about v1 of the zkBob cloud API which will help us create a better experience next time around. There were a few bugs with sync and tx creation we were able to squash quickly thanks to user feedback. In general the API worked smoothly with a few hiccups that delayed some transactions. Hackers were appreciative for a ready-made zk solution they could start integrating immediately.

A few additional observations from our team.

• It’s clear that privacy is a financial primitive. It should be the default with an option to reveal as needed. zkBob and other zk technologies are making this idea a reality.

• There was “bearly” a mention of the bear market, the build market was in full force. This is one reason we love hackathons!

• Maybe we’re just getting older, but it feels like the next generation of crypto coders has arrived.

• Polygon supporters are off the hook! We’re excited to be building on this network which is making all the right moves for the future of blockchain.

• We need to up our booth & swag game considerably. We were blown away by some of the booths and quality merch and swag at ETHIndia.

• Responsible privacy (ie privacy with some compliance baked in) is the next big thing in blockchain.

All in all it was an invigorating hackathon and we’re ready for a year of building, improvements, and zkAdoption. Make sure you visit the zkBob booth at the next hackathon you attend - we’ll see you there!

Standard batch-transfer apps let blockchain users send tokens to many different addresses using batched transactions. Popular apps like https://multisender.app/, https://disperse.app/,  https://bulktokensend.com, and others provide batch sending functionality, saving time and money in exchange for a fee. They are used for airdrops and bulk distributions, and have processed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of transactions. What none of them offer is privacy. 

Like most transactions on the blockchain, batch transfers are typically fully traceable from sender to recipient. In many cases this is not an issue, but in some cases it can be problematic.

For example, let’s look at salary distributions. It is much more convenient to send monthly salaries to a group of employees through a batched-transaction app. All user addresses and amounts can be added to a csv, pasted into the app, then sent through the interface with the click of a button. This saves a lot of time and gas fees, and prevents possible entry errors compared to entering and processing each transaction one by one. However, with a batching app all of these transactions originate from the same source, tying each one together. Employees (and anyone else) can easily see their colleagues’ addresses and the amounts they receive.

zkBob multitransfer obfuscates this connection, providing safe and anonymous batch transfers through a zk proving mechanism. The sender can easily switch on the multitransfer functionality, add zkaddresses and amounts either manually or from a csv, and process all of these transfers with a single $0.10 fee. That’s potentially hundreds of transfers sent for a stable $0.10 fee thanks to the BOB stablecoin. Transfers, like fees, are stable, making zkBob the perfect solution for consistent value transfer. In fact, several companies are already using zkBob and multitransfer for salary distribution. We expect to see many more in the near future!

No other zkprivacy solution currently offers batch transfers. Sending hundreds of transactions using Aztec or Railgun will set you back a good amount in tx fees not to mention wasted hours and the potential for more data entry related errors. 

zkBob is a safe, simple and compliant way to send private transactions, including multitransfers, using the BOB stablecoin. Try it today at https://app.zkbob.com and learn more about zkBob and BOB at https://docs.zkbob.com.

Multitransfers were added to zkBob as part of a larger upgrade in release 0.3.0. This includes updates to the progress bar for parameters loading, library version upgrade, and various bug fixes. Currently the UI is closed during beta to prevent simple clones. It will be open sourced post-beta.