# Counzil ## Pitch A flexible application to create and manage a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), leveraging the capabilities of the Zcash blockchain for privacy and decentralization. ## Applicant Background [Vergara Technologies](https://vergara.tech/) has been building applications that leverage the Zcash blockchain since 2022. We are the creators of: - [ZGo](https://zgo.cash/), the Zcash point-of-sale app - [Zenith](https://vergara.tech/zenith), the full-node wallet for Zebra[^1]. - [Zcash-Haskell](https://vergara.tech/products/zcash-haskell.html), the Haskell library for interacting with Zcash. ## Opportunity As the decentralization movement grows, governance of DAOs has relied on centralized platforms and public blockchains. The management of DAOs can be a sensitive matter and is a great use case for the privacy and selective disclosure provided by the Zcash blockchain. ## Proposed Solution A desktop application that allows users to: - Create and manage multiple DAOs, including managing membership - Create, edit and review proposals - Vote on proposals - Maintain key information like membership, proposal submission and votes on-chain, using the Ironwood pool. - Maintain supplemental information like proposal details and signatures. ## Technical Approach Counzil is desktop application that leverages our Zenith wallet features to interact with the Zcash blockchain through a `zaino` server. Counzil shall have a local database to store the user's private keys, the DAO structure and the DAO's private keys if the user is the DAO manager. Counzil shall store core DAO information on-chain and maintain supplemental information like proposal details and cryptographic signatures in IPFS. ### DAO Mechanics Counzil is an implementation of the DAO management method proposed [here](https://hedgedoc.vergara.tech/s/dtiVMIqAb). Our app simplifies the process of creating and managing the necessary Zcash addresses and cryptographic keys needed to submit proposals and votes to the DAO. #### Proposal submission ```sequence Title: Counzil proposal submission participant User as u participant Counzil as c participant IPFS as ipfs participant Zcash as zcash note over u: Writes proposal u ->> c: saves proposal note over c: Validates format c ->> u: requests signature u ->> c: signs proposal c ->> ipfs: saves proposal ipfs ->> c: proposal hash c ->> ipfs: saves signature ipfs ->> c: signature hash c ->> zcash: records proposal on-chain ``` A user can submit a proposal if they are a current member of the DAO, and they do so by creating a proposal as a text document with a mandatory section showing the options up for a vote. Once this proposal is finalized, the user signs it and publishes it. Other users now can review the proposal. #### Membership A membership request is a special case of a proposal, in which an existing member of the DAO sponsors a new member. The proposal includes the prospective member's Zcash address and Counzil public key. Upon proposal approval, Counzil records the new member's Zcash address and public key on-chain with a reference to this approved proposal. Membership can also be revoked by a proposal, creating a separate on-chain record with the revokation. #### Voting ```sequence Title: Counzil voting participant User as u participant Counzil as c participant IPFS as ipfs participant Zcash as zcash c ->> zcash: Sync DAO accounts zcash ->> c: Proposal memo zcash ->> c: Membership memo c ->> ipfs: Request proposal ipfs ->> c: Proposal content note over c: Validates proposal c ->> u: Prompt for vote u ->> c: Vote selection note over c: Signs proposal c ->> ipfs: Saves signature ipfs ->> c: Signature hash c ->> zcash: Records vote ``` Counzil reads the proposal memos recorded on-chain and uses that information to retrieve the proposal from IPFS and validate that the signature provided matches the sponsor of the proposal and confirms that the sponsor is a current member of the DAO. Counzil then prompts the user for their vote and records it on-chain, creating a digital signature of the proposal and storing it in IPFS. ## Execution Risks - Significant changes to the `zaino` API can delay the implementaion of Counzil. - Availability of `zaino` testnet instances can delay the implementation of Counzil. ## Unintended Consequences - None identified. ## Budget | Item | Estimate | |------|---------:| |Infrastructure | $2,000.00 | |Development | $134,400.00 | |**Total** | **$136,400.00** | ### Infrastructure In order to support users of Counzil, we propose creating and maintaining our own new storage and Zcash blockchain infrastructure. - Dedicated servers: $2,000. - `zaino` server - IPFS server ### Development We are estimating 1,280 person-hours at $105/hour for a total development cost of $134,400. ## Schedule - Milestone 1: $2,000.00 Start-up costs - Milestone 2: Testnet Demo $30,000.00 - Milestone 3: Mainnet Release $104,400.00 [^1]: Zebra: https://zebra.zfnd.org/