[Research Docs] Adapting Semaphore Protocol to BLS12-381 on Stellar

[evgongora]

Objective:

Explore methods for adapting the Semaphore protocol (originally built for BN254) to operate with Stellar’s BLS12-381 support.

Tasks:

• Investigate existing literature and documentation on elliptic curves and zero-knowledge proofs.
• Review current implementations and related projects for insights on adapting circuit components, trusted setups, and hash functions.
• Identify the main challenges in migrating from BN254 to BLS12-381.
• Summarize findings and propose recommendations for the adaptation process.

Outcome:

• Produce a concise report detailing challenges, potential approaches, and next steps for the adaptation project.

[JoE11-y]

Hi there,

I’m a Blockchain Developer with over four years of experience and strong full-stack expertise. I’ve consistently worked with TypeScript and have built on various blockchain platforms, including EVM-compatible chains, Stacks, Starknet, Stellar, and Bitcoin. My expertise spans smart contract development, cross-chain protocols, zk-proof-based solutions, and full-stack dApp development.

Would love to take on this issue, and contribute to the project.

[mexes20]

Can I take this issue?

[suhas-sensei]

I would love to work on this. I have been learning about bonding curves and their specifics, and what i feel would be my approach - Semaphore works with BN254, but Stellar uses BLS12-381, so i would need to figure out how to make them compatible. First, I’ll check how both curves work and what makes them different. Then, I’ll look at how Semaphore uses BN254 and see if the same logic can work with BLS12-381. The tricky part will be things like hashing and proof generation, but I’ll find projects that have done similar stuff, this stuff would be kind of new to me but it'd be worth the challenge and i might learn some new things in the end, if assigned.

[Agbeleshe]

I'd love to give this a go.

[kaydeemoney]

Is this issue still available?

[evgongora]

@JoE11-y Hi sir! How's this going?