Secret Network has been featured in some of the biggest recent Ethereum hackathons, including ETHDenver, ETHBucharest, and ETHDam. All of these hackathon projects utilized Secret’s Confidential Computing Layer in order to add unique functionality to Ethereum dApps. This article will introduce you to the projects, summarize what they do, and explain why they chose to build with Secret Network!
ETHDenver
Unbound Science
It is not an overstatement to say that science is broken. More specifically, the process for “doing science”, including scientific funding, is rife with bias and agendas that undermine true discovery.
Unbound Science is an economy for everyone who has been cut out from the traditional scientific community. In part, the site connects scientists with donors. But it also connects scientists with scientists in other disciplines. The net result, in their words, “For the first time ever, the donor’s agenda is segregated from the research, and the general public has a say of what gets funding.”
Secret VRF was particularly helpful for the team as they worked to create access to multi-disciplinary communities. The sharpening, cross-pollination, and – ultimately – the peer review process facilitated by these groups is pivotal to the germination of scientific discovery.
Without understanding some of the problems in the modern scientific process, it would be easy to miss why Secret’s randomness was a helpful solution. So let’s start with the problem Unbound Science was trying to solve.
Funding and network power is distributed unevenly across geography, scientific specialty, and even factors like the scientist’s personality. In other words, you could be on the brink of a world-changing discovery but, because you aren’t “in” with the right crowd, your science isn’t heard, funded, or valued.
Unbound Science leverages Secret VRF and Secret Path to privately and randomly break community members into groups for discussion. This destroys the selection bias that can poison true science.
Unbound Science won first place for Secret Network’s track in the ETHDenver BUIDLathon! You can follow @UnboundScience on X or visit unboundscience.com to learn more.
Price Pilot
How do you know a fair price for that next product or service you want to buy?
Price Pilot aims to address the ambiguity around pricing by providing consumers with relevant data to help determine a fair price. Both consumers and vendors should have a level playing field so that neither is taken advantage of.
When the Price Pilot team needed randomness, they chose Secret VRF for maximum security. Who knew that private randomness could solve problems like buyer’s remorse due to overpayment? As a result, consumers have access to transparent and fair pricing data, enabling them to make informed decisions.
Portalo
Where can you save sensitive data safely? Portalo’s mission to is to be a comprehensive solution for secure data storage and management. Of course, there are lots of products that aim for a similar solution. But Portalo’s infrastructure is what really sets them apart.
Users can store sensitive data on their own device’s local storage. They can also choose to enable encrypted cloud-saving via Secret Network for seamless syncing across devices. Need to share a particular address or password with someone? Users can share a profile link with specific viewing permissions.
Ultimately, Portalo’s goal is to bring data security and data control back to where it should be – in the user’s hands.
The product was built by the experienced team at NeoPower. If you’d like to check out more of their work visit their site https://neopower.digital.
ETHBucharest
Gnomish
Building a decentralized world sometimes means funding projects that provide shared benefits, resources, or infrastructure. This is the broad category referred to as “public goods”. Funding platforms have been built to meet this need. But none of them are quite like Gnomish.
When a user visits the Gnomish platform, they first see all of the projects in the current funding round. This is where things get totally degen. They can transfer a memecoin of their choice into the funding round. Gnomish uses Secret’s private randomness to ensure that nobody has an idea what will happen next. Without the Secret VRF contract, RNG function is transparent and, therefore, more susceptible to gaming or manipulation.
Some projects will receive 100% of a particular token, others multiple tokens, others receive zero funding. The project might have a vesting cliff, a random cliff for the funding, or it could be distributed immediately.
Their team explains, “We pick random winners, random streams of funds distribution, as well as random chance of the RoundPool balance rug.”
Gnomish won first place in the ETHBucharest hackathon! Follow @gnomish_eth to get updates on this project.
ETHDam
Whisper
Whisper approaches funding from an entirely different angle. They allow the funding process to be fully customizable and private.
Part of this customizability is the mathematical curves employed in the voting and/or funding process (e.g. linear, quadratic, cubic, quartic, exponential). The curve one uses is important because it weights individual donations and/or votes differently. There are trade-offs, advantages, and potential disadvantages to this depending on the unique context of the project.
Whisper began this build with a core premise: “on chain trace between donors and projects is a problem”. Rounds should be publicly viewable and accessible. But contributions should be private.
This is made possible through Secret’s Confidential Computing Layer, which allows for cross-chain message passing. Since Whisper allows donations from any EVM compatible network, Secret can encrypt and protect that data to fulfill Whisper’s design.
Whisper won first place in the ETHDam quadratic funding round! You can keep up with the project on their website.
Want to build on Secret?
More developers than ever before are choosing to utilize Secret’s decentralized confidential computation. The reason is simple: confidentiality is the ultimate utility. DeCC unlocks many new capabilities that would otherwise be impossible on a traditional transparent blockchain.
If you’re interested in building on Secret, now is the perfect time. On May 20th, our HackSecret 3 hackathon begins, which will run for one month. This is a great opportunity for new Secret developers to try their hand at building on Secret, and also earn some cash! Our Q3 round of grants will begin around late July – early August, you can learn more about our grants program here, and you can go ahead and apply for it now. In addition to these funding opportunities, if you’re looking for development, marketing, or fundraising support for a project you’re building on Secret, you can contact the Secret Network Foundation directly and get dedicated support.
Join in on the discussion on the Secret Network community channels!
