Overview

DarkFi is a layer one Proof-of-Work blockchain that supports anonymous applications. It is currently under development. This overview will outline a few key terms that help explain DarkFi.

Blockchain: The DarkFi blockchain is based off Proof of Work RandomX algorithm, paired with Delayed finality. Consensus participating nodes, called miners, produce and propose new blocks to the network, extending some fork chain, which once it reaches a finality security threshold, can be appended to canonical by all nodes in the network.

Wallet: A wallet is a portal to the DarkFi network. It provides the user with the ability to send and receive anonymous darkened tokens. Each wallet is a full node and stores a copy of the blockchain. All contract execution is done locally on the DarkFi wallet.

P2P Network: The DarkFi ecosystem runs as a network of P2P nodes, where these nodes interact with each other over specific protocols (see node overview). Nodes communicate on a peer-to-peer network, which is also home to tools such as our P2P irc and P2P task manager tau.

ZK smart contracts: Anonymous applications on DarkFi run on proofs that enforce an order of operations. We call these zero-knowledge smart contracts. Anonymous transactions on DarkFi are possible due to the interplay of two contracts, mint and burn (see the sapling payment scheme). Using the same method, we can define advanced applications.

zkas: zkas is the compiler used to compile zk smart contracts in its respective assembly-like language. The "assembly" part was chosen as it's the bare primitives needed for zk proofs, so later on the language can be expanded with higher-level syntax. Zkas enables developers to compile and inspect contracts.

zkVM: DarkFi's zkVM executes the binaries produced by zkas. The zkVM aims to be a general-purpose zkSNARK virtual machine that empowers developers to quickly prototype and debug zk contracts. It uses a trustless zero-knowledge proof system called Halo 2 with no trusted setup.