zkIgnite, Cohort 0 Begins

Please Note: zkIgnite, Cohort 0 concluded on 12/16. Top prize winners will be announced on Thursday 12/22 and remaining participants will be contacted via email.

Stay tuned for details regarding Cohort 1 launch! 

Mina is inviting you to co-build the zkApps Era with us by being a part of zkIgnite, Cohort 0.

Sign up to join zkIgnite, Cohort 0 now to complete tutorials, build zkApps and win rewards from a 250K MINA prize pool. 

Available Prizes

• The first 1000 people who complete zkApp Tutorial 4 and makes a submission will be eligible to each receive 50 MINA  
• All high-quality zkApps submitted will be eligible to receive 5K MINA  
• Plus there will be 3 top prizes:
  • 1st prize: 20K MINA
  • 2nd prize: 12K MINA
  • 3rd prize: 8K MINA
• Bonus: Build an oracle that pulls on-chain data for zkApp usage and receive 1 – 1.5K MINA

How to Submit:

Submit your zkApp Tutorial 4 via Github Pages, and share the linkvia this form. Challenge closed

Submit your zkApp and/or oracle project via this form. 

Please make sure your zkApp submission follows these guidelines:

• Includes a user interface 
• Has been deployed to Berkeley Testnet Alpha
• Has proof of multiple transactions sent to it 
• Includes a link to a Github Repo
• Pre-existing zkApps or ongoing projects that pre-date this context will not be considered
• There can only be one ‘basic’ zkApp submission per builder

For those building and submitting oracles, please share a link to your Github Repo that includes: 

• A demo zkApp of using the oracle (deployed to the github pages for that repo)
• A README that includes:
  • Instructions on how to launch the oracle server
  • Explanation of where to find the oracle server code (in the repo)
  • Instructions on how to use the oracle from a zkApp
  • Explanation of where to find the demo code (in the repo)

You will also have the option to present your zkApp to a panel of judges on Demo Day on December 19th.

Timing

• Tues, November 22, 2022: zkIgnite, Cohort 0 is live
• Thursday, December 15, 2022: zkApp Show & Tell
• Friday, December 16, 2022: All submissions due by 11:59 PM PST
• Thurs, December 22, 2022: Winners announced

How to Get Started:

• Step 1: Read up on what zkApps are and what new use cases they enable here
• Step 2: Get started building your first zkApp by following this easy Hello-World tutorial here
• Step 3: Consider completing Tutorials 1 – 4 so that you have a good basic understanding of the core functionalities of snarkyJS, the typescript library you can use to build zkApps
  • Tutorials 5 – 8 are also handy if you want to make use of additional common types, off-chain storage, oracles or custom tokens
• Step 4: Build, ask questions, and learn together!
  • #zkApps-developers channel on Mina’s Discord is your hub to ask questions, exchange tips with other builders, form teams
    • Attend weekly ‘Builder Hangouts’ every Thursday on Discord, details shared weekly in #zkAps-developers channel
    • Check out the zkIgnite Questions forum on Mina’s Discord for answers to popular questions that developers have raised
  • Attend weekly office hours every Wednesday at 9AM UTC-8 for technical support on your zkApp project.
  • Check out zkApps for Mina for a community-curated list of previous zkApps deployed
• Step 5: Submit your zkApp through this form by 11:59 PM UTC-8 on Friday, December 16, 2022

Additional video resources to help get you started:

• Evan Shapiro Light chat: Privacy-Enabled Identity Verification with a Mina Community zkApp Builder
• Jack Servia: Mina zkApps 🛠 Zero Knowledge Programming with TypeScript
• Brandon Kase: Real World Use Cases that Mina Will Enable With ZK Technology
• Top 10 Use Cases with zkApps – A Brainstorm Workshop

Judging Criteria:

NOTE: It’s not a requirement to fulfill all of the criteria, rather this is a guide for how the judges will be deciding on winners. zkApps will be judged by a core team across Mina Foundation, ecosystem partner O(1) Labs, and a peer review committee of zkApps developers within Mina’s community.

• Technical Implementation – Does the zkApp leverage multiple o1js (formerly SnarkyJS) features introduced in the tutorials? Does the zkApp function correctly?
• Impact – Does the zkApp have the potential for real world utility? Will the zkApp have the ability to reach thousands, if not millions of users? 
• Business Potential –  Does this zkApp have the potential to grow and become a standalone business in the future? (Bonus: does the zkApp aid existing applications or businesses with privacy?)
• Capacity Building – Does the zkApp provide helpful tooling, or serve as a useful building block for other developers in the Mina ecosystem?

* All MINA token grants are subject to a 12-month lockup and those who qualify for grants will need to complete KYC/AML verification to receive them.