Secret Network has a new Grant Program. Each quarter will see a new cohort. The Grant winners of the first cohort in Q1 2024 are now developing their platforms. Recently, Secret Network announced the winners of the second cohort during Q2. The next round for Q3 will start around late July and early August. These Grants go hand in hand with the Secret Network’s Confidential Computing Layer or DeCC. 

So, we will take a closer look at these Secret Network Grants. We will also look at some of the Grant winners and explore what they offer and how they connect with DeCC.

What Is DeCC?

Before I continue with the Grants, it’s a good idea to explain what DeCC is. It stands for Decentralized Confidential Computing. This is a layer that devs can add to their existing Dapps. By doing so, the Dapp gets a privacy layer. As we all know, privacy is a key factor in our lives. The takeaway here is that DeCC verifies encrypted data but doesn’t reveal it.

However, adding a privacy layer to a Layer 1 chain that’s public and transparent isn’t an easy feat. Now, since Secret Network has its home in the Cosmos ecosystem, it’s available in the IBC. But Secret Network is also looking into interoperability. As a result, it’s already available on over 10 major EVM blockchains. More EVM chains are to follow. On the other hand, almost all EVM and IBC chains can connect to it.

But it gets better with interoperability. Secret Network will announce integrations to various new blockchains. Some of these new integrations are with Wormhole, Union, and Composable. This allows chains like Solana, Aptos, and NEAR to take full advantage of DeCC. For a more in-depth explanation of its use cases, you can read our recent article about DeCC. The following picture shows how Secret Network brings DeCC to all of Web3.

Secret Network

Source: Secret Network blog

The Secret Network Grants

Secret Network has now awarded two rounds of Grants. Each quarter will see a new cohort. The platform will choose winners from the applicants. For the 1st and 2nd quarter, we know the winners. So, let’s take a closer look at them.

Quarter 1

During quarter 1, we saw, among others,

  • Reclaim Protocol — This is a data proving solution. It uses ZK knowledge to create digital signatures. With this, you can prove your identity or reputation on any website. Because Reclaim uses DeCC, these digital signatures are private and secure. They can use these signatures on any app, proving that it’s authentic and accurate. This eliminates the need for cookies, and you don’t leave a digital trail. This seems like a great solution, with Web3 on the rise.
  • dCasino — Welcome to the Secret Network online casino platform, built by AART. Currently, you can play online poker. This is your classic old-school favorite. Before starting the game, you need to create a viewing key. This allows you to see your private on-chain data. By using DeCC, all your activities on the platform remain private.

These two platforms are already live. Other Grant winners are still developing their projects. For instance, GOV.DAO, PageDAO, and FiftyWei.

Quarter 2

We recently found out who the winners of the second cohort in quarter 2 are. There were 25 grant proposals. Out of these, 6 received funding. So, now they can continue to build and develop. Here’s a short intro to some of them. For example,

Satoshi Place

Satoshi’s Place is a decentralized casino. It uses the Arweave permaweb, Akash, and Secret Network. All decentralized platforms. It will offer a variety of online games. For instance, slots, blackjack, sports betting, poker, or roulette. The platform aims to become the premier crypto gambling destination. Secret comes into play for user privacy and fair on-chain randomness. Currently, they’re live on testnet.

PampIT

PampIT is a fair token launch platform. They used the popular Solana pump.fun app as a blueprint. Anyone can create their own Snip20 tokens here. To clarify, this is the Secret Network token standard. You can do this without any coding knowledge. It offers some cool features. You can immediately start trading on the PampIT interface. However, once it reaches a certain market cap, it can auto migrate to Secret DEXes like Shade Protocol.

PrivCast

PrivCast is a platform that provides private polling for Farcaster. That’s where the DeCC comes in. Farcaster is a social media platform on Ethereum, like X or Reddit. PrivCast offers the first option for private polls. This allows you to cast votes honestly. You don’t need to worry about any negative feedback when your identity is out in the open. Any vote you make will be available and counted for, but without disclosing your identity.

Synexis

Synexis is a SaaS platform for startups and investors. It uses cutting-edge blockchain and AI technologies. This changes startup transparency, visibility, portfolio management, and due diligence. Startups can make use of specific smart contracts. For example, share distribution among co-founders or automated on-chain transparency reports. On the other hand, investors can track portfolios or receive automated notifications. These can be, for instance, for important events. DeCC will make all these actions private if needed. It also safeguards intellectual property or trade secrets. Furthermore, personal, and financial data remain secure and private. The picture below shows the Synexis UI.

Secret Network

Source: Synexis

Various Research & Development Proposals

These research and development proposals are not real apps, but rather network upgrades. So, let’s take a look at some.

  • Delayed Write Buffers. — This solves storage access patterns for Secret tokens in a novel approach. It’s also a cheaper and more effective solution. For example, existing interfaces remain compatible. Or contract upgrades allow for existing tokens to adopt. 
  • WebSocket Multiplexer. — Secret query nodes, have by default a limit of 100 clients at the same time. The max subscriptions per client are 5. This allows end users to benefit with a more responsive experience.
  • Secret H.E.A.P.S. — Or Homomorphically-Encrypted & Authenticated Private Storage. It’s an L2 built for the Secret Network. It improves the through put and speed for queries. At the same time, it hardens the security level of stored data. Before HEAPS, it took 8–30 seconds to retrieve token balances for a max of 20 tokens. With HEAPS, it takes milliseconds to process dozens of simultaneous HEAPS queries.
Conclusion

The new Grants Program by Secret Network is working really well. Each quarter, there’s a new cohort. Each cohort will have several winners that receive a Secret Network grant. We looked at some of these Grant recipients and how they fit DeCC into their projects.

Disclaimer

The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to accepted levels of risk tolerance of the writer/reviewers, and their risk tolerance may be different from yours.

We are not responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments, so please do your due diligence. This article has been sponsored by Secret Network.

Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.

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