Inco: ETHGlobal Brussels

Introduction

ETHGlobal Brussels 2024, held from July 12-14 in Brussels, Belgium, was a prime opportunity for Inco to raise awareness about our FHE protocol, and the novel use cases that confidential computing can bring in the Web3 space.

As a sponsor, we offered $10k in hackathon prizes, and gave the chance for developers to get first hand experience trying out the magic of fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) for on-chain confidentiality.

Building on the success of our first major hackathon at ETH Denver 2024, in ETHGlobal Brussels we further showcased how Inco can bridge Web2 and Web3 by solving transparency issues, furthering compliance, and supporting use cases requiring confidentiality.

Remi Gai's Workshop: Bridging Web2 and Web3

Inco Founder Remi Gai led a workshop to inspire hackers, explaining how Inco enables private state and compute for EVMs, simplifies FHE complexities, and allows dApp to utilise FHE using Solidity. He highlighted the limitations of transparent blockchains and emphasised the need for on-chain confidentiality for mass adoption.

Remi demonstrated how FHE allows operations on encrypted data, maintaining privacy and functionality. He used analogies like modifying an encrypted image to illustrate FHE's potential. This technology offers composability and privacy, crucial for systems like DeFi and gaming.

He showcased applications enabled by Inco, such as confidential payroll, private voting, and hidden game mechanics, stressing the role of confidentiality in creating and enhancing Web3 use cases.

The session concluded with practical guidance on using Inco’s tools to build confidential smart contracts, encouraging attendees to explore FHE's possibilities in their projects. Watch the full workshop video below.

Inco's Booth: Educating Hackers on FHE

Our team focused on educating hackers about FHE, providing feedback on ideas, brainstorming ways Inco could complement other technologies and hackathon bounties, and assisting with technical support.

We highlighted how Inco's technology enables novel use cases by allowing computations on encrypted data without decryption. This secures sensitive information while enabling complex operations, making Inco ideal for ETHGlobal hackers aiming to innovate by enabling private state and compute for EVMs.

For those unable to attend, Inco’s Tech Lead Jim's explanations in the video below offered a glimpse into the educational support we provided, showcasing the transformative potential of FHE.

Notable Projects and Innovations

We were pleased to see that Inco received a total of 20 submissions from hackers. Although they didn't win Inco's bounties, the randomly selected submissions below showcase the wide range of potential use cases for Inco and deserve recognition for their creativity:

1. Healthcare: A blockchain-based platform securely storing and managing medical records, ensuring privacy and accessibility for authorised personnel.

1. Personal Development: A mobile app using monetary incentives to encourage habit formation, where users stake crypto and get rewarded for meeting their goals.

1. DeFi: A DEX that incorporates dark pool technology to allow users to trade with enhanced privacy, shielding their transactions from prying eyes and potential exploits.

1. Ticket Sharing: A private hub for sharing event tickets, ensuring secure and reputation-based access.

1. Estate Planning: A solution ensuring that savings are properly distributed to loved ones after one's passing.

The video below features brief interviews with builders competing to win Inco's bounties. Watch to explore their innovative ideas.

Hackathon Winners: Celebrating Innovation and Excellence

The 5 successful winners of Inco's bounties were selected based on the following criteria: innovation, practical application, user experience and effective use of Inco's technology.

Gaming Track Winners

Inco's fhEVM revolutionises gaming by enabling fully on-chain games with hidden information. It ensures game integrity and player confidentiality by storing and computing encrypted data on-chain without decryption. This supports encrypted card hands, dynamic strategies, and secure randomness generation.

Gaming prizes were higher ($6k vs. $4k for open innovation) because games are fun, and easy to build over a hackathon and FHE can enable a lot of fun gaming mechanisms that currently don’t exist in Web3. Here are the top 3 projects that won the gaming track:

1. Mincomind: An on-chain cows and bulls tournament based on Mastermind, using Inco for secret values and smart contract randomisation. Players guess a secret code of coloured pegs, receiving feedback to deduce the code within 8 attempts. Judges praised its polished UX and gameplay.‍
2. Token Tactics: A fully on-chain strategy game inspired by Risk, with a fog of war element that hides territories and troops. Using Inco's network for smart contracts, it generates randomness and securely handles encrypted values. Judges praised how it showcases that on-chain hidden state is critical for compelling strategy games.‍
3. Dégame: Digitizes dice games like Liar's Dice using FHE to keep dice pots confidential until the final reveal, ensuring fair play. Inco judges praised DéGame for innovating Web3 dice games, using FHE for game integrity, and enhancing player engagement through secure gameplay.

Open Innovation Winners

Inco's fhEVM offered innovative possibilities across sectors. The $4k open innovation track encouraged hackers to explore beyond gaming, showcasing how fhEVM can solve complex problems and create novel use cases.

1. McDonalds Aggregator: Revolutionises job matching by using encrypted salary data to connect candidates with employers. Judges praised its creativity, practical application, and effective use of Inco’s encryption technology for confidentiality.

1. Hiraishin: Uses blockchain and AirTag technology to reunite lost pets with owners. Judges noted its innovative combination of blockchain and IoT technology, real-world impact on pet welfare, and use of Inco’s fhEVM.

Participant Experience

Hackers praised Inco's technology for its ease of use, simplicity, and demo projects. Support from Inco's team and detailed documentation were highly valued.

Participants appreciated Inco's confidentiality features and encryption capabilities, noting improvements with the latest updates.

Some feedback highlighted the need for more integrations and better documentation. Technical challenges included issues with certain integrations and interacting with WASM in frontend applications.

The average rating for ease of use was 8.5/10 stars. We sincerely appreciated all the constructive feedback that we received from all participants!

Insights and Future Directions

The summit highlighted the growing excitement for FHE and Web3, with the Inco brand receiving more recognition and our booth being a popular spot. ETHGlobal Brussels showcased FHE's potential in securing computations on encrypted data, transforming privacy in decentralized applications.

Inco's user-friendly interfaces, documentation, and support were well-received, though more education on FHE is needed. We aim to enhance integrations, improve documentation, and address existing technical challenges.

Join us in solving the transparency problem in Web3. Our vision is to make Web3 as seamless as Web2, driving mass adoption by enabling novel use cases and compliant confidentiality.

1. Check out Eli5‍
2. Read our dev docs‍
3. Join our Discord/ Telegram

Stay updated on future events by following us on social media.

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