Multi-Party Trusted Setup Ceremony for Anonymous Credentials Protocol

We're conducting a Powers-of-Tau style trusted setup ceremony for Onym, a privacy-preserving anonymous credentials protocol. This is similar to the ceremonies that secured Zcash and Ethereum's KZG commitments – but focused on unlinkable credential presentations.

What is Onym?

Onym implements anonymous credential schemes with unlinkable presentations using proven zero-knowledge primitives. Think of it as:

• Prove you have credentials (age, membership, certification)
• Without revealing the credentials themselves
• Without creating linkable interactions across presentations

This is critical infrastructure for privacy-preserving identity systems.

The Ceremony Technical Details

Ceremony Type: Powers-of-Tau with secure multi-party computation
Security Model: 1-of-N honest participant assumption
Tiers: Three parallel tiers (Small/Medium/Large) for different circuit sizes
Contribution Time: ~5-10 minutes per tier
Identity: Nostr-based (NIP-07 signing)

Process:

1. Air-gapped contribution (VM/ephemeral system recommended)
2. 2-hour slots to prevent timing attacks
3. Download previous state → run binary → upload proof
4. Full transcript verification available post-ceremony

Why This Matters

Trusted setups are only as strong as their most diverse participant set. Each participant contributes entropy that gets cryptographically mixed. If even one participant properly erases their secrets, the entire system remains secure.

Your participation directly strengthens the security assumptions for:

• Anonymous credential verification systems
• Privacy-preserving identity protocols
• Zero-knowledge membership proofs

Getting Involved

🔗 ceremony.onym.chat/contribute.html

• Sign in with any NIP-07 Nostr signer
• Choose your tier(s) – all run in parallel
• Join the queue (runs continuously)

Questions/Verification: GitHub issues linked from the ceremony site

Discussion Points

• Have you participated in trusted setups before? (Zcash, Ethereum KZG, etc.)
• Thoughts on the anonymous credentials design space?
• Experience with Powers-of-Tau ceremonies?

The ceremony particularly needs cryptographically-aware participants who understand the security model. As r/CryptoTechnology members, your participation would significantly strengthen these public parameters.

TL;DR: Anonymous credentials trusted setup ceremony live now. Your 10 minutes of participation helps secure privacy infrastructure. Air-gapped process, Nostr identity, full verification available.