DEV Community: Anthony Montanez

How Midnight Brings Privacy to DAO's

Anthony Montanez — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:56:46 +0000

Why DAOs on Midnight Are Better

You may be wondering: what is a DAO?

A DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is basically a company, community, or group that is run by code instead of traditional leadership structures. So instead of a board of directors or a CEO making all the calls, you have a group of people who can vote on proposals and help guide decisions.

That part is not new.

What is exciting is what happens when you bring DAOs to Midnight.

The problem with traditional DAOs

On a regular public chain like Ethereum, you can absolutely build a DAO and let people vote on proposals.

The problem is that those votes are usually visible on the public ledger.

That is great for transparency and verifying results, but not so great if privacy actually matters. In some situations, people may not want their votes, activity, or participation exposed for everyone to see.

That is where Midnight stands out.

Why Midnight changes the game

On Midnight, you can cast a vote, keep that vote private, and still verify that the vote was made correctly.

That is a huge difference.

You still get verifiable outcomes, but without exposing everything publicly. That opens the door for a very different kind of DAO design, especially for use cases where privacy matters.

You can already imagine how this could change the way DAOs work across different industries and communities.

Want to see how it works?

If you are curious about the implementation, check out the GitHub link below.

paranormal39 / midnight-example-dao

Midnight DAO Voting DApp

A privacy-preserving DAO voting contract using a commit/reveal scheme with cryptographically enforced privacy:

Commit/Reveal Voting - Two-phase voting where votes are hidden during commit phase and revealed later
Circuit-Derived Nullifiers - Nullifiers computed inside ZK circuits using persistentCommit to prevent double voting
MerkleTree Commitments - Vote commitments stored in a MerkleTree for privacy
Tally Enforcement - Vote tallies incremented inside the reveal circuit (cryptographically enforced)
Three vote types - YES, NO, and APPEAL options
Proposal State Machine - Proposals progress through COMMIT → REVEAL → FINAL phases

For detailed DAO documentation, see:

DAO-CONCEPTS.md - Core concepts and architecture
DAO-DEPLOYMENT.md - Deployment and API reference

Network Targets

Supports Preprod testnet (recommended for getting started):

Network	Description	Command
Preprod	Public testnet	`npm run start-ps`

Project Structure

example-dao/
├── contract/                          # Smart contracts (Compact language)
│   ├── src/dao.compact                # DAO voting smart contract
│   ├── src/dao-witnesses.ts           # DAO witness

…

View on GitHub

You can also check out the YouTube demo linked below and follow along with the walkthrough.

In the demo, I go over the installation process and some of the core differences between a typical DAO and a DAO built on Midnight. The cool part is that you can take this code, customize it, and use it as the foundation for your own DAO.

A quick look under the hood

One big difference is that instead of traditional Solidity-style functions, Midnight uses circuits. These circuits define the logic that gets proven with zero-knowledge proofs.

The proof server then helps generate a proof showing that the transaction followed the contract rules, without exposing the private data behind it.

That means you can verify that something was done correctly without putting all the sensitive details out in public.

What about the data?

So how is that data handled?

Before it ever leaves your machine, it gets hashed. That means the information is already being transformed into something cryptographic before it reaches the proof server. That adds another layer of security to the overall flow.

Why this matters

This is really just the beginning.

We already see DAOs shaping governance, communities, and digital coordination. But privacy-first infrastructure like Midnight could help take DAOs into areas where privacy is not optional.

Think about things like:

health-related governance
personal finance
private organizations
sensitive voting systems

That is where this starts to feel a lot bigger than just another DAO demo.

Final thoughts

This is where things get exciting blockchain can now start stepping in these more regulated business sectors.Midnight helps with that by puting privacy first.

Follow me on all platforms: @mrparanormal39

Building a DAO Into My Game🎮

Anthony Montanez — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 14:47:56 +0000

What is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?

A DAO is a new way for communities to operate. But what does that really mean?
What is its purpose? Has it actually benefited us?

These are the questions I asked myself while diving deeper into Web3.

Back at Consensus 2024, I noticed something important: hackathon judges were especially drawn to projects that integrated DAOs. That’s when I realized my original project was falling behind. So I scrapped it and decided to start fresh, with a broader vision.

https://itch.io/blog/937235/-devlog-1-the-throne-is-empty

That’s how Kingdom of Gold evolved into not just a game, but a community-driven experiment in governance.

DAO Proposals That Fit Well in Games

Here are three proposal types I believe work perfectly with Kingdom of Gold:

Treasury Allocation

Simple but powerful: the community can decide to swap one asset for another. Example → Sell some GXG (the in-game token) for XRP, or flip it the other way. This gives real power to the community treasury and keeps governance meaningful.

Rule Changes

Players know their experience best. Proposals can address mechanics, economy tweaks, or community-driven balance changes. This helps developers avoid tunnel vision while giving the player base a true voice in shaping the game.

Story-Driven Decisions

This is my favorite. Imagine the DAO as a Dungeon Master in D&D.
Factions might split off, unite, or change the world’s narrative direction. It adds replayability and unpredictability that I can’t wait to see in action.I also love the idea of combining this with AI prompt allowing players to craft the story of the world they are playing in.

Finish Line Within Reach

(https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wfqhgto5z4obqpdvzi6n.png)
Kingdom of Gold is almost ready. With NFT minting for Phase 1 on the horizon, I’m wrapping up core systems and preparing to test what works (and what doesn’t).

This project is more than just a game—it’s a testbed for community-driven governance, storytelling, and Web3 design.

Takeaways

DAOs aren’t just about finance—they can reshape how games are built and played.

Community governance can drive everything from treasury decisions to storyline changes.

Kingdom of Gold is my experiment in merging DAO mechanics + game design, and we’re almost at launch.

Follow Along

If you’d like to see how this unfolds:

🐦 Follow me on X
https://x.com/MrParanormal39

🎮 Check out the project on Itch.io

https://paranormal09.itch.io/

Also my most recent Hackathon Entry for Midnight

Thanks for reading, and I’ll share more updates soon 🚀

🛡️ ZK Guild Gate - Privacy-Preserving NFT Verification

Anthony Montanez — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 02:07:07 +0000

This is a submission for the Midnight Network "Privacy First" Challenge - Protect That Data prompt

What I Built

ZK Guild Gate is a privacy-preserving access system that uses Midnight’s Compact smart contracts and zero-knowledge proofs to verify NFT ownership without revealing wallet addresses or token IDs. It enables truly anonymous guild membership, gated content, and role-based access while protecting user identities and assets.

Still In development

Demo

https://github.com/paranormal39/zk-guild-gate

How I Used Midnight's Technology

ZK Guild Gate uses Midnight’s Compact contracts, proof server, and SDK to verify NFT ownership through zero-knowledge proofs and nullifiers. Only a Merkle root and one-time nullifiers are stored on-chain, ensuring eligibility checks without revealing addresses or token IDs.

Data Protection as a Core Feature

Privacy is the product: users prove membership without exposing who they are or which NFT they hold, with unlinkable proofs and replay protection. This makes guild access and gated perks truly anonymous, aligning directly with Midnight’s core value of data protection.

Set Up Instructions / Tutorial

Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/paranormal39/zk-guild-gate and navigate into the folder.

Install dependencies with npm install.

Start your Proof Server (this step is required before running the app).

Launch the development server with npm run dev.

Closing Notes

As I explore DAOs through my game Kingdom of Gold, I see Midnight positioned as a cornerstone for privacy in the blockchain space. With further development, this project could serve as a foundation for a wide range of future applications.

Follow me for updates on my projects

https://x.com/MrParanormal39