Private Settlement Flow
The Private Settlement Flow describes how an authorized decision becomes a completed asset movement without exposing any financial or strategic information.
This flow is where governance intent is turned into reality—quietly, deterministically, and without traceability.
From Approval to Settlement
Once a proposal has:
passed ZK DAO governance
satisfied all voting and quorum rules
met execution approval thresholds
it becomes eligible for settlement.
At this point, no identities are involved anymore. Only proofs and constraints remain.
Step 1 — Execution Authorization
The Execution Layer verifies that:
the proposal was finalized
the correct execution path is unlocked
all required approval proofs are valid
execution has not already occurred
Execution parameters are now fixed and immutable.
Sensitive details (amounts, routes, recipients) are either:
hidden
or committed via hashes inside the proof
Nothing is disclosed publicly.
Step 2 — Entering the ZK Pool
The authorized action is passed into ZK Pool.
At this moment:
there is no public transaction in the traditional sense
no sender or receiver address is exposed
no balance change is observable
The action enters a shielded execution environment, isolated from the public transaction graph.
Step 3 — Private State Transition
Inside ZK Pool, the system performs a private state transition.
This may include:
adjusting internal balances
executing a swap
updating strategy allocations
resolving a withdrawal
All checks are enforced inside zero-knowledge circuits:
asset availability
constraint compliance
non-double-spend
correct state updates
No intermediate state is visible outside the pool.
Step 4 — Proof Generation
After the state transition completes, ZK Pool generates a cryptographic proof.
This proof asserts that:
the action was authorized by governance
execution thresholds were satisfied
all constraints were respected
the resulting state is valid
The proof does not encode:
asset types
asset amounts
addresses
execution logic
It proves correctness, not content.
Step 5 — Proof Receipt Publication
Finally, a proof receipt is published on-chain.
The receipt includes:
a reference to the proposal
execution status (success or failure)
proof verification result
It does not include:
financial data
counterparties
timing correlations
For external observers, the flow collapses into a single fact:
“A valid settlement occurred.”
Why This Flow Matters
In traditional systems, settlement leaks everything:
who acted
what moved
how much moved
when it happened
The Private Settlement Flow ensures that:
capital can move without signaling
execution cannot be front-run
historical behavior cannot be reconstructed
Governance decisions remain confidential even after they are executed.
Determinism Without Visibility
Despite being private, the flow is:
deterministic
enforceable
auditable
If any step fails:
settlement does not occur
no partial state is revealed
governance may propose corrective action
There is no ambiguity and no discretion.
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