Introduction

Overview

Agora is a privacy-preserving governance platform that leverages Zama's Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) technology to enable truly anonymous and secure decentralized governance. Built on Ethereum-compatible blockchains, Agora allows communities to create private DAO spaces where admins and owners can submit proposals and members vote anonymously while maintaining full verifiability of outcomes.

Purpose

The core purpose of Agora is to democratize governance by solving the fundamental privacy paradox in decentralized systems: how to maintain transparency in decision-making while protecting individual voter privacy. Traditional DAOs often require sacrificing anonymity for accountability, but Agora uses cutting-edge cryptography to provide both.

Key Problems Solved

• Privacy vs. Transparency Trade-off: FHE enables computation on encrypted data, allowing vote tallying without ever decrypting individual ballots

• Voter Intimidation: Anonymous voting prevents coercion and ensures free expression

• Sybil Attacks: Token-based eligibility systems prevent manipulation while maintaining privacy

• Scalability: Efficient encrypted computation enables large-scale governance without performance degradation

What You Can Do

For Community Leaders

• Create Governance Spaces: Set up custom DAO environments with configurable rules and member roles

• Define Voting Models: Choose between weighted/unweighted voting, set threshold requirements, and eligibility criteria

• Manage Membership: Assign permissions (add admin)

For Community Members

• Submit Proposals: Create and submit governance proposals with rich text descriptions and attachments

• Vote Anonymously: Cast encrypted votes that remain private throughout the process

• Stake on Predictions: Participate in prediction markets by staking tokens on encrypted outcome predictions

• Track Outcomes: View verifiable results and proposal statuses in real-time

• Participate Securely: Engage in governance without revealing your identity or voting preferences

For Developers

• Build on FHE: Use Agora's infrastructure to create privacy-preserving dApps

• Integrate Governance: Add anonymous voting capabilities to existing platforms

• Customize Workflows: Extend the platform with custom proposal types and voting mechanisms

How It Works

1. Visit the Agora Website

Start by visiting https://agora-staged.vercel.app/ and connect your Web3 wallet.

2. Create an Agora Name Service

Register a unique .agora domain name that will serve as your governance space identifier. This creates a decentralized naming system for your community.

3. Create Your Governance Space

Use your registered .agora name to establish a new governance space with custom parameters:

• Set membership rules (public, token holders, NFT owners, or whitelist)

• Configure voting models and eligibility criteria

• Define space roles and permissions

4. Invite Your Community

Share access with community members and assign appropriate roles:

• Owner: Full control over space settings, managing admins and members, creating and managing proposals, and voting

• Admin: Can create and manage proposals, and vote

• Member: Can vote on proposals

5. Create Private Proposals

Submit governance proposals with complete privacy guarantees:

• Rich text descriptions and multimedia attachments

• Configurable voting periods and parameters

• Automated workflow management via Chainlink

6. Vote Anonymously, Reveal Verifiable Results

Participate in governance with full privacy:

• Cast encrypted votes using FHE technology

• Maintain anonymity throughout the voting process

• View transparent, verifiable outcomes

Technology Stack

Frontend

• Next.js 15: React framework with App Router and server components

• React 19: Latest React with concurrent features

• Tailwind CSS: Utility-first CSS framework for responsive design

• Framer Motion: Animation library for smooth user interactions

• Radix UI: Accessible component primitives

• RainbowKit: Wallet connection interface

• Wagmi: Ethereum interaction hooks

Blockchain & Smart Contracts

• Solidity: Smart contract development

• Hardhat: Development environment and testing framework

• Ethers.js: Ethereum JavaScript library

• Zama FHE: Fully Homomorphic Encryption for privacy-preserving computation

• Chainlink Automation: Decentralized oracle network for automated processes

• OpenZeppelin: Secure smart contract libraries (ERC20, ReentrancyGuard)

• Infura: RPC provider for Ethereum network access

Data & Indexing

• The Graph: Decentralized protocol for indexing and querying blockchain data

• Apollo Client: GraphQL client for efficient data fetching

• IPFS: Decentralized file storage for proposal attachments (via Pinata gateway)

Development Tools

• JavaScript: Dynamic scripting for frontend development

• ESLint: Code linting and formatting

Architecture

Smart Contracts

• SpaceRegistry.sol: Manages creation and registration of governance spaces

• PrivateProposalFactory.sol: Factory contract for deploying new proposal instances

• PrivateProposal.sol: Core contract handling encrypted voting logic and optional prediction markets

• MockGovernanceToken.sol: Mock IVotes token for testing token-weighted voting

• MockUSDC.sol: Mock stablecoin for prediction market staking

Subgraphs

• agora-subgraph: Comprehensive indexing of spaces, proposals, and voting activities

Application Structure

frontend/
├── src/app/                 # Next.js App Router pages
├── src/components/          # Reusable React components
├── src/lib/                 # Utility libraries and configurations
├── src/hooks/               # Custom React hooks
└── public/                  # Static assets

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+

• npm or yarn package manager

• Web3 wallet (MetaMask, Rainbow, etc.)

• Access to Ethereum Sepolia testnet

Quick Start

1. Visit the Agora website: https://agora-staged.vercel.app/

Local Development Setup

For detailed setup instructions, environment configuration, and deployment guides, see Frontend Documentation.

Future Roadmap

Planned Features

• Advanced Voting Models: Quadratic voting, customizable winner selection, and flexible quorum settings

• Governance Analytics: Advanced reporting and insights

• Automation: Automatic off-chain public decryption

• Confidential Governance Token: Use confidential governance token to hide user balance

Research Directions

• Scalability Improvements: Optimizing FHE operations for larger communities

• Interoperability: Cross-protocol governance mechanisms

• Advanced Privacy: Enhanced anonymity sets and mixing techniques

Acknowledgments

• Zama: For pioneering FHE technology and fhEVM

• Chainlink: For decentralized automation infrastructure

• The Graph: For decentralized data indexing

• OpenZeppelin: For secure smart contract libraries and standards

• chriswilder For the fhevm.ts file and his availability

• Open Source Community: For the tools and libraries that make this possible