zkSNARKs blind auction on September 15: 8,000 units at one clearing price

zkSNARKs set out how its collection will be distributed on September 13: a blind auction on September 15 at 16:00 UTC (12:00 ET). Total supply is 10,000. Of that, 8,000 go to the public auction, 1,000 to SNARKLIST and 1,000 to the project treasury.

The rule, in the project's own words, is short: the top 8,000 bids win at one clearing price, and all other bids are refunded. What the announcement does not say yet is which currency bids are made in, on which page, or what the minimum bid is.

This article covers what is known about the auction, what changes whether or not you are on SNARKLIST, and what has still not been announced.

The September 15 auction: what is known

• Time: September 15, 16:00 UTC (12:00 ET)
• Format: the project calls it a "blind auction"
• Units in the auction: 8,000
• Winning rule: the top 8,000 bids, at one clearing price
• Losing bids: refunded

The post the project pinned on September 12, which reads only "09.15.26_", points to the same date.

Distribution: where the 10,000 go

• 8,000: public blind auction
• 1,000: SNARKLIST (the project describes this share as "complimentary")
• 1,000: treasury

The project also broke the treasury share down:

• 225: grants and Zcash startups
• 225: Zcash core contributors
• 200: galleries, artists and collectors
• 150: partnerships
• 100: community and marketing
• 100: founders and team

If you are on SNARKLIST

Your share sits outside the auction: the project set aside 1,000 units for SNARKLIST as complimentary. To check your status:

1. Open zksnarks.net/status. Make sure the address matches the one shared by the official account.
2. Enter the X handle you applied with. According to the page itself, the register is read-only and holds only your handle and your standing.
3. Follow @snarklist. The SNARKLIST page says passes are announced from this account as they are issued.

At the time of writing (September 13, 19:20 UTC) the status page listed 469 pass holders and the highest pass number was #0492. At 09:00 UTC the same day it was 435 handles and #0450. The SNARKLIST share is 1,000 units.

The project has not said how many units a pass is worth, where and when the complimentary share is claimed, or whether it is distributed before or after the auction.

If you are not on the list

The auction is public, and with 8,000 units it carries most of the distribution. The page to take part from has not been published yet.

SNARKLIST applications closed at 00:00 UTC on September 11. After the close the project said approvals would continue and that a member already on the list can still nominate you. None of the sources reviewed explain how nomination works.

Not yet announced

The following were unknown at the time of writing:

• Which currency bids are made in. The announcement only carries the $ZEC tag.
• The address of the bidding page and which wallet is needed.
• The minimum bid, any per-person bid limit and when the auction ends.
• How the clearing price is set and when refunds are made.
• How the SNARKLIST share is claimed.
• How the collection will technically be minted on Zcash.

Official channels and fake links

The project listed its official channels in a single post:

• Web: zksnarks.net and zilkroad.com
• X: @zkSNARKS_ and @snarklist

The same post carries two warnings: verify every address before connecting, and the project will never send you a mint link by DM. At the time of writing there was no bidding link on the zksnarks.net home, SNARKLIST or status pages, and no contract address appeared in the official sources we reviewed. With the date now public, bidding links shared in DMs or replies should be checked against this list.

How SNARKLIST worked

In one of its early posts the project said applying was the only way to earn a zkSNARK: an accepted application received an allocation, and standout applications also received a $ZEC grant. In the September 13 distribution, 8,000 of the 10,000 units went to the auction.

According to the project, the first phase was open only to Zcash developers, contributors and privacy advocates. The public SNARKLIST opened on September 2. Before the close the project reported 36,145 applications, and two hours before the close 41,655. The 469 handles on the status page are about 1 percent of that figure; the two numbers belong to different moments.

An older post from the project says "no whitelist no allowlist", while the SNARKLIST page is titled "allowlist protocol". The project has not commented on the change.

What the project is

In its X bio, zkSNARKs describes itself as a collection of encrypted identities stored on the Zcash blockchain. The project states its aims in three points: create a cultural moment on Zcash, reward contributors and increase the surface area of privacy.

Ahead of launch the project is revealing honorary identities called "LUMINARY" one by one. The latest at the time of writing was LUMINARY_017, assigned to @zooko, known as the founder of Zcash. The site also has a trait archive, and zilkroad.com shows a countdown with its time hidden.

What to watch

• The bidding page being announced through official channels, and the bid currency.
• How the SNARKLIST share is claimed.
• New pass announcements from @snarklist and the handle count on the status page.
• The result and clearing price of the auction on September 15 at 16:00 UTC.
• What the zilkroad.com countdown points to.

Conclusion

zkSNARKs has set out its distribution: of 10,000 units, 8,000 go to a blind auction on September 15 at 16:00 UTC, 1,000 to SNARKLIST as complimentary and 1,000 to the treasury. Which page the auction runs on, in which currency and with what minimum bid has not been announced yet.