Create zerokit-positioning-2022-2023.md

plan/zerokit-positioning-2022-2023.md

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+*(Originally posted here https://notes.status.im/UAFvOj1tTQ6uW2li0ZeXfw?both in August 2022)*
+
+# Zerokit positioning
+
+In line with out general vision, we want to make privacy solutions that run anywhere. A big part of that is making ZK tooling and dapps easy to run in many different environments and contexts.
+
+## Environments
+
+We want to make it easy to use certain Zero Knowledge modules from other environments:
+
+- Systems programming environments, including via a C API
+- Standalone, command-line
+- Mobile environments
+
+This is useful on its own right and beyond just nwaku, though that is its first user and highest priority.
+
+## Modules
+
+In terms of specific modules:
+
+- RLN
+- Service credentials
+- Other novel constructs that are relevant and mostly exist in the JS world right now
+
+RLN is the first module and highest priority now.
+
+## Upstream
+
+In addition to this, there are certain upstream needs that facilitate the goal of having ZK run "everywhere". While strictly speaking outside of Zerokit, there's an opportunity to contribute here too:
+
+- Making ZK easy to use from mobile (most targets now are PoCs/ad hoc browser)
+- Simplifying pipeline from Circom to arkworks (go direct and skip going via WASM)
+- Supporting things like Halo2 lib running in the browser
+
+## Opportunities
+
+Finally, there's prioritizing above based on specific needs that exists or we think are likely to exist:
+
+- Making RLN cross-client is first target, via C API and nwaku/go-waku (and Circom for js-waku)
+- RLN-lib/relay has been identified as something that we can push outside of Waku
+- There's a need for making ZK app, including dealing with credentials, easy on mobile
+- Currently Halo 2 isn't usable through browsers (needs WASM target)
+- Big part of the ecosystem is moving from Hardhat to Foundry, and there's an opportunity to provide a ZK dapp building experience that doesn't require JS or JS tooling
+    - This ties into Explorations and low hanging fruit that exists in applied ZK space
+
+## Social aspects
+
+In addition to above, working on this has several positive side effects:
+
+- We control the code which makes it easier for us to do research and do new things (novel optimizations etc)
+- We upskill both in terms of Rust and ZK
+- These skills and tooling is useful for other ZK related efforts
+- Contributing to ecosystem gives us goodwill and makes it easier to partner on specific problems
+- It also makes more concrete that we as Vac are not just writing "Waku code"
+
+## Sketch of priorities
+
+Based on above, we can start to see specific targets.
+
+1) Make Zerokit RLN module useful for nwaku RLN-relay (WIP, advanced)
+    - critical path is merging it in nwaku
+    - outside of this, there appears to be some MT optimizations that we want to do
+3) Make Zerokit RLN module generally useful for people who want to build stuff with RLN ("from zero to hero")
+    - basically zk-kit but not JS centric
+    - probably requires some contract interaction
+    - this may interact with our push to RLN-relay/lib as independent Nim/C library/effort
+4) Start working on new module, specifically to serve Waku incentivization with fungible service credentials
+
+As well as starting to hire a Rust engineer to be able to help out with some of the more tooling/upstream related efforts.