MinAES: Provable AES Encryption on Mina Protocol

MinAES is an innovative project that integrates AES symmetric encryption as a native cryptographic primitive within Mina Protocol’s zk-native blockchain ecosystem. With Mina’s state-of-the-art zero-knowledge proof language, o1js, MinAES generates a concise 22kb proof to verify that a message has been encrypted with AES—without revealing any confidential details. This repository demonstrates both the underlying cryptographic contracts and an interactive UI for seamless deployment and interaction.

Overview

MinAES is a proof-of-concept that showcases the integration of AES encryption within the Mina ecosystem. The project offers:

• Provable AES Encryption: Generates a verifiable zero-knowledge proof that confirms a message has been AES encrypted, without exposing its content.
• Interactive UI: An intuitive web interface to deploy, interact with, and visualize the cryptographic processes on Mina.
• Lightweight Verification: Utilizes Mina’s unique “proof of everything” approach to produce a proof with only 22kb of data, ensuring scalability and efficiency.

Motivation

Mina Protocol is recognized for its privacy-enhancing zero-knowledge proofs and its ability to compress the entire chain’s history into a small, easily verifiable proof. MinAES builds on this powerful foundation by merging traditional AES encryption with modern zero-knowledge techniques. This provides a secure, scalable solution ideal for applications such as secure messaging, verifiable credentials, and other privacy-critical use cases.

Architecture

The project is structured into two primary components:

1. Contracts (Smart Contracts with o1js):

   • Located in the /contracts directory.
   • Contains the core cryptographic logic for performing AES encryption and generating zero-knowledge proofs.
   • Interacts with the Mina blockchain to deploy and verify cryptographic operations.

2. Interactive UI:

   • Found in the /ui directory.
   • Offers a user-friendly web interface to deploy contracts, encrypt messages, and display the resulting proofs.
   • Configuration is managed via minaNetwork.config.js, where you specify your network settings and deployed contract addresses.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher recommended)
• npm (Node Package Manager)
• Access to the Mina Protocol Lightnet environment
• A browser with a Mina-compatible wallet for interacting with the Lightnet

Getting Started

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the /contracts directory:

   cd contracts
   npm run build

2. Navigate to the /ui directory and run the frontend

   cd ../ui
   npm run dev

3. Visit http://localhost:3000/aes_demo and generate a proof!

Youtube Demo

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwRIXFiTDRQ