rehrar-defcon-reimburse-2019.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: Defcon 2019 Volunteer Reimbursement
+author: rehrar
+date: May 20, 2019
+amount: 137
+gitlab_url: "https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/merge_requests/69"
+milestones:
+  - name: Person 1 paid
+    funds: 24.5 XMR
+    done: June 18, 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Person 2 paid
+    funds: 22.5 XMR
+    done: June 18, 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Person 3 paid
+    funds: 10.9 XMR
+    done: June 18, 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Person 4 paid
+    funds: 28.2 XMR
+    done: June 18, 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Person 5 paid
+    funds: 27.4 XMR
+    done: June 18, 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Scholarships paid
+    funds: 23.5 XMR
+    done: July 9, 2019
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: June 18, 2019
+    amount: 24.5 XMR
+  - date: June 18, 2019
+    amount: 22.5 XMR
+  - date: June 18, 2019
+    amount: 10.9 XMR
+  - date: June 18, 2019
+    amount: 28.2 XMR
+  - date: June 18, 2019
+    amount: 27.4 XMR
+  - date: July 9, 2019
+    amount: 23.5 XMR
+---
+
+What's up everyone? Your friendly neighborhood rehrar here.
+
+Let's talk about Defcon. Remember Defcon? Biggest hacker conference in the world. Taking place in Las Vegas, NV, USA, early this August? Well, last year Monero's village was a hueg success, and we were constantly full with people willing and eager to learn. This year, they've approved us for another village, and have given us a bigger space! Woohoo!
+
+A lot of planning a preperation has already been taking place on Taiga, #monero-defcon in IRC, and in #monero-community where we have biweekly Defcon meetings. What's been most recently discussed is the need that we have to get some key volunteers there to make this village a success. These roles are:
+
+- 2 A/V people, one for running sound, and the other for recording video. Reason: The Defcon people didn't do a fantastic job last year, and the videos turned out very underwhelming in terms of quality. So we want to do it ourselves this year.
+
+- Floor manager/MC, or someone to make sure everything runs smoothly once the village is set up, the presentations start on time, and a point of contact for all non-Defcon related stuff.
+
+- Full time volunteer, or someone that will be spending the majority of their time manning some of the informational tables at the start. Believe me, last year these tables got A LOT of traffic, and we were able to talk to tons and tons of people. Having someone there full-time would be awesome.
+
+- Michael. There's no other way to say it, but Michael's organic connections in the space are the reason we can put on a village, both last year and this year. He is Defcon's official contact for our village, and his presence is greatly required.
+
+We consider these the absolute must-haves in order for this village to funtion and be as successful (if not more) than last year. We are requesting for all expenses paid (flight, hotel, incidentals, Defcon cost) for these five people, who have already been chosen. They are ajs and midipoet, myself, sarang, and Michael respectively).
+
+BUT we would also like to fund FOUR $500 scholarships for four part time volunteers to lower the barrier to Vegas for a few volunteer that are willing to spend the majority of their time making Monero a success. It was very nice to have many helping hands last year. Very needed.
+
+The total value for all of these things is **$11645,** which is about on par for last year (plus the scholarships), and this comes out to **137 XMR** while using a $85/XMR (small buffer built in from current price of $87.5).
+
+To quote last year's proposal: "To protect the privacy of different people's potential location that they will be traveling from, the breakdown of travel costs are not given, but can be provided to the Core Team upon request." The individual costs for anonymized volunteer attendees can be viewed in the milestones tab.
\ No newline at end of file

rehrar-sarang-2019-wcc.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: World Crypto Con for rehrar and Sarang
+author: rehrar
+date: July 17, 2019
+amount: 30
+milestones:
+  - name: Payout rehrar
+    funds: 13.4
+    done: 23 August 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Payout sarang
+    funds: 16.6
+    done: 23 August 2019
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 23 August 2019
+    amount: 13.4
+  - date: 23 August 2019
+    amount: 16.6
+---
+
+What up everyone, it's your boy rehrar.
+
+So here's the skinny. Last year, as part of my [2018 World Tour](https://forum.getmonero.org/22/completed-tasks/90717/the-rehrar-tour) I went to the World Crypto Con in Las Vegas. I was joined by the renowed Daniel Kim and, may I say, we tore it up. What does that mean? Well, it means we sat at a donated sponsor table and talked to people interested in Monero from dawn until dusk. Seriously. Like, as everyone was tearing down all around us, we were still sitting at our booth (even when they took away the table) and were engaged in conversation. Tons of people heard about Monero and what made it different. You can read my full report [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/9uj0jh/world_crypto_con_report/) I can't stress this enough, but we were flooded with people, and didn't have enough time or manpower to speak with them all. A good problem to have.
+
+This year, we want to do the same. But bigger and better. WCC has invited us back, same terms as before, and they want Monero to have a role as one of the speakers. October 28th-November 1st. They're expanding to have a developer's conference as well, and I managed to weasel sarang into one of the speaking slots. 
+
+Enter you guys. As always, none of us is charging for our time. We're just asking for help with travel expenses. We're staying in a MUCH cheaper hotel than the Cosmopolitan (where the event is hosted), and we'll walk there every day. What is the community getting? 100% table time by myself, sarang, and Daniel Kim (who plans to attend this year again), and a talk by sarang to the populace. Daniel and I have both submitted talks as well, and they're deciding if they want us there (main track or dev track or none).
+
+We're asking 30 XMR which covers both sarang and I's flights, hotel, incidentals, and meals. A 10% price movement buffer is included. Further info available to core team upon request (to preserve privacy). Milestones to be paid out as soon as funding is completed (if moved and funded, of course) so that we can make the reservations ASAP.
+
+Questions? Comments? Criticisms? Complaints?
\ No newline at end of file

research-post-quantum-monero.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: Research post-quantum strategies for Monero
+author: Insight
+date: May 20, 2020
+amount: 576
+milestones:
+  - name: Initial payout
+    funds: 100% (576 XMR)
+    done: 14 July 2020
+    status: finished
+  - name: Identify and document existing vulnerabilities in Monero
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done: September 2020
+    status: finished
+  - name: Research Monero-compatible post-quantum cryptography methods
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done: September 2020
+    status: finished
+  - name: Communicate and Educate
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done: October 2020
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 14 July 2020
+    amount: 576
+---
+![](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/insight-decentralized-consensus-lab/monero_quantum_resistance/master/images/dual_logos.png)
+# Identifying practical post-quantum strategies for Monero
+
+## Motivation:
+Monero transactions created between 2014 and 2020 utilize cryptographic mechanisms that were not designed to be private or secure against quantum computers. Algorithms that could theoretically circumvent several of Monero's security and privacy features are already known, such as [Shor's algorithm](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/365700/) (which [breaks security](https://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=jas.2005.1692.1712) based on the discrete logarithm problem) and [Grover's algorithm](https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9605043) (which could be used to [forge blocks](https://www.mitre.org/sites/default/files/publications/17-4039-blockchain-and-quantum-computing.pdf)). 
+
+Let us define a hypothetical “practical” quantum computer as any device that enables an adversary to effectively circumvent some security expectation provided by cryptographic mechanisms. This is not defined by some magic number of qubits or any particular configuration; it refers to the **capability** to leverage methods such as Fourier fishing, Grover's algorithm, or Shor's algorithm with enough complexity to tackle modern cryptography. **Speculation on whether practical quantum computers will ever exist, and when they might arrive, is outside the scope of this cryptography research proposal.**
+
+There are several ways that a sophisticated quantum adversary might access funds and sensitive information that would otherwise be cryptographically obfuscated:
+
+- **Deriving private keys from public keys**: A quantum adversary that has obtained your public wallet address can derive your private key. This enables them to learn your entire (past and subsequent) transaction history, and steal any current/future funds by forging a transaction from you to themselves.
+- **Deriving private keys from key images**: A quantum adversary can also break the privacy of some features for every transaction already recorded on the ledger, by using key images to derive transaction private keys.
+- **Deobfuscating the transaction graph**: Each ring signature references several (currently 11) past outputs, only one of which is truly being spent. Deobfuscation refers to analyzing the true flow of funds to eliminate the privacy provided by ring signatures and stealth addresses. Graph matching analyses are already parallelizable on traditional computers, and may be easier for quantum computers.
+- **Consensus mechanism & blockchain immutability**: Monero's proof-of-work algorithm ([RandomX](https://github.com/tevador/RandomX)) involves chaining several (currently 8) operations by a VM, designed like a one way function (such that the input to produce a given output can only be found by brute force). We will evaluate whether this approach can be exploited by quantum computers leveraging methods such as Fourier fishing or Grover's algorithm. The potential ability to forge blocks with a specific hash would defeat blockchain immutability, however this can be mitigated with the addition (i.e. concatenation) of post-quantum hash functions and checksums.
+
+**Retroactive deanonymization puts today's Monero users at the hands of tomorrow's [quantum or classical] adversaries.** If practical quantum computers that can break Monero's encryption arrive at any point in the future, then users' lifelong transaction history willl become public for ingestion by the AdTech industry, stalkers, criminals, and governments. It is irrelevant which party publishes a de-anonymized copy of the Monero blockchain first - the universal evaporation of privacy is irreversible.
+
+Thankfully, cryptographers have developed several post-quantum security and privacy schemes that may be adaptable to Monero. Promising techniques include [zero-knowledge lattice cryptography](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/747.pdf)  based on the [shortest vector problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattice_problem#Shortest_vector_problem_(SVP)). Methods such as [hash-based ring signatures](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/567.pdf), [GLYPH](https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/766.pdf) (Schnorr-like lattice-based signature scheme), and the cohort of [NIST post-quantum](https://csrc.nist.gov/news/2019/pqc-standardization-process-2nd-round-candidates) candidates were all designed to enable security in a post-quantum world. The [quantum resistant ledger](https://theqrl.org/) is of particular interest due to its extensibility, immutability, and RandomX integration - however no privacy features are currently implemented. Other designs for [anonymous post-quantum cryptocash](https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/716.pdf) have been considered, and the [Halo](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1021.pdf) recursive zero-knowledge proving system offers plausible post-quantum security. Each approach has its own benefits, drawbacks, and space/time complexity - our research recommendations will take into account these practical considerations in addition to theoretical compatibility.
+
+**This research will (1) study and simulate the threats listed above to assess Monero's vulnerability to quantum computers, (2) evaluate post-quantum cryptography scheme candidates to create a roadmap for hardening Monero against quantum adversaries, and (3) openly communicate the results for a variety of audiences.**
+
+The advent of powerful quantum computers will wreak havoc on almost every aspect of our digital infrastructure. Access to sound money (which requires privacy) is a fundamental human right and should be considered a high priority for hardening against quantum adversaries. To our knowledge, there are currently no plausibly post-quantum anonymous currencies in use today, meaning that only short-to-intermediate term financial privacy is available with current technology. The first coin to implement long-term post-quantum privacy features will be in a strong position for adoption, even long before quantum computers arrive.
+
+>"A post-quantum world would destroy Amazon, Wells Fargo, Visa, and most world governments. But there's no reason it has to also destroy Monero." 
+>
+> _Surae Noether_
+
+## Overview:
+
+R & D Institution: Insight
+
+Funding Institution: Monero CCS
+
+Duration: 3 months (June - August 2020)
+
+Contributors:
+
+- Researcher in Residence: Adam Corbo
+  - Decentralized Consensus Fellow at Insight
+  - Developed open-source proof-of-concept quantum PoW miner
+  - Expertise translating academic/mathematics research into code 
+  - 2 years of experience in quantum information theory and computation at UC Berkeley
+  - [GitHub](https://github.com/hamburgerguy/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/adamryancorbo/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-corbo/)
+- Principal Investigator: Mitchell Krawiec-Thayer
+  - Head of Research, Developers in Residence at [Insight](http://www.insightconsensus.com/)
+  - Data Science for Monero Research Lab
+  - Quantum classes & calculations during PhD (in context of spectroscopy research)
+  - [GitHub](https://github.com/mitchellpkt/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mitchellpkt0), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchellpkt/), [Medium](https://medium.com/@mitchellpkt)
+- Other Insight contributors
+  - Code & documentation reviewers will be assigned as milestones near completion.
+  - Additional thanks to office staff, accounting, etc for creating a productive workspace.
+
+## Project Roadmap:
+
+### Phase 1: Identify and document existing vulnerabilities in Monero
+
+The first phase of this problem will focus on identifying which of Monero's security features are susceptible to quantum adversaries. We'll look for vulnerabilities to known tools such as Shor's algorithm (which can find discrete logarithms is polynomial time, breaking the DL problem), Grover's algorithm (which produces a quadratic speedup when searching for inputs that map to a particular output for any black box function), and Fourier fishing in conjunction with the Deutsch-Josza algorithm (which can potentially be used in taking advantage of Monero's proof of work method in bounded-error quantum polynomial time).
+
+Some vulnerabilities are already known, for example that cryptography based on elliptic curve and the discrete logarithm problem can be made insecure using Shor's algorithm. We will examine Monero's protocol for other examples of security based on problems that are computationally intractable for classical computers and easy for quantum computers. Some current privacy features are thought to be quantum resistant (such as Monero's masked amounts) and we will cautiously verify their security against our algorithmic adversarial toolkit.
+
+**Phase 1 deliverables:** 
+
+-  Formally enumerate adversary model capabilities: Shor's algorithm, Grover's algorithm, Fourier fishing, etc.
+-  Enumerate Monero mechanisms of interest: ring signatures, bulletproofs, stealth addresses, asymmetric cryptography, consensus mechanism, etc.
+-  Systematically assess the impacts of each algorithm on each mechanism, completing this table: 
+
+|                     | Monero mechanism 1 | Monero mechanism 2 | ... |
+|---------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-----|
+|  Shor's algorithm   |  Plausibly secure  | Plausibly secure   | ... |
+|  Grover's algorithm | Irrelevant         | **VULNERABLE** | ... |
+| Fourier Fishing     | Plausibly secure   | Irrelevant         | ... |
+| ...                 | ...                | ...                | ... |
+
+### Phase 2: Research Monero-compatible post-quantum cryptography methods
+
+After locating and documenting Monero's quantum vulnerabilities, we will identify alternative cryptographic schemes that mitigate these weaknesses. Known post-quantum systems will be examined for Monero-compatibility (see Appendix 1 for a list of potentially relevant literature to be analyzed). In addition to interoperability, we will note practical considerations related to verification time, signature/proof size, and implementation. If there are no known solutions for mitigating a particular vulnerability, we will note the constraints necessary for developing a unique solution.
+
+There are three broad categories of implications, which are not mutually exclusive:
+
+- Deanonymization (knowing more about others' transactions than you should)
+- Theft (being able to move others' funds)
+- Mining speedup (obtaining valid nonces paradigmatically faster)
+
+Vulnerable privacy features will be given highest priority, since retroactive deanonymization poses a threat to today's Monero users, whereas theft and mining are not an issue until quantum computers scale past a distant threshold. Mining vulnerabilities are the lowest priority, since switching consensus mechanisms is easier than implementing new cryptographic schemes. 
+
+It's important to note that many current post-quantum cryptography candidates require large proofs and significant computational resources, and will thus not be suitable for immediate deployment. For this reason, understanding broad strategies and their tradeoff will be more useful than specific implementations. Thankfully, consumer device capabilities increase over time, and researchers continue to discover new faster/smaller proving systems, so these practical barriers are temporary. 
+
+**Phase 2 deliverables:** List of vulnerabilities, following this format when possible:
+
+> Monero's **[component]** is vulnerable to **[impact]** by a hypothetical adversary that can leverage **[algorithm]**. In general, the solution must meet **[requirements]**. Current relevant methods include **[cryptosystem]** which would require **[migration process]** and has **[tradeoffs]** that would prevent implementation until **[device bandwidth/resource threshold]** is widely available.
+
+### Phase 3: Communicate and Educate
+
+Throughout this entire project, the community will receive updates during the weekly #monero-research-lab meetings. During phase 3 however, several specific documents (the key deliverables from this research) will be freely published: 
+
+**Phase 3 deliverables:** 
+
+1. **User-friendly writeup:** This community-facing writeup will provide an approachable explanation of how hypothetical quantum computers may impact Monero, and possible future mitigations. The writeup should minimize FUD and provide the context that these vulnerabilities apply to almost all cryptocurrencies (not only Monero).
+
+2. **Technical documentation:** An MRL position paper to distill key information for (current and future) researchers and developers. The writeup should formally describe vulnerabilities, and highlight potential strategies and solutions, noting their tradeoffs. Code snippets may be included if appropriate for pedagogical purposes or clarity.
+
+3. **Non-technical 1-pager:** An ELI5 / TL;DR summary will be provided for journalists, Monero Outreach, etc. This blurb will discuss risks and myths with no technical jargon, with key takeaways that a broad audience will appreciate.
+
+Results and updates will be also disseminated via Twitter threads, Reddit posts, and Breaking Monero videos. 
+
+# Resources
+
+*Updated 2020-05-20: Based on discussion in #monero-community earlier today, we are moving forward with option #2 below (pre-payment to mitigate volatility risks). The original text is left below for transparency & context.*
+
+The team tackling this project consists of one full-time researcher dedicated solely to this proposal (Adam), along with mentoring and writing by Mitchell (5-15 hr/wk), input from the Director of Security, and internal editors/reviewers. We intend to execute this research initiative over a twelve week period between June - August 2020 for 37500 USD.
+
+Insight's bills and employees' salaries are dollar-denominated, so we must minimize exposure to volatility risk. We are open to three different approaches, and will let the community choose how to proceed:
+
+1. If payouts can only be received after the work is completed, we will need to add a volatility buffer (see [TL;DR explanation](https://twitter.com/Mitchellpkt0/status/1252720219644063745), and [open source code](https://github.com/Mitchellpkt/volatility_analysis/blob/master/volatility_analysis.ipynb)). Based on the last 2 years of data, and a 4-month window (1 month of fundraising + 3 months of reseearch), a 35% buffer provides a 80% statistical confidence of receiving sufficient payout. Thus the CCS goal would include an extra 4375 USD per month
+2. If the funds can be released at the beginning of the research period, then no buffer is necessary. *Update:* If any of the three milestones are not completed within 12 months, 1/3 of the project value will be converted to XMR and returned to the general fund. (i.e. Insight would refund XMR worth 12500 USD for *each* missing milestone).
+3. Some mutually-trusted third party could escrow the funds in fiat form (to eliminate volatility risk), and pay Insight upon satisfactory work.
+
+# Appendix 1 - Literature
+
+Here is relevant literature that will be reviewed and annotated for utility to Monero. List compiled by Dr. Brandon Gooddell
+
+- Liu, Joseph K., Victor K. Wei, and Duncan S. Wong. 'Linkable spontaneous anonymous group signature for ad hoc groups.' Australasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2004.
+- Zhang, Huang, et al. 'Anonymous post-quantum cryptocash.' International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2018.
+- Torres, Wilson Abel Alberto, et al. 'Post-quantum one-time linkable ring signature and application to ring confidential transactions in blockchain (lattice RingCT v1. 0).' Australasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy. Springer, Cham, 2018.
+- Groth, Jens, and Markulf Kohlweiss. 'One-out-of-many proofs: Or how to leak a secret and spend a coin.' Annual International Conference on the Theory and Applications of Cryptographic Techniques. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2015.
+- Chopra, Arjun. 'GLYPH: A New Instantiation of the GLP Digital Signature Scheme.' IACR Cryptology ePrint Archive 2017 (2017): 766.
+- Unruh, Dominique. 'Post-quantum security of Fiat-Shamir.' International Conference on the Theory and Application of Cryptology and Information Security. Springer, Cham, 2017.
+- Okamoto, Tatsuaki, et al. 'New realizations of somewhere statistically binding hashing and positional accumulators.' International Conference on the Theory and Application of Cryptology and Information Security. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2015.
+- Lu, Xingye, Man Ho Au, and Zhenfei Zhang. '(Linkable) Ring Signature from Hash-Then-One-Way Signature.' 2019 18th IEEE International Conference On Trust, Security And Privacy In Computing And Communications/13th IEEE International Conference On Big Data Science And Engineering (TrustCom/BigDataSE). IEEE, 2019.
+- Backes, Michael, et al. 'Ring signatures: Logarithmic-size, no setup—from standard assumptions.' Annual International Conference on the Theory and Applications of Cryptographic Techniques. Springer, Cham, 2019.
+- Yang, Rupeng, et al. 'Efficient lattice-based zero-knowledge arguments with standard soundness: construction and applications.' Annual International Cryptology Conference. Springer, Cham, 2019.
+- Esgin, Muhammed F., et al. 'MatRiCT: Efficient, Scalable and Post-Quantum Blockchain Confidential Transactions Protocol.' Proceedings of the 2019 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security. 2019.
+- Torres, Wilson Alberto, et al. 'Lattice RingCT v2. 0 with Multiple Input and Multiple Output Wallets.' Australasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy. Springer, Cham, 2019.
+- Ruffing, Tim, and Giulio Malavolta. 'Switch commitments: A safety switch for confidential transactions.' International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security. Springer, Cham, 2017.
+- Zhang, Huang, et al. 'Anonymous post-quantum cryptocash.' International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2018.
+- Zhang, Huang, et al. 'Implementing confidential transactions with lattice techniques.' IET Information Security 14.1 (2019): 30-38.
+- [http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/talks/Toward-More-Secure-Quantum-Future](http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/talks/Toward-More-Secure-Quantum-Future)
+

sarang-2019-q1.md

 ---
-layout: wip
+layout: cp
 title: "Sarang: research funding for 2019 Q1"
 author: Sarang Noether
 date: 4 December 2018
@@ -15,15 +15,15 @@ milestones:
     status: finished
   - name: March
     funds: 33.33% (220.34 XMR)
-    done:
-    status: unfinished
+    done: 31 March 2019
+    status: finished
 payouts:
   - date: 4 February 2019
     amount: 220.33
   - date: 1 March 2019
     amount: 220.33
-  - date:
-    amount:
+  - date: 4 April 2019
+    amount: 220.34
 ---
 Friends, neighbors, well-wishers, hello. Dr. Sarang Noether here, back again for [Monero Research Lab 2: The Search For More Money](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgRFQJCHcPw). My current funded research time is coming to a close, and I'm good to go for another three months of research and development for the Monero Research Lab.
 

sarang-2019-q2.md

 ---
-layout: wip
+layout: cp
 title: "Sarang: research funding for 2019 Q2"
 author: Sarang Noether
 date: 12 March 2019

sarang-2019-q3.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: "Sarang: research funding for 2019 Q3"
+author: Sarang Noether
+date: 3 June 2019
+amount: 355
+milestones:
+  - name: Funding is released
+    funds: 100% (355 XMR)
+    done: 14 June 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Work is done
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done: 30 September 2019
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 14 June 2019
+    amount: 355 XMR
+---
+Hello to you. This is Dr. Sarang Noether, requesting ongoing research funding for the next quarter. My current funding period is complete at the end of June, and I'm ready to go for another three months of research and development for the Monero Research Lab.
+
+My monthly reports for the current funding period are available, and I encourage you to read them:
+- [April](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/merge_requests/34#note_5903)
+- [May](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/merge_requests/34#note_6373)
+- June (forthcoming)
+
+The last few months have seen plenty of work on formalization and testing of new signature schemes, output selection, sublinear transaction protocols, Bulletproofs, input merging, and more.
+
+As always, the list of research topics of interest is constantly evolving! Some items of interest:
+- CLSAG review and deployment: Both the mathematics and implementation of the CLSAG signature scheme should be reviewed prior to deployment.
+- Analysis of sublinear transaction protocols: This includes Lelantus, RingCT3.0, and Omniring. Each presents different tradeoffs in efficiency, privacy, and usability.
+- Ristretto: The use of an abstraction layer may provide a useful way to take advantage of some of the efficiency and security benefits of this curve representation.
+- Output selection: There are aspects to this (like fixed output sets) that are of interest, especially as we look toward transaction protocols with larger practical anonymity sets.
+- Dynamic block size improvements: This is a holdover from my last request that there was not time to investigate properly.
+- Efficient circuit code: Several different scaling solutions to zero-knowledge circuit evaluation, from Bulletproofs to Spartan, are of interest.
+- Literature review: This is, as always, ongoing.
+- Outreach and education: These typically include episodes of Breaking Monero, Coffee Chats, and other avenues.
+- The unexpected: Research rarely goes precisely the way we expect, so it is important to stay on top of whatever new proposals or issues arise unexpectedly.
+
+As always, I work hard to provide value to the community and project for the value you provide here. For the funding period beginning July 2019 and continuing through September 2019, my request continues to be 10415 USD per month, my assessment of market compensation for an independent Ph.D. researcher in the United States with a record of quality work. Therefore, the request total is **355 XMR**, based on a 14-day exponential moving average of 88 USD/XMR taken from Kraken.
+
+**Please read this paragraph carefully.** As was done for my previous request, this request will be paid out in full immediately when it is funded. This greatly reduces the volatility that otherwise arises from being paid out over time for ongoing work, and ensures that the value of donations is the value that reaches me. I hope that my record of work for the project speaks for itself, and that I continue to earn your trust to continue that work.
+
+Comments, questions, and discussion about this proposal are welcome. This community continues to stand out as unique for its ongoing support of research and development, and I want to thank everyone who supports the project in whatever way they choose. Let's continue to build and improve Monero. Onwards!

sarang-2019-q4.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: "Sarang: research funding for 2019 Q4"
+author: Sarang Noether
+date: 6 September 2019
+amount: 417
+milestones:
+  - name: Funding is released
+    funds: 100% (417 XMR)
+    done: 23 September 2019
+    status: finished
+  - name: Work is done
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done: 31 December 2019
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 23 September 2019
+    amount: 417
+---
+Hello! Dr. Sarang Noether here, excited to continue full-time research, development, and analysis in privacy-focused cryptography and applications. You can read my previous monthly reports for [July](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/merge_requests/77#note_6916) and [August](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/merge_requests/77#note_7105) to see what I've been up to recently.
+
+This funding request covers the period from September through December 2019. The next three months have a lot in store.
+- New proving systems. Recent preprints, notably [IACR 944](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/944) and [IACR 969](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/969), provide general and efficient ways to prove statements in zero knowledge. In addition to ongoing work on existing constructions tailored specifically to transaction models, these more general approaches could have interesting practical applications that deserve investigation and analysis.
+- Fall network upgrade. There is always plenty to do around upgrades relating to review and analysis.
+- Simulation methods. Graph matching and augmentation models are finally to the point where we can run simulations to investigate the analytical effects of user behavior.
+- Peer review. Papers for which I am coauthor need to undergo revision and review, which is always a lengthy process.
+
+And there is always more to do that arises unexpectedly. Expect code review, the usual updates and changes, outreach, literature review, proof-of-concept code and testing, documentation, and more.
+
+I work hard to provide value in my research for the value provided here. As before, this request is for the equivalent of 10415 USD monthly, my assessment of fair market compensation for an independent Ph.D. researcher in the United States. Therefore, using a 14-day EMA of 75 USD/XMR from Kraken, the request total is **417 XMR**. Further, note that this request will be paid in full as soon as it is funded, in order to reduce the effects of price fluctuations and ensure that contributed value is the value that reaches me.
+
+Questions, comments, and feedback about this request are welcome.

sarang-2020-q1.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: "Sarang: research funding for 2020 Q1"
+author: Sarang Noether
+date: 16 December 2019
+amount: 695
+milestones:
+  - name: Funding is released
+    funds: 100% (695 XMR)
+    done: 9 January 2020
+    status: finished
+  - name: Work is done
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done: 31 March 2020
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 9 January 2020
+    amount: 695
+---
+Hello! Dr. Sarang Noether here, ready to continue full-time research, development, and analysis in privacy-focused cryptography and applications. You can read my previous monthly reports for [October](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/merge_requests/96#note_7573) and [November](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/merge_requests/96#note_7842) to see what I've been up to recently.
+
+This funding request covers the period from January through March 2020. There's plenty to do.
+- Protocol research. Most work will likely focus on continuing updates to security models, proofs, and preprints for [CLSAG](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/654), [DLSAG](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/595), and [Triptych](https://github.com/SarangNoether/skunkworks/tree/triptych). Additionally, I am working to add multisignature support for Triptych and [RingCT 3.0](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/508) to extend functionality.
+- Graph-theoretic analysis. This research is ongoing with colleague Surae Noether, with a lot of new code and math to review relating to blockchain analysis.
+
+There is always plenty to do that arises unexpectedly. Expect code review, the usual updates and changes, outreach, literature review, proof-of-concept code and testing, documentation, and more.
+
+I work hard to provide value in my research for the value provided here. As before, this request is for the equivalent of 10415 USD monthly, my assessment of fair market compensation for an independent Ph.D. researcher in the United States. Therefore, using a 14-day EMA of 49.46 USD/XMR from Kraken with a 10% buffer to account for large recent volatility, the request total is **695 XMR**. Further, note that this request will be paid in full as soon as it is funded, in order to reduce the effects of price fluctuations and ensure that contributed value is the value that reaches me.
+
+Questions, comments, and feedback about this request are welcome.

sarang-2020-q2.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: "Sarang: research funding for 2020 Q2"
+author: Sarang Noether
+date: 9 March 2020
+amount: 845
+milestones:
+  - name: Funding is released
+    funds: 100% (845 XMR)
+    done: 19 March 2020
+    status: finished
+  - name: Work is done
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done:
+    status: unfinished
+payouts:
+  - date: 19 March 2020
+    amount: 845
+---
+Hello! Dr. Sarang Noether here, ready to continue full-time research, development, and analysis in privacy-focused cryptography and applications. You can read my previous monthly reports for [January](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/-/merge_requests/110#note_8753) and [February](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/-/merge_requests/110#note_9123) to see what I've been up to recently. A report for March is forthcoming at the end of this month.
+
+This funding request covers the period from April through June 2020. There's plenty to do.
+- CLSAG testing and deployment. The [CLSAG](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/654) signature construction has undergone major work on its security model, development, and testing to make it faster and safer. It's expected to undergo final external review and deployment.
+- Triptych research and testing. The [Triptych](https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/018) proving system has been revised and released as a preprint. Research continues on a more efficient version that looks promising.
+- Protocol updates. Research is ongoing to determine safe and efficient ways to improve transaction privacy, fungibility, and functionality through things like improved multisignature support and cross-chain interactions.
+
+And of course, there is always research and development that arises as we go. Expect code review, the usual updates and changes, outreach, literature review, proof-of-concept code and testing, documentation, and more.
+
+I work hard to provide value in my research for the value provided here. As before, this request is for the equivalent of 10415 USD monthly, my assessment of fair market compensation for an independent Ph.D. researcher in the United States. Therefore, using a 7-day EMA of 48.80 USD/XMR from Kraken with a 10% buffer to account for recent major volatility, the request total is **704 XMR**. Further, note that this request will be paid in full as soon as it is funded, in order to reduce the effects of price fluctuations and ensure that contributed value is the value that reaches me.
+
+Questions, comments, and feedback about this request are welcome.

sarang-2020-q3.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: "Sarang: research funding for 2020 Q3"
+author: Sarang Noether
+date: 28 May 2020
+amount: 518
+milestones:
+  - name: Funding is released
+    funds: 100% (475.21 XMR @ $65.75)
+    done: 22 June 2020
+    status: finished
+  - name: Work is done
+    funds: 0% (0 XMR)
+    done: 30 September 2020
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 22 June 2020
+    amount: 475.21
+---
+Hello! Dr. Sarang Noether here, ready to continue full-time research, development, and analysis in privacy-focused cryptography and applications. You can read my previous monthly reports for [April](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/-/merge_requests/131#note_9896) and [May](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/-/merge_requests/131#note_9975) to see what I've been up to recently. A report for June is forthcoming at the end of the quarter.
+
+This funding request covers the period from July through September 2020. There's plenty to do, with a few big-ticket items in particular:
+- CLSAG audit. The [CLSAG](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/654) audit planning process (which has been quite the endeavor) is being finalized, and I will coordinate the technical efforts for this process.
+- Arcturus applications. The [Arcturus](https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/312) proving system leads naturally to an efficient transaction protocol. Math and implementation involving multisignatures, cooperative signing, and anonymity set selection are ongoing.
+- Protocol improvements. As always, research and development are ongoing to determine safe and efficient ways to improve transaction privacy, fungibility, and functionality while mitigating different types of adversarial heuristics.
+
+And of course, there is always research and development that arises as we go. Expect code review, the usual updates and changes, outreach, literature review, proof-of-concept code and testing, documentation, and more.
+
+I work hard to provide value in my research for the value provided here. As before, this request is for the equivalent of 10415 USD monthly, my assessment of fair market compensation for an independent Ph.D. researcher in the United States. Therefore, using an SMA-20 of 66.37 USD/XMR from Kraken with a 10% volatility buffer, the request total is **518 XMR**. To reduce the effects of price fluctuation, the XMR equivalent of the USD total for this request will be used to determine the amount for full payment when the request is filled. Any shortfall or excess at that time will be taken up by the general fund, as agreed to by the Monero core team.
+
+Questions, comments, and feedback about this request are welcome.

sarang-vacations.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: Sarang Vacation Days
+author: The Core Team
+date: October 8, 2020
+amount: 200
+milestones:
+  - name: Release the funds to sarang
+    funds: 100%
+    done: 14 October 2020
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 14 October 2020
+    amount: 200.4
+---
+
+To the Monero Community,
+
+As many of you know, MRL's full time researcher, Sarang Noether stepped down from his position this past month. After looking back across the history of the project, we are humbled to realize he has been working on the Monero Project on and off, full time and part time, for over six years, three of which were in a full time position, paid for by the CCS. His initial proposal can still be viewed on the old Forum Funding System here: https://forum.getmonero.org/22/completed-tasks/87856/hire-mathematician-and-computational-physicist-to-join-research-team
+
+Because of the contractual nature of the CCS, the written proposals, and indeed, freelance work in general, many benefits offered by traditional jobs do not exist within the ecosystem. Benefits such as vacation days and paid time off. 
+
+While we do not expect to make a habit of this, we feel the length of time worked, the quality of work given, and the person themself are all worthy of breaking out of the traditional CCS mold to raise money for sarang to take some 'paid time off'. We understand that he has already made the decision to step back down, and this proposal is not trying to bring him back into the fold (although we would of course be thrilled if one day he returned), but rather to give what we feel is due for six years of labor.
+
+We ask the community to crowdfund 200 XMR that we can give him, so his initial days after his departure can be restful and he would not have to worry about making money to live.
+
+This proposal will remain open in funding required for one month or until the goal is met. Whichever comes first. After either condition is met, the funds will be given to sarang, including any overfunding.
+
+We hope the community will join us in doing good for someone who has done so much good for us.
+
+The Monero Core Team

selsta-1.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: selsta part-time monero development (3 months)
+author: selsta
+date: 8 Apr 2021
+amount: 76
+milestones:
+  - name: April
+    funds: 33% (26 XMR)
+    done: 18 May 2021
+    status: finished
+  - name: May
+    funds: 33% (25 XMR)
+    done: 31 May 2021
+    status: finished
+  - name: June
+    funds: 33% (25 XMR)
+    done: 30 June 2021
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 21 May 2021
+    amount: 26
+  - date: 15 June 2021
+    amount: 25
+  - date: 26 July 2021
+    amount: 25
+---
+
+## What
+
+- Smaller dev work on CLI and GUI
+  - Some ideas I want to work on
+    - Update monero unbound submodule to upstream (CLI)
+    - Set up a depends package source backup (CLI)
+    - Fix clang warnings (CLI)
+    - Set minimum Qt version to 5.12, cleanup codebase and cmake file (GUI)
+    - Fix small design inconsistencies (GUI)
+  - Put effort where necessary
+- Testing and reviewing pull requests (CLI, GUI, site)
+- Monero release engineering for CLI and GUI
+  - Organizing what goes into a release
+  - Compiling CLI and GUI, packaging for distribution
+  - Writing release notes
+- Misc work (user support, issue tracker maintanace)
+
+## Who
+
+selsta, I have been contributing to monero since around 2018 with over 340 merged commits. Here is a list of my previous work:
+
+- CLI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+- GUI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+
+If funded I will provide monthly updates in the CCS comment section.
+
+## Proposal
+
+Work for 30 hours per week over the next 3 months (from Mid April to Mid June) at a rate of 45€ / hour. At 212€ / XMR (14 day EMA) this makes 76 XMR.

selsta-2.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: selsta part-time monero development (3 months)
+author: selsta
+date: 8 Jul 2021
+amount: 90
+milestones:
+  - name: July
+    funds: 33% (30 XMR)
+    done: 31 July 2021
+    status: finished
+  - name: August
+    funds: 33% (30 XMR)
+    done: 31 August 2021
+    status: finished
+  - name: September
+    funds: 33% (30 XMR)
+    done: 30 September 2021
+    status: finished
+payouts:
+  - date: 17 August 2021
+    amount: 30
+  - date: 15 September 2021
+    amount: 30
+  - date: 15 October 2021
+    amount: 30
+---
+
+## What
+
+- Smaller dev work on CLI and GUI
+  - Some things I worked on last proposal
+    - Remove outdated monero unbound submodule, update it for deterministic builds (CLI)
+    - Set up a depends package source backup (CLI)
+    - Fix clang warnings (CLI)
+    - Add support for outputs import / export (GUI)
+    - Set minimum Qt version to 5.12, cleanup codebase and cmake file (GUI)
+    - Fix small design inconsistencies (GUI)
+    - Re-add password strength meter (GUI)
+  - Put effort where necessary
+- Testing and reviewing pull requests (CLI, GUI, site)
+- Monero release engineering for CLI and GUI
+  - Organizing what goes into a release
+  - Compiling CLI and GUI, packaging for distribution
+  - Writing release notes
+- Misc work (user support, issue tracker maintanace)
+
+## Who
+
+selsta, I have been contributing to monero since around 2018 with over 420 merged commits. Here is a list of my previous work:
+
+- CLI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+- GUI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+- Previous CCS: https://ccs.getmonero.org/proposals/selsta-1.html
+
+If funded I will provide monthly updates in the CCS comment section.
+
+## Proposal
+
+Work for 30 hours per week over the next 3 months (from Mid July to Mid September) at a rate of 45€ / hour. At 180€ / XMR (14 day EMA) this makes 90 XMR.

selsta-3.md

+---
+layout: cp
+title: selsta part-time monero development (3 months)
+author: selsta
+date: 7 Oct 2021
+amount: 75
+milestones:
+  - name: October
+    funds: 33% (25 XMR)
+    done: 31 October 2021
+    status: finished
+  - name: November
+    funds: 33% (25 XMR)
+    done: 30 November 2021
+    status: finished
+  - name: December
+    funds: 33% (25 XMR)
+    done: 31 December 2021
+    status: unfinished
+payouts:
+  - date: 16 November 2021
+    amount: 25
+  - date: 19 December 2021
+    amount: 25
+  - date: 16 January 2022
+    amount: 25
+---
+
+## What
+
+- Focus on preparing the next network update
+- Release v0.17.3.0 with P2Pool changes and `--proxy` flag
+- Smaller dev work on CLI and GUI
+  - Put effort where necessary
+- Testing and reviewing pull requests (CLI, GUI, site)
+- Monero release engineering for CLI and GUI
+  - Organizing what goes into a release
+  - Compiling CLI and GUI, packaging for distribution
+  - Writing release notes
+- Misc work (user support, issue tracker maintanace, HackerOne)
+
+## Who
+
+selsta, I have been contributing to monero since around 2018 with over 470 merged commits. Here is a list of my previous work:
+
+- CLI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+- GUI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+- Previous CCS: https://ccs.getmonero.org/proposals/selsta-2.html
+
+If funded I will provide monthly updates in the CCS comment section.
+
+## Proposal
+
+Work for 30 hours per week over the next 3 months (from mid-October to mid-December) at a rate of 45€ / hour. At 216€ / XMR (14 day EMA) this makes 75 XMR.

selsta-4.md

+---
+layout: wip
+title: selsta part-time monero development (3 months)
+author: selsta
+date: 12 Jan 2022
+amount: 95
+milestones:
+  - name: January
+    funds: 33% (32 XMR)
+    done: 31 January 2022
+    status: finished
+  - name: February
+    funds: 33% (32 XMR)
+    done: 28 February 2022
+    status: finished
+  - name: March
+    funds: 33% (31 XMR)
+    done:
+    status: unfinished
+payouts:
+  - date: 22 February 2022
+    amount: 32
+  - date: 22 March 2022
+    amount: 32
+  - date:
+    amount:
+---
+
+## What
+
+- Focus on preparing the next network update
+- Put out an update with multisig fixes
+- Smaller dev work on CLI and GUI
+  - Put effort where necessary
+- Testing and reviewing pull requests (CLI, GUI, site)
+- Monero release engineering for CLI and GUI
+  - Organizing what goes into a release
+  - Compiling CLI and GUI, packaging for distribution
+  - Writing release notes
+- Misc work (user support, issue tracker maintanace, HackerOne)
+
+## Who
+
+selsta, I have been contributing to monero since around 2018 with over 500 merged commits. Here is a list of my previous work:
+
+- CLI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+- GUI contributions: https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Aselsta
+- Previous CCS: https://ccs.getmonero.org/proposals/selsta-2.html
+
+If funded I will provide monthly updates in the CCS comment section.
+
+## Proposal
+
+Work for 30 hours per week over the next 3 months (from mid-January to mid-March) at a rate of 45€ / hour. At 170€ / XMR (7 day EMA) this makes 95 XMR.

seraphis-poc.md

+---
+layout: wip
+title: "koe: Seraphis Proof-of-Concept"
+author: koe
+date: 1 October 2021
+amount: 92.6
+milestones:
+  - name: PoC
+    funds: 100% (92.6 XMR)
+    done: 
+    status: unfinished
+payouts:
+---
+
+## Intro
+
+Hi all, after some encouragement I decided to request funding for my ongoing work on Seraphis. Specifically, funding for future work on the Seraphis C++ proof-of-concept that I have been developing since the second week of September.
+
+My goal is for this code to be 95% production-ready. It is appropriate to get large pieces of code funded if they have a strong potential to be merged into the master branch.
+
+
+
+## What is Seraphis?
+
+[Seraphis](https://github.com/UkoeHB/Seraphis) is a next-gen transaction protocol abstraction, which means it defines various high-level rules for a concrete transaction protocol. RingCT can be thought of as the current tx protocol abstraction, even though [the RingCT paper](https://web.getmonero.org/resources/research-lab/pubs/MRL-0005.pdf) specified concrete proving structures directly without abstraction.
+
+The main innovation of Seraphis (and [Lelantus-Spark](https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/1173), a very similar protocol developed independently) is using _only_ simple commitments-to-zero for showing that a transaction input (an output being spent) exists in the ledger. This allows proofs about key images to be independent of membership proofs, which means one-time addresses and key images can be creatively designed. In particular, it is possible to avoid one of the main drawbacks of [Triptych](https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/018), namely a key image construction that makes multisig [much more complicated](https://github.com/cypherstack/triptych-multisig).
+
+Seraphis has other potential benefits over RingCT and Triptych (depending on concrete design choices):
+- membership proof delegation (allows transaction chaining, offloading proof construction to third parties, improved indistinguishability of multisig tx [construct membership proofs at the last minute to avoid leaking timing details], allows the 10-block lock time to be somewhat ignored when transacting with a trusted party)
+- multi-tier wallet permissions (e.g. a view-only wallet that can detect spent outputs, a view-only wallet that can see received outputs but not their amounts)
+
+The main costs of Seraphis compared to Triptych are:
+- more implementation effort
+- all users would have to generate new addresses from their private keys (don't need new private keys, seeds, or wallets); all old addresses would become unusable
+    - **note**: Replacing old addresses is an opportunity to deprecate 'normal addresses' in favor of 'subaddresses' only. A uniform address format would simplify UX and various implementation details.
+
+
+
+## PoC
+
+**Scope**: I am working on a core component library for Seraphis, which includes proof structures, transaction structure and validation, core transaction building pieces (both normal and multisig transactions), unit tests, performance tests. The scope is similar to the `ringct/` subdirectory. I currently do not plan to touch the `wallet/` subdirectory.
+- The scope also extends to my efforts to performance test different variants of Seraphis, and Lelantus Spark. However, only the main parts of Seraphis will get high-quality attention until performance results are available.
+
+Building a new transaction-builder component library is a good opportunity to both re-imagine how to architect component versioning (i.e. instead of spaghetti conditionals, which are rampant in some parts of the codebase after 13 hard forks), and to add various things from my wishlist.
+
+Ultimately, I want to include the following in my PoC (found in the MRL and Monero GitHub Issues linked below):
+- reorganized tx semantics (`tx_supplement` takes some stuff out of the `tx_extra`)
+- view tags
+- enforce 1 tx pub key for 2-out tx, 1 key per output for >2-out tx
+- enforce sorted-TLV in the extra field
+- Janus mitigation (one way or another - depending on the address scheme chosen)
+
+
+### PoC: current progress
+
+The PoC currently has:
+
+- mock-up of RingCT with CLSAG (for performance comparisons)
+- mock-up of Triptych (for performance comparisons)
+- concise Grootle proof (with 'aggregation coefficients', like found in Triptych)
+- plain Grootle proof (without 'aggregation coefficients', like found in Lelantus-Spark)
+    - **note**: The guys at Firo theorize this should have faster verification than concise Grootle proofs (using 'small scalar weighting'), but in my tests it is slower. This may be due to a limitation of Monero's crypto library, which contains no optimizations for small scalar EC multiplication, so future improvements may be possible.
+- Seraphis composition proof
+- unit tests for all of the above
+- tx mock-up performance testing framework
+
+
+### PoC: TODO
+
+My immediate plans for the PoC include:
+
+- core multisig functionality in Seraphis composition proof
+- mock-up of 4 different Seraphis variants
+- mock-up of Lelantus-Spark (probably... it turns out coding complex cryptographic algorithms like advanced signature schemes is a lot of work)
+- unit tests for all of the above
+- comprehensive performance testing of all tx protocol mock-ups
+
+Once performance tests are complete, I will take a break of 1-4 weeks to finish the Seraphis paper. Then, after making various design decisions to narrow down the optimal tx protocol and address scheme (based on discussion in the Monero community - primarily IRC channels #monero-dev and #monero-research-lab), I want to add the following to the PoC (I will probably make a new branch for this, and cut out all the extra stuff from performance testing).
+
+- mock-up of Seraphis addressing framework
+- mock-up of Seraphis transaction builder framework (with multisig)
+- the wishlist from [above](#PoC)
+
+
+
+## Past and current Monero work
+
+- [Seraphis paper](https://github.com/UkoeHB/Seraphis): in-progress
+- [Seraphis PoC branch](https://github.com/UkoeHB/monero/tree/seraphis_perf): in-progress
+- [ZtM2](https://web.getmonero.org/library/Zero-to-Monero-2-0-0.pdf): complete
+- [ZtM1](https://web.getmonero.org/library/Zero-to-Monero-1-0-0.pdf): complete
+- [MRL issues](https://github.com/monero-project/research-lab/issues/created_by/UkoeHB): many are active/open (the fee issue is [close to merging on master](https://github.com/monero-project/monero/pull/7819))
+- [Monero issues](https://github.com/monero-project/monero/issues/created_by/UkoeHB): tx semantics proposal is open
+- [Monero PRs](https://github.com/monero-project/monero/pulls/UkoeHB): multisig address-generation rework is open
+
+
+
+## Funding
+
+- Rate: 50 USD + 0.2 XMR
+- Hours: 6 weeks @ 40hr/wk = 240hrs
+- XMR equivalent: 48 + (50\*240)/USD\_EXCHANGE\_RATE XMR
+- USD\_EXCHANGE\_RATE: set from 14-day EMA on a major exchange when merging proposal
+  - 269 USD/XMR at 1800 UTC 10/13/2021 w/ 14-day EMA on Kraken -> 92.6 XMR total
+
+If it takes me fewer than 240hrs, then I will allocate the extra hours toward whatever future Monero work I end up doing (or pass the left-over funds into the general fund if necessary).
+
+If I require more time, and the community supports it, then I may make another proposal to extend the hours.

seraphis-wallet-poc.md

+---
+layout: wip
+title: "koe: Seraphis Wallet Proof-of-Concept"
+author: koe
+date: 23 February 2022
+amount: 81.4
+milestones:
+  - name: PoC
+    funds: 100% (81.4 XMR)
+    done: 
+    status: unfinished
+payouts:
+---
+
+## Intro
+
+Hi all, after the [completion](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/-/merge_requests/256#note_15087) of my previous [Seraphis PoC CCS](https://repo.getmonero.org/monero-project/ccs-proposals/-/merge_requests/256), there are additional tasks I would like to work on. For background on this CCS, please see the links in the previous sentence.
+
+
+## New tasks
+
+These tasks will be implemented in my [seraphis_lib](https://github.com/UkoeHB/monero/tree/seraphis_lib) branch. My ultimate goal is that, once this CCS is complete, I can hand off seraphis_lib to other Monero developers who can start working on/thinking about how to get Seraphis actually used in Monero.
+
+- Build a wallet proof-of-concept that demonstrates all the 'transaction engineering' capabilities and implementation modularity of Seraphis/Jamtis. My goal is to have unit tests representing all the main workflows possible with Seraphis, and all the main wallet implementations necessary (i.e. mock-ups of interfaces that could potentially be developed into full-fledged wallet software).
+- Test out using x25519 for enote ECDH instead of ed25519, which may speed up enote scanning by a non-trivial amount (>10%).
+- Add validation code and plumbing for `tx_extra` fields.
+- Add tx builder plumbing for tx fees.
+- Add multisig tx builders for Seraphis (with unit tests) after the master branch is updated with PR #7877.
+- Miscellaneous code cleanup (mostly update/add comments, cleanup TODOs).
+
+I will also lump all the miscellaneous Monero R&D tasks that I work on into this CCS (e.g. in the last period I did a bunch of review/work on multisig security patches, among other things).
+
+
+## Funding
+
+- Rate: 50 USD + 0.2 XMR
+- Hours: 8 weeks @ 20hr/wk = 160hrs
+- XMR equivalent: 32 + (50\*160)/USD\_EXCHANGE\_RATE XMR
+- USD\_EXCHANGE\_RATE: set from 14-day EMA on a major exchange when merging proposal
+  - 162 USD/XMR at 2100 UTC 02/23/2022 w/ 14-day EMA on Kraken -> 81.4 XMR total
+
+If I require more time, and the community supports it, then I may make another proposal to extend the hours.

serhack-monero-integrations-part-3.md

+---
+layout: wip
+title: Monero Payment gateways Gateways part 3
+author: SerHack
+date: March 2020
+amount: 11
+milestones:
+  - name: Monero PHP library maintenance
+    funds: 4
+    done:
+    status: unfinished
+  - name: Monero Woocommerce payment gateway maintenance
+    funds: 7
+    done:
+    status: unfinished
+  - name: Others ideas
+    funds:
+    done:
+    status: unfinished
+payouts:
+  - date:
+    amount:
+  - date:
+    amount:
+---
+
+### What?
+
+I am [SerHack](https://serhack.me), the author of [Mastering Monero](https://masteringmonero.com) and security engineer; I am one of the maintainers for [Monero integrations](https://monerointegrations.com) project. The project aims to provide a set of payment gateways and libraries (coded mainly in PHP, at the time of writing) for merchants and developers. As you might find on Github, the payment gateways are not in any third party companies, then no data is sent to any other website beside yours.
+
+With this request, I would like to keep the two main repositories (PHP library and Woocommerce libraries) updated. I have set two main milestones.
+
+#### Milestone 1: PHP library maintenance
+
+I've listed all the possible issues I can fix or improve. Note that I would like to keep this library without any external dependencies (e.g. guzzle from composer) for security reasons. Honestly, I have some difficulties at trusting composer, but I'd like to discuss about this.
+
+* [Enable SSL validation by default for non loopback connections](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/11)
+* [Daemon RPC Wrapper: "Other Methods"](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/34)
+* [Make stable version on packagist](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/82)
+* [Use code stype](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/84)
+* [Remove dead code](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/85)
+* [Library returns NULL when it receives a blank response or an error](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/92)
+* [PHP 7.2 - json_encode() breaks transfer submission of certain amounts](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/100)
+* [offline mnemonic support planned?](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/103)
+* [Make sure we support the latest PHP versions and do not support PHP < 7.2](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerophp/issues/109)
+* General improvement
+
+If you have any additional idea, feature request, or issue, please let me know!
+
+#### Milestone 2: Monero Woocommerce payment gateway maintenance
+
+Monero Woocommerce Payment Gateway had only 40 installations from [Wordpress.org](https://wordpress.org/plugins/monero-woocommerce-gateway/#installation). This is partially my fault since the page was created to attract more merchants. As per Milestone 1, I have listed all the issues I would like to fix.
+
+* [Switch to subaddresses](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerowp/issues/56) – This has already been implemented, but in a cryptic way. It needs some review.
+* [List of currencies vanishes](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerowp/issues/67)
+* [Improve the upcoming release 3.0](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerowp/issues/74)
+* [Decrypting payment id in Monero_Cryptonote results in infinite loop](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerowp/issues/81)
+* [Feature request: checkout shutdown on timeout](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerowp/issues/83)
+* [javascript disabled fall-back support](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerowp/issues/84)
+* [One payment will cause all pending orders with the same value to be marked as paid.](https://github.com/monero-integrations/monerowp/issues/85)
+
+Any other idea is really appreciated!
+
+### Why?
+
+I would like to expand more this section since it is a subject close to my heart. Monero was created to be the most private cryptocurrency ever created; when I joined the Monero community, I had some difficulties at finding payment gateways that were private. Thus I've started this project.
+
+### Costs
+
+If milestones are not modified, I'll ask 11 XMR (~700 euros) - fixed price.  
\ No newline at end of file

staff91-Translation and review of GUI Wallet, monero-site, Monero Means Money (subtitles) and Sound Money, Safe Mode (subtitles) to Italian.md

+---
+layout: wip
+title: Translation and review of GUI Wallet, monero-site, Monero Means Money (subtitles) and Sound Money, Safe Mode (subtitles) to Italian.
+author: staff91
+date: November 18, 2020
+amount: 28
+milestones:
+  - name: Milestone 1 - Completion of GUI Wallet, monero-site Translation and review to Italian
+    funds: 4 XMR
+    done: 
+    status: unfinished
+  - name: Milestone 2 - Completion of Monero Means Money (subtitles), Sound Money, Safe Mode (subtitles) Translation and review to Italian
+    funds: 24 XMR
+    done:
+    status: unfinished
+payouts:
+  - date:
+    amount:
+  - date:
+    amount:
+---
+
+# About this Proposal
+
+Translation and review of the [GUI Wallet](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/monero/gui-wallet/), [monero-site](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/getmonero/monero-site/), [Monero Means Money (subtitles)](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/community/monero-means-money/) and [Sound Money, Safe Mode (subtitles)](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/community/sound-money-safe-mode-subtitles/) to Italian.
+
+Review of translation made by others (if any) of the [GUI Wallet](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/monero/gui-wallet/), [monero-site](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/getmonero/monero-site/), [Monero Means Money (subtitles)](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/community/monero-means-money/) and [Sound Money, Safe Mode (subtitles)](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/community/sound-money-safe-mode-subtitles/) for free to Italian.
+
+# About the Translators
+
+## staff91
+  
+  Hello my name is Stavros Kilonis and I was a member of the RChain Cooperative Bounties Program. I am a translator and a developer. Created the Italian website and translated everything for the bounties to Italian.
+
+### Links
+
+- [Monero Project Translations (Weblate)](https://translate.getmonero.org/user/staff91/)
+- [GitHub](https://github.com/staff91)
+- [Monero's GitLab](https://repo.getmonero.org/staff91)
+
+## Chris-Arv  
+  
+  I have worked with staff91 in the past for the same projects.
+
+### Links
+
+- [Monero Project Translations (Weblate)](https://translate.getmonero.org/user/Chris-Arv/)
+- [GitHub](https://github.com/Chris-Arv)
+- [Monero's GitLab](https://repo.getmonero.org/Chris-Arv)
+
+
+# Milestones and Projected Timeline
+
+## Milestone 1 - Completion of GUI Wallet, monero-site Translation and Review to Italian
+
+Complete translation of the [GUI Wallet](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/monero/gui-wallet/) and [monero-site](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/getmonero/monero-site/).
+
+Comprises of 4909 words, which equals to 4 XMR.
+
+Timeline: 20/11/2020 - 30/11/2020
+
+## Milestone 2 - Completion of Monero Means Money (subtitles), Sound Money, Safe Mode (subtitles) Translation and Review to Italian
+
+Complete translation of the [Monero Means Money (subtitles)](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/community/monero-means-money/) and [Sound Money, Safe Mode (subtitles)](https://translate.getmonero.org/projects/community/sound-money-safe-mode-subtitles/).
+
+Comprises of 24093 words, which equals to 24 XMR.
+
+Timeline: 01/12/2020 - 15/12/2020
+
+**Proposal Expiration Date**: 30/11/2020
\ No newline at end of file

surae-mrl-research-q2-2019.md

 ---
-layout: wip
+layout: cp
 title: Surae Funding for Q2 2019
 author: Surae N
 date: 18 March 2019
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ amount: 618 XMR
 milestones:
   - name: Research begins and payout occurs upon completion of funding round
     funds: 100%
-    done:
-    status: unfinished
+    done: 30 June 2019
+    status: finished
 payouts:
   - date: 11 April 2019
     amount: 618