Secret votes, public proof: Gnosis Guild's Auryn Macmillan on The Interfold

Watch the full video interview: https://youtu.be/3kfOkvBdUQk Every worthwhile democracy uses a secret ballot, and every fair sealed-bid auction needs an auctioneer nobody can bribe. On chain, someone usually still has to see the inputs to count them. The Interfold, built by Gnosis Guild, spreads that trust across a network using fully homomorphic encryption, threshold decryption and zero knowledge proofs, so votes and bids stay secret while the result can still be verified. Auryn Macmillan, co-founder of Gnosis Guild, explains why ZK proofs alone cannot make a vote receipt-free, how running the MACI coordinator himself ("I trust me, but why should you trust me?") inspired the project, and how competing banks could pool risk scores without trusting each other. He also covers what network alpha and the Fold token mean, why fees are paid in stablecoins, the dual staking model for node operators, Vitalik's role, hiding bidder balances with Railgun, and the next adopters through Aragon. Not financial advice. 🔗 https://theinterfold.com 📚 Docs: https://docs.theinterfold.com ✖️ https://x.com/theinterfold 💬 Telegram community: https://t.me/enclave_e3 Chapters: 0:00 Why every democracy uses a secret ballot 0:36 Intro: Auryn Macmillan of Gnosis Guild 1:25 Secret inputs, verifiable results: voting and auctions 3:43 Why ZK proofs alone are not enough 4:29 "Why should you trust me?" The coordinator problem 5:46 FHE and ZK work together 7:41 From Gnosis to Gnosis Guild and Zodiac 11:02 Compliant privacy for institutions 12:16 Research on medical data without taking custody 14:20 KYC, AML and fraud scoring 15:21 What network alpha and the Fold token mean 16:24 Testing on the Interfold's own governance 17:39 Sealed-bid auctions are next 18:21 Why competing banks need shared infrastructure 19:43 Fees in stablecoins, not the Fold token 21:13 Dual staking with a stablecoin bond 23:37 Vitalik, MACI and privacy at the base layer 26:21 Hiding bidder balances with Railgun 28:55 Next adopters: Aragon, pilots and auction partners 31:32 Where to learn more 32:31 Closing 🔔 Get the newsletter: https://cryptocoinshow.com/newsletter 🎙️ Watch more interviews: https://cryptocoinshow.com/interviewhub 🔗 Sponsored by XYO: https://xyo.network ✖️ X: https://x.com/cryptocoinshow ✈️ Telegram: https://t.me/cryptocoinchat This episode is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not financial, investment or legal advice. Always do your own research. Watch the full video interview and browse every episode at https://cryptocoinshow.com/interviewhub Get the newsletter: https://cryptocoinshow.com/newsletter Enjoying the show? A quick rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps more people find these interviews.