Ascend

Problem Statement

Ascendempowers users to define and protect their digital legacy—securely, privately, and on their own terms.When creating anAscent, you choose who will inherit your assets. Each beneficiary must prove that they are aunique individualthrough a privacy-preserving Zero-Knowledge proof. This ensures fair distribution and prevents impersonation or duplicate claims.ZK-based identity verification is our first key innovation.The second isautomated asset consolidation: Ascend brings together your assets from multiple blockchains into a unified vault—so your loved ones won’t need to search across chains when the time comes.If you stop sending periodic heartbeat signals, your verified beneficiaries can claim what’s theirs—without middlemen, legal friction, or privacy loss.In life’s hardest moments, Ascend ensures friends and family can focus on saying goodbye—not dealing with wallets, chains, or legal hurdles.

Solution

Our project is built around three main components:1. The FrontendWe useNext.jsto build a mobile-first frontend, optimized for compatibility with future mini app stores. Through this interface,grantorscan configure theirAscent– a zero-knowledge inheritance plan for their on-chain assets.Each Ascent includes:Aheartbeat mechanism, requiring the grantor to check in periodically to confirm they are alive.A list ofbeneficiaries, who will inherit the grantor’s assets if no heartbeat is received within a specified timeframe.To simplify the claiming process, we useAvail Nexusto consolidate the grantor’s ETH and stablecoins from different chains into one unified destination. This eliminates the need for beneficiaries to track assets across chains, solving a major pain point and reducing the risk of forgotten or inaccessible funds.2. Identity Verification with zk-SelfWe integrate theSelf appand customon-chain ZK verification contractsto ensure that each beneficiary is aunique human being.During the initial Ascent setup:Each beneficiary proves their uniqueness by generating azero-knowledge prooffrom their passport using the Self app.The proof is verified on-chain, and the result is stored, linking the verified identity to their wallet address.At the time of claiming:Beneficiaries mustre-provetheir identity with a new zk proof to confirm they are the same individual who was originally verified.This protects against stolen keys or fraudulent claims and ensures that only rightful heirs receive assets.Additionally, this mechanism enablescustom claiming logic, defined by the grantor. For example, a parent can enforce that a child may only claim assets once they turn 18, verified via the age in the zk passport proof.3. Smart ContractsUsingHardhat, we developed and deployed two core contracts:AFactory Contractthat creates and registers new Ascent contracts. It serves as a global registry for both grantors and beneficiaries.The coreAscent Contract, which stores:Grantor and beneficiary addressesThe heartbeat interval and last check-in timestampBeneficiary verification statusClaiming logic and payout handlingOnce a heartbeat is missed and verification is completed, the contract automatically handles asset distribution according to the grantor’s wishes.Notable "Hacky" BitsLeveragingzk proofsto verify identity without revealing personal data.Using are-verification stepat claim time to defend against key theft and fraud.Consolidating multi-chain assets with Avail Nexus to create a single-point claiming experience.Modular smart contract design with factory pattern for easy management and scaling.