Shutter Predict: A Mini-dApp for Encrypted Predictions

You may have seen people share hashes online and wondered what they hide behind those seemingly random strings. For example, here's Cobie "leaking" that Interpol had issued a red notice for CZ, CEO and founder of Binance:

To showcase our recently launched Shutter API, we built a fun little dApp, Shutter Predict, which enhances this experience using threshold encryption on Gnosis Chain and includes some additional features.

A Mini-dApp for Encrypted Predictions

Shutter Predict is a simple mini dApp on the Gnosis Chain that allows you to make a prediction or an educated guess. Once you've made your prediction and the set time has passed, it will be automatically revealed by the Shutter protocol. Additionally, a Predict bot on X-Twitter will post it for everyone, including your friends, to see.

Create your prediction and specify a time for it to be revealed in the future.
The information is encrypted and securely stored on the blockchain—there are no edits and no leaks.
When the time comes, it will be revealed to the world in a public post on X-Twitter.

Make predictions about anything—such as Nvidia becoming the world's most valuable company again, who will be murdered in season 3 of White Lotus, your husband forgetting to buy milk once more, your friend's new "she's the one" girlfriend only lasting a week, or SpaceX taking people to Mars in 2025.

Give it a try! Lock in your prediction here. (Keep in mind, this is an early version and not intended for anything serious/substantial at this moment).

SHUTTER PREDICT

The Predict bot will reveal your prediction at https://x.com/ShutterPredict.

Why Do People Hash/Encrypt Their Predictions?

You may have noticed people posting hashes instead of sharing their actual predictions.

Here’s why:

Protecting Valuable Insights
- Occasionally, predictions contain valuable insights that could sway markets or shape opinions if disclosed prematurely. Encrypting them ensures these insights remain protected until the appropriate moment.
Avoiding Unwanted Influence
- In upcoming elections or other sensitive events, keeping predictions confidential helps prevent swaying public opinion before the event occurs.

Here’s a great blog post on this:

Here's the issue: People are not fully committed to these predictions. In the future, if someone makes a prediction that turns out to be incorrect, they may choose not to reveal that prediction. But what if there were a method to ensure that decryption and disclosure actually happen? The solution is straightforward: instead of only posting the hash, you post the actual prediction as an encrypted message. And using a time-lock mechanism, powered by threshold encryption, the decryption is enforced in a distributed manner. That's Shutter Predict.

How Shutter Predict Works

1. PREDICT

You begin by entering your prediction and selecting a reveal time. The app then secures your prediction with Shutter's threshold encryption, ensuring it remains protected until the moment of reveal.

2. COMMIT

Next, your encrypted prediction is recorded on the blockchain using a smart contract on the Gnosis Chain. This establishes an immutable record of your prediction. Once recorded, you are fully committed—there's no going back.

3. REVEAL

When it’s time to reveal your prediction:

Automated Decryption: The Shutter Keyper network creates a decryption key that automatically decrypts your prediction.
Twitter Bot: A dedicated bot also shares your prediction on social media, making it easy to follow them publicly.

A Humble Showcase

We created Shutter Predict as a playful experiment to showcase the possibilities of the Shutter API. It is not intended to be a complete product, but rather a fun way to explore:

How threshold encryption and on-chain commitment can enhance accountability.
The creative potential of automated decryption through distributed networks.
A transparent and enjoyable way to have fun and share your predictions with the world.

Also, it’s still early days for Shutter API and the level of decentralization of the Keyper set so do not encrypt anything of value or sensitive/harmful information.

Fees

Submitting a prediction on-chain incurs a small fee of 0.1 xDAI. This fee is implemented to prevent spam and reflects our belief that Shutter Predict is a valuable service, even if it’s a small, fun app. This fee does not hinder the user experience at all since it is included in the commitment transaction. The fee recipient is currently brainbot GmbH, but this can easily be changed to any other recipient by transferring ownership of the smart contract.

In the future, higher fees and a more complex incentive mechanism could be implemented, such as encouraging the community to operate the X-Twitter bot.

Explore More with Shutter Predict and the API

Shutter Predict is our little nod to the vibrant and dynamic world of blockchain innovation. It’s a simple dApp that transforms encrypted predictions into a transparent and unstoppable process. Whether you’re curious about how these technologies function or want to explore a new method for making predictions, give Shutter Predict a try. See your encrypted insight revealed at just the right moment.

Lock it in your prediction here.

Powered by the Shutter API

Shutter Predict is just a playful example illustrating the potential of the Shutter API—but the underlying threshold encryption mechanism it uses has broad and powerful applications.

No matter if you're developing in DeFi, governance, gaming, or data privacy, the Shutter API enables you to implement enforced secrecy and timed transparency in your smart contracts. By utilizing Shutter's encryption and decryption processes, you can ensure that information is disclosed only at the appropriate time. This approach helps prevent manipulation, front running, or premature information release.

Explore real-world use cases like:

Shielded Voting on Snapshot
Encrypted Auctions where bids are only revealed at closing
Fair Randomness Generation and sealed-bid games
Encrypted Order Flow for privacy-preserving DEXs

See the full list use cases and example integrations for the Shutter API at the Shutter Docs.

We invite developers, researchers, and builders to get involved. Shutter is open-source software, and we are excited to see what the community builds next.