# @Private DeFi: Gnosis Guild tests RAILGUN_connect on CoW Swap frontend

Source: https://x.com/railgun_project/status/2014326994725728526?s=46

## Summary

Gnosis Guild has tested the next stage of RAILGUN_connect, a universal DeFi connector for private 0zk addresses, on the CoW Swap frontend. RAILGUN_connect uses Mechs, which are NFTs with 0x addresses embedded in them, so a 0zk address can interface with DeFi frontends as if it were a regular 0x address. Gnosis Guild's Zodiac Pilot tool connects a Mech to a frontend, simulates and bundles the on-chain calls, and executes the transaction. A prototype in Terminal Wallet, a CLI wallet integrated with the RAILGUN SDK, can already connect, simulate, and execute a transaction on CoW Swap.

## Article

The @gnosisguild has been working hard on the next stage of RAILGUN_connect; the universal DeFi connector for private 0zk addresses. It has been successfully tested on the @CoWSwap frontend, a leading solver protocol for on-chain swaps. RAILGUN_connect is a first of its kind tool for privacy and is a huge leap in making private addresses as functional as public ones.

Once live, _connect will unlock almost universal private access to high liquidity, battle tested DeFi apps and can unlock:

Borrowing

Lending

Intent based swaps

Stablecoin or Liquid Staking Token minting

Non-atomic transactions

RAILGUN_connect will eliminate the heavy work needed to build an integration to use a DeFi application from a 0zk balance. For most DeFi apps, it will be as simple as:

Go to the protocol’s frontend

Connect to the frontend

Use the app with your private 0zk balance.

Rather than creating a private execution environment from scratch, RAILGUN brings privacy to existing apps, liquidity, and protocols. Users don’t have to bridge to a new chain or trust a centralized validator set. Instead, they can privatize their existing capital on Ethereum and take that private capital into DeFi.

Design

RAILGUN_connect will have 2 main components:

Mechs – 0x address controlled by an NFT held in a 0zk address

Zodiac Pilot – Plugin to simulate transactions and connect to frontends

Mechs

Privacy protocols present a unique challenge for complex DeFi, especially in relation to collateral. If everything is private, then how do you know how healthy a position is? Who do you liquidate?

Mechs are the solution to this problem. They are NFTs with 0x addresses embedded into them. They can do most things a 0x address can do, like own tokens, send tokens, and call smart contracts. By holding positions in a Mech 0x address and sending this Mech NFT into a 0zk address, any tokens interacting with an application are privatized.

From a privatized Mech, a 0zk address can interface with a DeFi frontend as if it were a regular 0x address.

Zodiac Pilot

To connect to and execute transactions, Mechs will use the Gnosis Guild’s Zodiac Pilot tool. When sending a transaction through RAILGUN_connect, Zodiac Pilot will:

Connect a Mech 0x address to a DeFi frontend

Simulate the on-chain calls and bundle them for execution

Execute the transaction.

Through Zodiac Pilot, the DeFi frontend and smart contracts will treat the Mech 0x address as any other address and perform its normal functions.

Transaction Execution

When sending a transaction, the wallet generates a ZK proof of ownership over a Mech NFT. The RAILGUN Adapt Relay contract will then operate a Mech securely over the course of a transaction. This ensures:

No direct exposure to the balance of the 0zk address.

Control of Mechs is cryptographically tied to 0zk addresses.

Progress

A prototype is ready and functional in Terminal Wallet, a CLI wallet integrated with the RAILGUN SDK. This prototype can connect, simulate, and execute a transaction on the CoWSwap frontend.

Once productionalized, RAILGUN_connect will completely change the value proposition of on-chain privacy. Users will no longer have to choose between DeFi functionality and security over their personal information.

The implications of the ability to do anything on Ethereum privately are only beginning to be explored. To stay up to date with progress on RAILGUN_connect make sure you’re following:

https://x.com/RAILGUN_Project

https://x.com/GnosisGuild

## Comments

**timdaub.eth**: https://x.com/etherscan/status/2014312999516000334?s=46