尽管区块链行业正确地指出了传统技术、金融、艺术和文化领域的关键问题，但所承诺的革命尚未实现，为解决这些挑战而设计的工具尚未达到所需的标准。
技术效率低下阻碍了真正去中心化系统的发展，而去中心化金融（DeFi）平台本身也存在数据泄露的漏洞。 从 2023 年 1 月到 2023 年 11 月，因黑客攻击造成的 资产 损失超过 170 万美元，具体事件近 300 起。
进入 2024 年，由于零知识 (ZK) 技术的不断发展，事情看起来更加光明，这可能是释放真正去中心化数字平台优势的关键。 在 2023 年主要通过扩展解决方案的创新获得动力后，ZK 行业今年的持续增长应该会看到用例的多样化和激增，包括数据保护、隐私和合规性领域的重要进步。
通过为区块链开发人员带来更安全、更高效的工具，ZK 技术的广泛优势将开始显现，到 2024 年，ZK 技术将在不同行业得到更广泛的应用。 ZK 技术不是部署在旨在与传统金融和技术竞争的孤立的 Web3 原生用例中，而是可以集成到遗留系统和平台中，为它们注入加密货币去中心化价值的好处，从而显着增强 用户授权 。 它通过确保强大的数据控制和隐私保护来实现这一目标，从而在不影响用户安心的情况下提供更加自由和安全的使用体验。
零知识可扩展性持续推进
简而言之，零知识证明（ZKP）允许一方（即证明者）向验证者验证一项声明，而无需透露除该特定事实之外的任何内容。 在实践中，ZKP 允许在链外执行复杂的计算，从而减少区块链上的拥塞。
This has proved revolutionary to the Ethereum ecosystem, where rising demand for blockspace has led to an increasingly congested network with high fees, creating barriers to mass adoption. Scaling solutions like sharding, sidechains, state channels, and rollups have helped tackle scalability issues to improve developer and user experience while maintaining Ethereum’s well-regarded security and transparency values.
The same properties that make ZK ideal for reducing congestion on decentralized networks also bring greater data protection benefits. Looking ahead, we can expect to see more projects harnessing ZK tech for a variety of use cases, not just for scaling but also for data protection and compliance, which will lay the groundwork for major changes in Web2 and Web3.
Putting aside all the benefits of scalability, it will be data protection that proves to be the killer use case for ZKPs, underpinning all other functions in blockchain applications. For context, data protection is a broader term than privacy as it encompasses security, integrity, and accessibility.
Data protection and privacy are often afterthoughts for people interacting online. This is by design – traditional digital platforms lure users in with free access and services, hiding the true cost in the fine print to collect and utilize valuable user data for analytics, targeting, and advertisement purposes.
However, recent surveys reveal that consumers are increasingly worried about the risk of data breaches and privacy infringements from their tech devices, with up to three-quarters of survey respondents agreeing they should do more to protect themselves.
As data breaches get more costly – amounting to 4.45 million U.S. dollars on average in 2023 – projects across various industries are seeking innovative solutions to prevent and reduce the impact of hacks and exploits. By empowering users to store personal information off-chain and enabling secure sensitive data disclosure, ZKPs can reduce vulnerabilities caused by the collective storage of data, which has been a prime target for hackers.
In 2024, the industry can expect a number of ZK-based privacy tools to advance and become user-ready, for example, ZK-login tools to streamline access to DeFi platforms, and ZK-based decentralized voting mechanisms to balance integrity and anonymity.
ZK technology can also address key data management problems in other sectors, proving to be a breakthrough tool for the mass adoption of blockchain technology.
With increasing concerns about data breaches from users, traditional social media and Web2 platforms, which are often built on a data mining model, could integrate privacy-enhancing features for users powered by ZK technology, such as secure end-to-end messaging.
In other cases, it may be institutions required to safeguard sensitive data sets that are the first adopters of ZKPs for privacy. For example, in supply chain management, logistics, and telemetry, ZKPs can be used to verify activity while disclosing the least amount of data necessary between two parties. Not only is this efficient, but it can also be important for maintaining intellectual property rights and reducing the data management burden of any one party.
Likewise, governments and other institutions that deal with sensitive data can adopt decentralized identifiers (DiDs) which can be used to verify identity and other information while optimizing for privacy. Since 2014, residents in Estonia have been granted a state-issued digital identity for access to public services, a model that the European Union is seeking and several countries are on the path to emulate.
Collaboration with traditional financial institutions could bring much-needed liquidity to DeFi, but integrations have previously been stifled by contradictions between the principles of anonymity and privacy associated with DeFi and the KYC requirements banks and large-scale investment corporations must abide by in many jurisdictions. By the same measure, traditional businesses may be put off by the transparent properties of the blockchain, not wishing to have the details of every transaction documented on a public ledger.
With the use of ZKPs, DeFi platforms can verify that a user meets KYC requirements and also verify transactions without revealing identifying information or other superfluous information, striking a balance between DeFi values and TradFi responsibilities. For example, a report by Etonec demonstrates how ZKPs can be used for compliance in a privacy-preserving fiat stablecoin system.
Similar to privacy-optimizing solutions, ZKPs can offer more customizable compliance options, tailored to user needs. This is important because individuals have unique preferences when it comes to convenience and data protection. To deliver financial freedom to the masses, DeFi platforms need to offer a wide range of options for users.
ZKPs support the modular evolution of blockchain, providing the building blocks to enable key functions like scaling, privacy, compliance, and importantly, interoperability.
In contrast to a monolithic blockchain like Bitcoin where all transactions are executed on a single layer, modular blockchains delegate functions to specific modules that make up an interoperable system. By reducing the workload of any specific component, modular blockchains reduce the likelihood of bugs and enable more efficient development.
在当前的情况下，第一层协议被视为相互竞争，但随着区块链的模块化演变，区块链层的概念将更多地演变成模块化构建块的概念。 作为可以廉价验证和跨链桥接的小型数据证明，ZKP 将成为将这个互连系统粘合在一起的粘合剂。
通过任务的专业化，每个模块将能够更快地推进——例如，开发人员可以专注于提高合规性，因为扩展已经得到考虑，从而导致各方面的实验和创新增加。
2024 年将会发生什么
在不断变化的行业格局和宏观经济环境中，适应性是任何技术生存的关键。 事实证明，零知识证明就是一种具有无限适应性的工具，可以解决各种挑战。 利用 ZK 的力量，明年我们将开始看到用例的扩展超出扩展范围，主要关注各个领域的数据管理、证明和应用程序。
