Opinion articles present diverse opinions and do not represent the position of "WEB3+"
Annual investment exceeds US$400 million! Why is "zero-knowledge proof" important?
Vitalik (the founder of Ethereum) once said in a public speech that although Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) and blockchain are two technologies that can exist independently, they are the most complementary technologies to each other. Especially in the following three areas: privacy, scalability, and interoperability.
According to Messari, investment in the ZK space exceeded $400 million in 2023, with a focus on scalability of the Ethereum L1/L2 layer and the emerging ZK developer infrastructure.
While ZK technology is relatively new, its rapidly growing ecosystem is expected to integrate best practices to enable more secure, private, and scalable blockchain applications.
Today, through this article, readers can understand the important impact of zero-knowledge proof on the Web3 field from a shallower to a deeper level.
What is a zero-knowledge proof?
Zero-knowledge proof is a technique for proving the authenticity of a statement while maintaining privacy.
This technology is of great significance in the fields of information security and privacy protection. Let’s take a closer look at what it is, why it’s important, and how it works and is applied.
Essentially, zero-knowledge proof is a cryptographic technique that allows one party (called the prover) to prove to another party (the verifier) that a computation is valid without exposing any of the underlying information used to establish the computation. ZKP originated in 1985. Currently, with the latest advancements in software tools and hardware, ZK is no longer limited and has developed from theory to practical applications.
A classic example of zero-knowledge proof is "Where's Waldo?" "game.
The prover knows where Willy is in the picture but does not want to reveal the exact location. They can prove they know where Willy is without revealing his exact location by using a mask that obscures most of the image and only reveals Willy. This is a zero-knowledge proof: the prover proves a fact (knows Willy's location) without revealing any other information.
To put it simply, it means "I know, but I won't tell you what it is." Let’s use a real-life example: If you need to prove your age to buy wine, but don’t want to reveal your specific date of birth or other personal information, zero-knowledge proof is a technology that can help you do this.
If you need to prove you're old enough to buy alcohol, but don't want to reveal your specific date of birth or other personal information, zero-knowledge proofs are a technology that can help you do so.
Three major complementarities between zero-knowledge proof and blockchain!
When Vitalik once said that zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) and blockchain are very complementary, he emphasized the mutual enhancement of privacy and scalability (Scalability), as well as the mutual trust achieved through ZKP. Operationally, let’s dive into these three positive benefits of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) to blockchain.
Help 1: Privacy Protection (Privacy)
A key feature of blockchain is transparency: all transaction records are public, meaning anyone can view transaction details. This can be an advantage in some situations, but can also lead to privacy issues. For example, on the Bitcoin network, although addresses are anonymous, the behavioral patterns of specific users can be tracked by analyzing transaction graphs.
Zero-knowledge proofs play a key role here. Through ZK technology, users can prove that they have complied with specific rules (for example, paid enough funds) without revealing the specific details of the transaction. This enhances the privacy of blockchain users as it hides their identities and the specific content of transactions.
Help 2: Scalability of blockchain
Another major challenge facing blockchain is scalability. As more transactions and complex smart contracts are loaded onto the blockchain, processing slows down and transaction fees increase.
Another important feature of ZKP is where simplicity can help. It refers to the fact that even if the statement to be proved is very complex, the required proof can be very short and efficient. This is particularly important in resource-constrained environments such as blockchain, as it means complex verifications can be performed without tying up large amounts of network resources. This feature is very effective in reducing the size of transaction data and improving system throughput.
Zero-knowledge proofs can help solve this problem in the following ways:
ZK Rollups: This is a Layer 2 solution that “rolls up” multiple transactions into a single transaction and sends it out to the main chain. ZK technology ensures that these rolled transactions are executed correctly without having to process them one by one. This greatly reduces the data burden on the blockchain, increases throughput, and reduces transaction costs.
Application of ZK-SNARKs in smart contracts: The increasing complexity and number of smart contracts poses challenges to the performance of blockchains. With ZK proofs, some calculations of a smart contract can be performed outside the blockchain, and only the final proof is sent to the chain. This reduces the burden on the blockchain while maintaining the integrity and security of the contract logic.
Help Three: Trustless Interoperability
Current blockchain interoperability protocols rely on trusted systems (such as multi-signatures or incentivized validator sets). ZKPs can replace the encryption economic trust assumption through cryptographic proof, opening up new paths for safer and more robust cross-chain communications. Among the main applications of ZKP, interoperability is one of the most emerging areas.
What are the applications of zero-knowledge proofs?
With the advancement of encryption technology and the blockchain community's increasing attention to ZKP, the performance of ZKP has been significantly improved, which has promoted its application in various fields. The ZK ecosystem can be divided into three layers:
1. Infrastructure layer: tools or hardware used to build protocols or applications on ZK, for example: ZK-VM, which is a new type of blockchain virtual machine that uses ZKP to ensure transactions and smart contracts The execution is not only correct, but also private. This offers huge potential for enhancing the privacy and functionality of blockchain platforms.
2. Network layer: That is, using the L1 and L2 protocols of the ZK proof system, such as ZK Rollup, which is a Layer 2 solution that can package multiple transactions together and then use a single zero-knowledge proof to Verify these transactions. This not only maintains the privacy of transactions, but also greatly improves the processing power and throughput of the blockchain.
3. Application layer: User terminal products that utilize the ZK mechanism, such as Dark Forest, which is a ZKP-based game that demonstrates how to implement interactive game mechanisms while protecting player privacy.
Zero-knowledge proofs have a wide range of applications. Here are some application cases:
1. Privacy-preserving payment system: Such as Zcash, which allows users to conduct cryptocurrency transactions without exposing transaction details.
2. Identity verification: Users can prove that they possess certain qualifications or attributes without revealing specific identity information.
3. Smart contracts: On the blockchain, zero-knowledge proofs can be used to prove that certain conditions have been met without having to disclose the specific information that meets these conditions.
4. Compliance verification: Businesses can prove that they comply with certain rules or standards without revealing trade secrets.
Where is the market demand for generating ZK proofs?
While ZK technology is very effective at improving a project’s scalability, privacy, and credibility, it requires a lot of computing power. The overhead caused by this high computing demand puts pressure on infrastructure teams and represents a huge market opportunity for companies that can provide this computing service effectively and efficiently.
In terms of methods for generating ZK proofs, there are two different models: Proof Markets and Proof Networks. Proof Markets provides flexibility and cost-effectiveness, allowing a wider range of participants to participate in the generation of ZK proofs. Proof Networks provides a smoother, more developer-friendly experience through internal servers.
With the emergence of emerging ZK applications such as ZK Coprocessors, ZK Attestation, ZKML, and ZK Bridges, the need to generate ZK proofs continues to increase. The diversity and growth rate of these applications indicates that the application of ZK technology is expanding into a wider range of fields, further driving the need for ZK proof generation capabilities.
The future of zero-knowledge ecosystems
Although still in its early stages, the rapid development of the ZK ecosystem promises to usher in a new era of secure, private, and scalable blockchain solutions.
The future of ZK primarily involves novel zero-knowledge proof designs that prioritize speed, reduced hardware requirements, improved developer tools, and support for decentralized proof generation.
While both Optimistic and ZK scaling solutions are used for verified aggregated transactions, each solution has associated design trade-offs between security, latency and computational efficiency, but in the medium to long term we will see that both The integration of multiple stacks to adapt to a diverse range of on-chain applications.
The ZK application layer is still in its infancy, but it is likely to grow as end users increasingly demand privacy protection on public blockchains, such as Solana’s Token 22 program with Confidential Transfers (e.g. leveraging ZKP cryptographic tokens Emerging concepts such as privacy features for balances and SPL token transfer amounts) demonstrate the adaptability and potential of ZK beyond the ETH ecosystem.
The transformative potential of ZK is emerging, heralding improvements in the security, privacy, and scalability of blockchain solutions, and as the infrastructure in the ZK space develops, we will be able to unlock more forms of on-chain applications.
Opinion articles present diverse opinions and do not represent the position of "WEB3+"
Review editor: Gao Jingyuan
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