Zero-knowledge proofs enable you to get loan approval without revealing how much money you make, login to websites without worrying about someone hacking your password, and confirm your age without telling anyone your date of birth. It sounds implausible, but it's a fact.
Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology is an online technology that makes it possible to verify information without revealing it. This makes sure that your data is always safe from external and/or malicious entities. Essentially, zero-knowledge proofs make using the internet safer.
Scientific proof of truth - no info needed
Zero-knowledge proofs are also known as a zero-knowledge protocol. They involve a set of methods or rules to keep processes secret and reveal only the end result.
A paper written back in 1985, The Knowledge Complexity of Interactive Proof Systems, first introduced the concept of ZKP. The paper defined zero-knowledge proofs as “a method by which the prover can prove a fact to the verifier without conceding any information except that the concrete statement is true.”
Today, ZKPs have real-world use cases such as electronic voting, gaming, secure communication, and access control.
Advantages of zero-knowledge proofs
JPMorgan, Ernst & Young, ING Bank, etc. are currently using zero-knowledge proofs. ZKPs have transformed data privacy and security by allowing users to prove their data is accurate without revealing it. Here are nine reasons zero-knowledge proofs are crucial today.
1. Data protection
Zero-knowledge proofs allow companies to verify data without bearing the liability of accessing sensitive details. They don't need to see the actual data, but they can validate it and ensure it is authentic.
2. Secure digital identity verification
In the digital age, it is crucial to prove one's identity online for various services, from e-commerce to financial services. Conventional methods typically require users to share personal data. If the connection is compromised, the user risks his data being stolen. Zero-knowledge proofs enable users to confirm their identity without revealing personal information, making sure the intended platform recognizes their data without risk of interception.
3. Safe transactions
Zero-knowledge proofs can safeguard online transactions by making sure the parties involved have the required funds or credentials without revealing account information.
4. Interoperability
Zero-knowledge-proof systems are designed with interoperability in mind, which means someone can receive credentials in one place and verify them in another, supporting the flexible and broad use of identity in an SSI system.
5. Preventing fraud
Zero-knowledge proofs can verify a claim's accuracy without revealing the underlying data behind it, thereby minimizing the risks of fraud and identity theft. One can't misuse or steal data if none is exchanged.
6. Ensuring data compliance
Zero-knowledge proofs make it possible to verify data without seeing its content, which helps meet data regulation requirements. Zero-knowledge proofs give companies the confidence to share data without worrying about security or privacy.
7. Choose what you share
Zero-knowledge proofs let people choose what data they share instead of simply enabling access to a full document. This is critical for SSI, where users must not share more than the minimum required for any transaction.
8. Decentralization
Zero-knowledge proofs do away with traditional ID systems, which often have a central organ that issues and verifies credentials. They make it possible to issue, hold, and verify credentials individually in alignment with decentralized SSI principles.
9. Scalability
Zero-knowledge proofs allow one to verify transactions without making data available, thereby helping improve blockchain scalability. This can limit the volume of data that one needs to hold on the blockchain, making it more efficient.
Zero-knowledge proofs are simple in nature
The prover sends the verifier a statement without revealing any data - not his age, no citizenship information, no educational or occupational background, no property ownership. Then, the verifier validates the data via special mathematical algorithms. They never see the data, and they don't need to.
Three security criteria
Zero-knowledge proofs must meet three main criteria to be secure: soundness, completeness, and zero knowledge.
Soundness makes sure the verifier can reject false statements. The verifier cannot be deceived into thinking an invalid statement is valid.
According to the principle of completeness, the verifier will accept legitimate proof from the prover as valid.
Finally, neither party accesses any confidential data during the process.
Zero-knowledge proofs – Recent developments
QuickNode, the leading blockchain infrastructure provider, recently announced it added support for zkSync hyperchains. Clients are now able to access scalable and fast zero-knowledge-proof technology. Among the advantages for businesses is the ability to develop highly scalable solutions without sacrificing security and speed. Hyperchains use zero-knowledge-proof technology to guarantee data privacy, making them perfect for hosting enterprise use cases.
Hyperchains are zkEVM products that operate in parallel with the ZK Stack-based Mainnet, a modular framework that makes customizing and deploying interoperable ZK-powered blockchains seamless. Anyone can develop and deploy them permissionlessly, with the L1 blockchain providing truth as a single source. One can bridge assets from the zkSync Mainnet to hyperchains easily, which will enable the free flow of liquidity.
Overcoming technological limitations
Hyperchains let enterprises build on the blockchain without performance limitations. QuickNode secures and operates the infrastructure so clients can focus on improving user experience and creating applications.
Use cases
The blockchain solutions companies using hyperchains can create can be applied in areas such as AI, gaming, SportsFi, and many more, which are subject to zero-knowledge proof. What's more, this can happen in a dynamic and highly secure environment. The companies can bring their products on the blockchain swiftly thanks to QuickNode's reliable infrastructure, which supports very high speeds.
Challenges of zero-knowledge proofs
Zero-knowledge proofs have unique functions, but they are not without challenges. The main ones include prohibitive hardware requirements, complicated calculations, and high costs of verifying proof.
The complex calculations needed to generate zero-knowledge proofs require powerful specialized equipment. The end user bears the cost. This can make zero-knowledge proof-based applications less affordable, although efforts are being made to overcome this limitation.
The hardware is too heavy to run on mobile devices, at least for now.
The verification process remains costly as well. For example, ZK rollups on the Ethereum Mainnet require approximately 500,000 gas to verify just one ZK SNARK proof.
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