Zk-snarks

What Are Zk-snarks?

Zk-Snarks is an abbreviation for Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Knowledge Argument. They aid in the establishment of trust while interacting on a blockchain and significantly speed up transaction verification while concealing facts from prying eyes. 

Features of Zk-snarks

Zero knowledge implies that one party wishes to demonstrate the truth of a proposition without revealing why it is true. When engaging with a blockchain, a user may be required to confirm that certain requirements are met before completing a transaction. 

For instance, they must demonstrate that they have sufficient funds to conduct a transaction while not disclosing how much money they have in their wallet. Zk-SNARKs can also be used to prove one's identity in a blockchain. 

For example, if Jane wants to confirm John's identity, they could send a secret message to John without informing them what it is and ask John to decode it using their private key. The message can then be sent back to John, establishing their identity. 

In a nutshell, this means that the zero-knowledge proof can be validated in a matter of milliseconds, even for statements relating to large-scale applications. Non-interactive describes a zero-knowledge protocol in which the prover and verifier have little to no contact. This implies they can only exchange one proof. 

Argument indicates that it is secure only for provers with limited computational resources, implying that provers with sufficient computational capacity can persuade the verifier of a false statement. 

It is unattainable for the prover to make a proof/argument without knowledge. Zk-SNARKs only stores the transaction proof on the blockchain node, protecting the sender, receiver, and other transaction data.