The following is a guest post through Rob Viglione” CEO of Horizen Labs.
Standards are the uncomfortable heroes of technological innovation. They pave the way for real interoperability and lay a solid foundation for companies to operate. A solid basis of standards and guidelines makes it possible for builders to take a longer view and to design more reliable technology.
From http for web browsen to SMTP for e -mail, standards have catalyzed paradigm shifts that have formed the modern world. As privacy technology ripens, the rise of standards is for Zero knowledge proofs (ZKPS) Promises to start a new era for web3 and then.
An attempt to standardize ZK is underway
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an US government agency that focuses on developing and maintaining standards in various industries, including cyber security, AI, health care and cryptography. Nist works under the Ministry of Trade and sets benchmarks for technical standards and measurements in the country.
Now, as part of his Privacy -Striking Cryptography (PEC) initiative, Nist has a Anticipated 2025 Deadline to standardize zero knowledge destinations (ZKPS), which can influence the blockchain world and then.
To do this, they have opened a “threshold call” – which is a constant open call for researchers to submit their proposals for advanced cryptographic techniques. By doing this, the desk collects an extensive set of reference material that they can use to base their analysis and standardization efforts. In essence, it is a way for the research community to participate in how these specifications and standards should be manufactured and why.
For this open call, experts were asked to submit and refine ZKP schedules to guarantee consistency, security and usability between applications. Without these standards, ZKPs run the risk of becoming a fragmented patchwork of solutions such as adoption skyrockets.
Standards unlock new eras of technological growth
With formal standards we can build trust and interoperability in fields such as blockchain, finance and identity verification, just as HTTP did for browsing web.
HTTP has set the internet as we know it, by making a standardized way for computers to transfer and transfer data and multimedia. With HTTP, users can now visit different websites using a browser, operating system or device. It also unlocked the possibility to use hyperlinks, so that the internet can navigate interactively and easily for everyone.
Before HTTP, the internet was largely based on text and centered around an assignment line interface. Used by academics and researchers, users could navigate files and information by entering assignments, but there was no graphic interface or hyperlinks to jump between pages. It was really just a limited network of computers that share information between each other. Once we had norms to make the internet accessible to everyone, the whole world began to wrap their mind over the World Wide Web, which formed the Dotcom era of Amazon and Google.
This is the level of standardization that we need for ZK -Cryptography, while we go completely to the Web3 era.
Nist has collaborated with the ZK Proof Initiative since 2019, as a way to support the development of open reference material on zero knowledge certificates. The Bureau research team also draws up guidelines that ZKPS can and cannot be used for. For example, ZKPs are ideal for proving the identity of a person without revealing anything else about them, but they are not suitable for opinions. They can only be used for verifiable explanations.
The team also maintains a community reference with relevant conditions, examples and recommendations to bring ZK Down to Earth for anyone who wants to study this transformative technology.
I look forward to 2025 and then
Formal standards will speed up the company The approval of ZK technology By reducing the risk and promoting interoperability. Early adopters such as Horizen Labs lay the foundation for this transition and create a basis for larger companies to build.
With standards that clear the road, zero knowledge destinations can become the backbone of a more private, safe and interoperable digital future. By participating in the standardization efforts of Nist, the cryptographic community can ensure that ZKP technology is ready to meet the requirements of a rapidly evolving, AI-driven world. This is our chance to not only define the future of Web3, but also the future of trust itself.