Zero-knowledge proofs are emerging as a key technology for scaling blockchain networks, moving beyond their original focus on privacy.
Speaking at ETHDenver, Simanta Gautam, co-founder and CEO of Alpen Labs, said the technology allows complex calculations to be verified without the need for each participant to process them.
How zero knowledge proves scale calculations
Instead of each node validating large data sets, a single entity performs the computation and generates a proof that others can quickly verify.
A zero-knowledge proof changes the model. One server does the heavy calculations and then produces a small cryptographic proof that anyone can quickly verify.
“What a zero-knowledge proof allows us to do is have a single server do that computation, generate a cryptographic proof, just like a signature, that can be verified by anyone,” Gautam said. “Your cell phone can verify it without actually verifying 100,000 transactions.”
That ability is powerful because it turns expensive computation into a lightweight verification problem.
Instead of re-running a huge program, a device only needs to check a compact proof. Gautam said this is important in environments with limited processing power, including phones and even Bitcoin itself, which is intentionally restrictive.
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Privacy, built-in
The technology also has a privacy side. A system can prove that transactions are valid or that a condition has been met, without revealing the details behind them.
An example is identity, where a user can prove they are over 21 without presenting a full driver’s license.
“Someone can get a cryptographic guarantee that those transactions are valid without knowing the internal information,” he said.
So far, much of the adoption has been around Ethereum rollups and Layer 2 networks, where zero-knowledge proofs help compress activity and reduce costs.
Gautam said the opportunity may be even more interesting for Bitcoin, where the base layer is more limited.
“And so these layer 2s that can be built with ‘zero-knowledge proofs’ allow us to completely broaden the horizons for the kinds of markets that could exist directly and be secured directly on Bitcoin,” he said.