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what is a zk snark

What is a zk-SNARK?

A zk-SNARK stands for "zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge." It is a cryptographic protocol that allows one party (the prover) to prove to another (the verifier) that a certain statement is true, without revealing any specific details about the statement or underlying data. Furthermore, this proof can be completed without requiring ongoing communication between the two parties—hence, "non-interactive"12.

Key Properties

  • Zero-Knowledge: No information about the statement or secret is revealed except the validity.
  • Succinct: The proofs are very small in size and can be verified quickly, making them scalable and efficient.
  • Non-Interactive: Only a single proof needs to be sent to the verifier (no back-and-forth required).
  • Argument of Knowledge: It proves possession of knowledge of a certain piece of information, without revealing that information.

Use in Cryptocurrencies

  • zk-SNARKs are prominent in cryptocurrencies focused on privacy and efficiency. For example, Zcash uses zk-SNARKs to enable fully encrypted transactions on a public blockchain, verifying their validity under consensus rules without revealing sender, recipient, or amount1.
  • Blockchains such as Mina Protocol use recursive zk-SNARKs to maintain a blockchain with minimal size, improving scalability and lowering storage requirements3.
  • zk-SNARKs are also fundamental in zk-Rollups for scaling solutions on platforms like Ethereum, allowing the validity of batched off-chain transactions to be verified succinctly on-chain4.

Importance and Impact

Experts including Vitalik Buterin recognize zk-SNARKs as a potential revolution in the field, due to their ability to combine privacy, efficiency, and scalability for blockchain and other data verification use cases25.
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