{"id":6674,"date":"2020-01-18T09:01:39","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T09:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qa-front.dev.techhub.cloud\/blog\/?page_id=2911"},"modified":"2024-04-18T08:54:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T08:54:08","slug":"zk-snarks-explained","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/paybis.com\/blog\/glossary\/zk-snarks-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"zk-SNARKs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you ever came across the term and want ZK-SNARKs explained to you in simple man\u2019s terms, you\u2019re in the right place.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ZK-SNARKs explained<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ZK-SNARKs are an extension of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zero-knowledge_proof\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">zero-knowledge protocol (ZKP) <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which secures communications by sharing knowledge of a secret, by never revealing the content of the secret itself. In other words, it\u2019s a form of cryptography.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what ZK-SNARKs stands for: \u201c<\/span><b>Z<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ero-<\/span><b>K<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nowledge <\/span><b>S<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">uccinct <\/span><b>N<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on-Interactive <\/span><b>Ar<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gument of <\/span><b>K<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nowledge\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The term \u201c<\/span><b>zero-knowledge<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d comes from the fact that no (\u201czero\u201d) information about the secret is revealed. The \u201cProver\u201d can convince the \u201cVerifier\u201d that a statement is true, without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By \u201c<\/span><b>succinct<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d, it is implied that this proof can be verified quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><b>Non-interactive<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d means that the proof consists of a single message sent from prover to verifier, and no further communication is necessary.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, the \u201c<\/span><b>Argument of Knowledge<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d is another name for \u201csound computational proof\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transparency is an important point of focus in Blockchain technology. As such, people would rather transact in complete privacy. And ZK-SNARKs helps you do just that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who invented ZK-SNARKs?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ZK-SNARKs may seem like modern technology, but the first zero-knowledge proofs <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/groups.csail.mit.edu\/cis\/pubs\/shafi\/1985-stoc.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were developed as early as the 1980s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">n<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/citation.cfm?id=2090263\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2012<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we got to know the current form and name of ZK-SNARKs. The person responsible for its release &#8211; Alessandro Chiesa &#8211; one of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/z.cash\/technology\/zksnarks\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zcash<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s co-founders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which cryptocurrencies implement ZK-Snarks?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most popular cryptocurrency that implements ZK-SNARKs is Zcash (ZEC).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This allows ZCash (ZEC) transactions the be completely anonymous, in terms of sender, recipient and transaction amount.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Furthermore, one can implement ZK-SNARKs in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/paybis.com\/blog\/glossary\/what-are-smart-contracts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">smart contracts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the Ethereum Blockchain, by using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/cornellblockchain\/a-brief-dive-into-zk-snarks-and-the-zokrates-toolbox-on-the-ethereum-blockchain-cb7bd7f00fdc\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the ZoKrates<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> toolbox.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to Zcash (ZEC), another cryptocurrency that plans on implementing ZK-SNARKs <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/tezoscommons\/zk-snarks-and-fine-tuned-privacy-is-coming-to-tezos-77a4422ad991\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in an upcoming update<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is Tezos (XTZ).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ZK-SNARKs are an extension of the zero-knowledge protocol (ZKP) which secures communications by sharing knowledge of a secret, by never revealing the content of the secret itself. In other words, it\u2019s a form of cryptography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","glossary_letter":[299],"glossary_term":[277,281],"class_list":["post-6674","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>zk-SNARKs Explained - Secure Communication For Users - Paybis Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are certain terms that the blockchain community finds hard to understand. 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