Author: Robin Linus 2023-05-12 12:12:03
Published on: 2023-05-12T12:12:03+00:00
The first-ever proof system, ZeroSync, has been introduced to address scalability challenges in Bitcoin with Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge (SNARKs). This technology compresses the entire Bitcoin blockchain into a compact proof of validity, allowing instant verification and unlocking various innovative applications. The prototype implementation of a chain state proof utilizes the Cairo language, Utreexo, and recursive STARKs. Chain state proofs require no consensus changes, which is crucial as forks in Bitcoin are challenging to implement and achieve consensus for. ZeroSync enables diverse applications including quick bootstrapping of full nodes, trustless light clients, enhanced Lightning Network privacy, and secure cross-chain bridges. Optimization strategies were presented to demonstrate the practicality of generating a complete chain state proof despite the existing bottleneck of prover performance.Furthermore, zkCoins, a client-side validation protocol combined with zero-knowledge SNARKs, drastically improves privacy and throughput of token transactions. In combination with future Bitcoin features such as Simplicity, zkCoins also enables private and more scalable BTC transactions. The groundbreaking compression capabilities of SNARKs initiated a paradigm shift in cryptocurrency design, and ZeroSync pioneers their application to Bitcoin. The paper can be found at https://zerosync.org/zerosync.pdf. Robin Linus invites the bitcoin dev community to comment and ask any questions about the paper.
Updated on: 2023-06-16T18:28:45.965987+00:00