• Three German scientists formed ZeroSync Association to bring Zero-Knowledge Proofs to Bitcoin.
• Zero-knowledge Proofs is a cryptographic technique that uses cryptography to prove the validity of information revealing the information to the public.
• The prototype can however only verify Bitcoin consensus rules but not transaction signatures.
ZeroSync Association
Three German computer scientists have created a Swiss non-profit association called ZeroSync Association to help bring scalability to Bitcoin using zero-knowledge proofs (zk-proofs), a cryptographic technique whose popularity on Ethereum has surged considerably. The association has received sponsorship from Geometry Reaserch and StarkWare Industries, which are crypto investment firm and software company respectively.
What is Zero-Knowledge Proofs?
Zero-knowledge Proofs, commonly referred to as zk-proofs, is a cryptographic technique that uses cryptography to prove the validity of information revealing the information to the public. By deploying kz-proofs on Bitcoin means nodes will be able to sync almost instantly compared to hours and sometimes days that it takes to download the chain’s current 500GB data.
Working Prototype
At the moment, ZeroSync has already developed a working prototype that allows users to validate who owns what and the transaction history on Bitcoin without having to download the entire chain or using a third party. The prototype can however only verify Bitcoin consensus rules but not transaction signatures. It still needs optimization for security and speed before it can be fully deployed on Bitcoin.
Benefits of ZKP
When fully deployed on Bitcoin ZeroSync will allow verification of transaction of Bitcoin using cryptographic proof instead of trusting honest nodes as suggested by the Bitcoin founder Satoshi. This will increase scalability while reducing costs associated with running full node validators which tend incur huge expenses in terms maintenance, hardware costs, etc.
Conclusion
The three German scientists formed ZeroSync Association with support from Geometry Research and StarkWare Industries in order bring scalability through zk-proofs technology for faster transactions at lower cost than running full node validators