How can you prove that you know something without revealing it? Zero Knowledge, ZCash, Ethereum
The Z ero-Knowledge proof - a method or process by which one person (checker) can prove something to another person (verifier), which this statement is true, without disclosing any further information about this statement, except for the fact that it really is ,
Let's take an example.
I managed to find a simple example to understand everything better. Imagine an experiment where we have a blind blind person who can not distinguish colors.
And we have two balls of different colors.
You know that these balls are different colors, but for a blind person they seem to be the same. The question is, how can you prove to him that these balls are actually different, without revealing any information, which one, even their actual color?
Here we prove the proof of zero knowledge.
You are conducting an experiment:
A mechanically blind man takes both balls and hides them behind his back. Then he shows you one ball, returns it back and shows you the same or the second ball again.
Every time you have to say if he has changed balls or not. From now on, every time he shows the ball, the probability of 50% has changed the ball.
Having looked at their colors, you can definitely tell if he switched them or not. On the other hand, if they were the same color and therefore indistinguishable, then you can not correctly guess with a probability higher than 50%.
If you repeat this proof several times, the fitter must make sure that the balls are actually different from the color, otherwise you will not be able to guess correctly that many times.
This is a perfect example of proof of zero knowledge. You never disclose what color and what ball is, but the blind person is convinced that the balls are actually different.
A more technical example may be that, given the hash of a random number, the verifier can convince the verifier not only that the number exists, but also that they really know such a number for this hash - again, without revealing any information about the number,
So why is everyone talking about this? Where can this be actually applied in the Crypto space?
ZCash
C ryptocurrency with a market capitalization of more than 840 000 000 US dollars is fully provided with evidence of Zero-Knowledge. Zcash is the first open crypto currency without permission, which can completely protect the confidentiality of transactions using zero-level cryptography.
Zcash works from a zero-proof design called zk-SNARK.
Zcash uses zk-SNARK to prove that the conditions for a valid transaction have been met without disclosing any important information about addresses or values. The sender of the shielded transaction builds a proof to show that with a high probability:
- The input values are summed with the output values for each screened transmission.
- the sender proves that they have personal keys to the cost of entry notes, which gives them the right to spend.
- The private keys of the costs of the input notes are cryptographically associated with the signature throughout the transaction in such a way that the transaction can not be changed by a party that did not know these secret keys.
Honestly, I have not yet analyzed Zcash, but now it seems fascinating in terms of technology and at the same time quite scary from the point of view of money laundering. In comparison with bitkoyn, you can trace the coin route, and as soon as it gets into some kind of exchange - EUREKA, most of the time you know the actual person with some bad things. With ZCash, you no longer have this ability.
Ethereum
T he recent Ethereum Metropolis (Byzantium) update added ZK-SNARKs - a cryptographic tool developed by the ZCash team. Building blocks of the verification algorithm were added to Ethereum in the form of precompiled smart contracts.
Using zk-SNARKS on Ethereum, you can transfer Token from one address to another without revealing the amount of the transaction. Consensus explained how he can work here .
In DevCon3 was introduced The Open Vote Network - a system that allows anonymous voting on the Ethereum platform using evidence from Zero-Knowledge.
Still early
It's still early, and not so many applications developed in Ethereum, but using Zero-knowledge proof, but it shows a huge potential for confidentiality in Ethereum Blockchain.
Note
I had the opportunity to study cryptography for six months. Although the course was interesting, it was not something that satisfied, because by that time I could not find any real use cases. And just a year ago I began to understand the real value of cryptography in the entire economy of CryptoCurrency, because everything is purely based on it and mathematics.
This knowledge allows me to understand the true value of the crypto currency, for example, Zcash and many others. I would strongly recommend that you go deeper into cryptography and its mechanics, since this knowledge gives you a huge advantage regardless of your goals.
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Author by: familyforever
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