Zero-knowledge proofs coming to Bitcoin, overhauling network state validation

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) users will soon be able to make use of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to expedite the process of verifying individual blocks and, eventually, the entire blockchain. 

Swiss-based nonprofit ZeroSync Association is developing tooling which allows users to validate the state of the Bitcoin network without having to download the blockchain or trust a third party for verification.

ZeroSync Association is an organization that was formed to develop and maintain open-source software that enables succinct zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) on the Bitcoin blockchain. The group makes use of StarkWare’s proprietary zero-knowledge Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge (zk-STARK) validity proofs to generate ZKPs for the Bitcoin network.

The tool promises to overhaul the process of verifying the Bitcoin blockchain, which still requires node operators to download a large amount of data to synchronize the correct state of the Bitcoin network.

ZeroSync is using ZKPs as a means to eventually generate a valid proof to verify the latest state of the blockchain almost instantaneously.

ZKPs have been a revelation for the Ethereum ecosystem, with a variety of different proof methods powering a number of layer-2 scaling platforms including the likes of Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and StarkNet.

Related: Polygon’s ‘holy grail’ Ethereum-scaling zkEVM beta hits mainnet

An announcement from the ZeroSync Association highlights the promise of ZKPs for blockchain scalability and privacy by providing ‘almost-fixed-size’ proofs verifying large computations.

The project’s work pioneers the application of ZKPs for the Bitcoin network, with the organization describing Bitcoin’s relative simplicity and UTXO model as a unique value proposition for