Zero-Knowledge Proofs Simplified
Demonstrating how these go beyond 'take my word for it' with a simple python example
A term that’s reached buzzword prominence in blockchain circles is “Zero-Knowledge Proofs”. Since most people now know that transactions in Bitcoin and Ethereum are on a very public ledger for all the world to see, zero-knowledge proofs have been touted as some kind of ultimate privacy tool.
But what are Zero-knowledge proofs?
References
- [1] Oded Goldreich, Silvio Micali, and Avi Wigderson. Proofs that yield nothing but their validity or all languages in np have zero-knowledge proof systems. Journal of the ACM(JACM), 38(3):690–728, 1991.
- [2] Shafi Goldwasser, Silvio Micali, and Charles Rackoff. The knowledge complexity of interactive proof systems. SIAM Journal on Computing, 18(1):186–208, 1985.
- [3] Ronen Gradwohl, Moni Naor, Benny Pinkas, and Guy N Rothblum. Cryptographic and physical zero-knowledge proof systems for solutions of sudoku puzzles. In International Conference on Fun with Algorithms pages 166–182. Springer, 2007.
- [4] Takayuki Yato and Takahiro Seta. Complexity and completeness of finding another solution and its application to puzzles. IEICE transactions on fundamentals of electronics, communications, and computer sciences, 86(5):1052–1060, 2003.
Cited as:
@article{mcateer2019zkproof,
title = "Zero-Knowledge Proofs Simplified",
author = "McAteer, Matthew",
journal = "matthewmcateer.me",
year = "2019",
url = "https://matthewmcateer.me/blog/zk-proofs-simplified/"
}
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