3 Must-Know Projects Bringing Zero-Knowledge Proofs to the Mainstream

Are you ready to explore the fantastic world of zero-knowledge proofs? In this article, we'll cover three interesting projects and explain zk-proofs like never before.

ZK this, ZK that, bro stop with this please. Starknet has only 8 monthly users, it was a failed airdrop, and nobody cares about ZK rollups. Well, let me slow you down a bit, lol. This tech is pretty awesome.

Let’s start easy peasy by understanding what the hell a zero-knowledge, or ZK, proof is. Example!

John loves drawing beautiful tigers but doesn't dare to show his drawings to his friends. He’s shy! 👉👈

His friends doubt his skills. They've never seen him draw! But John has a plan. There's a big tiger drawing contest coming up. To qualify, you must draw an amazing tiger.

If John enters and qualifies, his friends will know he can draw tigers. They won't see him draw, but they'll finally believe him.

John enters the contest, draws a tiger, and impresses the judges. His friends finally believe him! This guy can draw tigers. Hell yeah!

This is just like zk-proofs. Instead of directly showing something, you prove it without revealing anything. John's proof was his qualification. His friends didn't see him draw, but they know he can.

As you might have grasped, one benefit of zk-proofs is the privacy they afford. 

But that’s not the only advantage. We won’t delve too deeply into the details, but remember that zk-proofs are also faster. It actually makes sense. If we revisit our example, John didn’t have to show all his friends one by one how he draws tigers. He just showed his invitation to the contest.

Additionally, they are more memory-efficient. These proofs can verify larger computations with less effort compared to other proof systems.

But, there is one hiccup: these proofs must be verified at some point. Let’s say James tells you he got accepted to the contest. Sweet, but you want to check if it's true, right?

Unfortunately, Ethereum, and more precisely the EVM, its virtual machine (the big computer behind Ethereum), has not been designed with zk-proofs in mind. This makes the verification costs very high, and sometimes renders zk-proofs unusable.

Here comes the Aligned Layer. 

Instead of verifying your proofs directly on Ethereum, you’ll submit those proofs to Aligned Layer.

Now, what might you be wondering? Well, Aligned Layer specializes in verifying proofs. Think of Aligned as a network of dedicated verifiers ready to confirm that the proof you’ve submitted is correct.

Aligned takes on the role of Ethereum here. But don’t fret, they use EigenLayer’s restaking for their layer to maintain the same level of security as Ethereum. Same security as Ethereum, without the constraints of the EVM. Cool, right?

So, Aligned verifies your proof. The next step is to post the result of this verification to Ethereum. Yes, I said the "result of this verification". It’s already verified, why would you verify it a second time?

Now, you still have your data, aka the proof, to post somewhere. Well, Aligned will post it either on Ethereum or an AltDA like Celestia. Your choice.

The process of verifying proofs becomes much cheaper with Aligned Layer. We are talking about a +10x cost reduction, yes!

This is also somewhat faster. You don’t have to wait for your proof to be verified on Ethereum; you already receive a first (soft) confirmation from Aligned Layer.

No constraints from the EVM anymore, a lot of new potential use cases, and the goal of making zk-proofs mainstream: Aligned Layer is going to be one of the most prominent actors in the zero-knowledge field. But it is not the only one.

Nebra is a universal zk-proof aggregation protocol based on Ethereum. That sounds a bit crazy, right? Let me explain.

Verifying a zk-proof on Ethereum is very expensive. With Nebra, you can reduce those costs by five times.

Nebra proposed, "Why don't we verify a lot of ZK proofs off-chain, batch them into one big bundle, and verify only a single aggregated proof on-chain? This way, we maintain the security of Ethereum while reducing the cost per unit generated!" Smart, right?

Additionally, Nebra is universal. This means that proofs can come from any source. Whether submitted by zkRollups, zkCoprocessor, zkML, or any other, Nebra accepts those proofs.

Nebra is also permissionless, meaning any project can use it without having to ask the team first, allowing the technology to be utilized on a massive scale.

Several projects are already leveraging Nebra, such as Worldcoin and Brevis, a brand new ZK Coprocessor. Not sure what a Coprocessor is? Check our previous article.

And that’s the end… Wait a minute, you’re not even going to believe this is the end?

Succinct is a layer that produces zk-proofs for any blockchain. Yes, any blockchain. Its aim is to become a foundational layer for the generation of zk-proofs. Impressive, right?

You might be wondering how they do it—or perhaps not; either way, let me explain. Succinct operates as a network of provers. These provers generate zk-proofs on the Succinct network and then send the proofs to the customer.

To ensure the best prices for these customers, the Succinct layer is built in two parts: a marketplace where provers offer their best prices for each request, and an aggregation system that scales each produced proof to reduce the cost per unit. Easy peasy!

In essence, Succinct is like a contractor that you hire to handle the proving for you. Imagine you can’t draw a meme or don’t have the time to develop that skill; well, just hire someone to do it for you. Succinct is the same, but for proving.

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That article was a big one! But as the adage goes, "big innovation equals big article" (lol, I just made that up, sorry!). One thing is certain: zk-proofs have huge potential. We are still a bit far from widespread adoption, but projects like the ones we covered today are helping to bridge that gap.

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