The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organization, has awarded a decade-old research paper with the “Test of Time” award. The paper, titled “Zerocash: Decentralized Anonymous Payments from Bitcoin,” is considered a “blueprint” for the first practical use of zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) and has had a significant impact on the field of computer security and privacy.
The paper, written by Alessandro Chiesa, Christina Garman, Matthew Green, Ian Miers, Eran Tromer, Madars Virza, and Eli Ben-Sasson, introduced the concept of ZK-proofs in the crypto world and has since been cited 2,400 times in academic research. Although it didn’t revolutionize finance, it laid the foundation for numerous projects utilizing ZK-proofs and demonstrated the first practical application of this cryptographic technique for enhancing privacy in cryptocurrencies.
The authors of the paper have been recognized for their contribution to the field. Eli Ben-Sasson, who founded the blockchain scaling firm StarkWare, expressed his belief that the paper was a pivotal moment for ZK-proofs in blockchain research, sparking a growing fascination with how this technology can benefit the crypto industry.
The paper described the use of Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zk-SNARKS) to create a private payment protocol called Zerocash, which conceals the origin, destination, and number of transactions. ZK-proofs have now become a widely used technique in Ethereum layer-2 solutions, enabling the validation of on-chain data without revealing its specific details. This scalability solution has been adopted by various layer-2 networks such as StarkNet, Linea, zkSync Era, Scroll, and Polygon.
Despite recent regulatory crackdowns on privacy-preserving protocols, ZK-proofs offer a potential solution by ensuring privacy while preventing funds from being sent to sanctioned entities. Eli Ben-Sasson emphasized the importance of privacy and announced plans to incorporate ZK capabilities into their prover Stwo, which will provide developers with a more scalable version of the Zerocash construction on StarkNet and Ethereum.
The recognition of this research paper highlights the lasting impact it has had on the field of computer security and privacy. ZK-proofs have become an essential tool in the crypto industry, enabling enhanced privacy and scalability in various applications.