Is Zero-Knowledge Proof the next big thing in crypto?

Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) will play a significant role in the finance industry and which blockchains and web3 projects become popular as the technology offers enhanced privacy and scalability, according to a recent report by Mina Foundation.

CEO of the Mina Foundation, Evan Shapiro, commented on the survey results and told CryptoSlate:

“ZKPs becoming part of our common language for discussing Web3 solutions marks a major milestone for the technology and for the future of digital data security and data ownership.”

The majority of the sample group were crypto traders (66%), while the rest identified as crypto community members (22%) and developers (11%). Almost all participants knew what ZKPs were, while 80% of the developers said they built with them.

Privacy and scalability

The results showed that scalability and privacy are the most potent applications of ZKPs.

When participants voted for the main advantage of ZKPs, 30.7% chose privacy, 18.2% decided scalability, and 46% chose both. The report states that the slight difference between privacy and scalability indicates that the industry’s attention is shifting towards privacy.

Scalability is one of the main problems of significant blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockchains depend on their hardware and infrastructure for performance. ZKPs can also be implemented to provide more lightweight applications that can run on mobile phones.

ZKP restrains information by definition, and leveraging the technology will allow blockchains to enhance their data privacy capabilities.

Looking for ZKP in crypto

Almost all participants (90.1%) said they find cryptocurrencies that use ZKPs ‘more attractive.’

Even though the illicit activities take up only a tiny percentage of the whole market, they increased significantly in the last year. The turn towards privacy and looking for implemented ZKPs in cryptocurrencies could indicate the rising awareness of scams and attacks.

In addition to cryptocurrencies, 52.1% of the participants said they’d also be more willing to use a dApp with implemented ZKPs.

Shapiro noted these results and said:

“The ZKP Report reveals that ZKPs as a solution for privacy and scalability is now widely understood across the crypto community, which is a stark shift from years past where ZKPs were mostly just a theoretical object accessible only to cryptographers and PhDs.”

Web3, metaverse, and finance

The results also indicated that most respondents believe ZKP is essential to the future of the metaverse, Web3, and the finance industry.

Participants were asked to rate the importance of ZKPs to the Metaverse and Web 3. Most participants — 77.7% — gave ZKP a score of eight or higher on the importance scale.

In addition, 40.6% of the participants said the finance industry could benefit from ZKPs the most. On the other hand, 34.9% said all industries, including finance, health care, social media, e-commerce, gaming & entertainment, and collectibles, could see significant benefits in incorporating ZKPs.