What is Zero-knowledge proof?
As per Ethereum Foundation, Zero-knowledge proofs are used to establish the truth of a claim without disclosing the claim itself. The “prover” is the person making an assertion, while the “verifier” is the party checking that assertion. In a 1985 work by Shafi et al, titled “The knowledge complexity of interactive proof systems,” the term “zero-knowledge proof” was first used along with the following definition. The goal of a zero-knowledge protocol is to allow one party (the prover) to demonstrate the truth of a statement to another (the verifier) without disclosing any information beyond the fact that the statement in question is true. The development of zero-knowledge proofs over the years has resulted in their widespread usage in a variety of practical contexts.
The Necessity For Zero-Knowledge Proofs Begs an Obvious Question: Why?
As per Ethereum Foundation, a major step forward in the field of applied cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs promise to make personal data safer. Think about the steps you would take to convince someone of anything you assert (such as, “I am a member of Westminster nation”). A national passport or driver’s licence would suffice as “proof” to support your claim.
However, this method has certain drawbacks, the most significant being a loss of privacy. Shared personally identifiable information (PII) is maintained in centralised databases that hackers may easily access. There have been requests for more private ways to share information in light of the growing problem of identity theft.
This issue is addressed by zero-knowledge proofs, which do not need secret information to establish the veracity of a claim. The statement (a “witness”) is sent through the zero-knowledge protocol, which then outputs a brief justification for the statement’s veracity. The information needed to create the evidence is kept secret while providing strong assurances that the assertion being proven is accurate.
Referring to our original illustration, a zero-knowledge proof is required to back up a claim of citizenship. The verifier may be persuaded that the underlying assertion is true by only confirming that specific aspects of the evidence are actual.
Elusiv raises $3,5 million in a seed funding round co-led by LongHash Ventures to build Compliant Privacy Protocol
Elusiv, a privacy protocol that is Zero-Knowledge based and compliant, has raised $3.5 million in a seed investment round co-led by LongHash Ventures and Staking Facilities Ventures. It plans to utilise the money to hire more programmers, pay for security checks, and adapt its technology to work with many other blockchains.
Several angels, such as the founders of Solana, Zeta, Notify, Solflare, and UXD Protocol, have also invested. Other investors include Jump Crypto, NGC Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, Anagram, Cogitent Ventures, Equilibrium, Marin Ventures, Token Ventures, Moonrock Capital, Monke Ventures, and SolanaFM.
Vested Interest Disclosure: The author is an independent contributor publishing via our
What is Elusiv?
Compliance is at the heart of Elusiv, a Zero-Knowledge privacy system for anonymous on-chain financial transactions. Elusiv protects its users by preventing hostile actors from accessing the privacy protocol while still granting them privacy (even while engaging with regular non-private wallets on the blockchain). On top of that, Elusiv VMs, a new addition to Elusiv, allow for the quick creation of solutions that use broader ZK circuits.
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Image credits: Austin Distel and Mo.