StarkWare’s zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are now available on the Bitcoin blockchain, following successful implementation on Ethereum. The ZeroSync Association, a non-profit organisation supported by various community stakeholders including Lightning Labs, has launched the technology in a bid to upgrade the Bitcoin protocol. The ZKPs, known as zk-STARKs, have already been used by StarkWare on Ethereum, and are designed to offer a more scalable and efficient alternative to zk-SNARKs, which is used by the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash. ZeroSync has developed a software development kit (SDK) to generate custom validity proofs for Bitcoin developers, which also enables faster initial block download (IBD) and implementation of the first full proof-of-Bitcoin consensus. ZeroSync’s SDK client facilitates compression of the transaction history of validation protocols, and can be used by Bitcoin exchanges and custodial services to provide proof-of-reserves. The initiative is funded by StarkWare and Geometry Research, and ZeroSync is currently using Cairo, StarkWare’s programming language, for the first version of its software.
