This is the first currency that uses a specific type of ZKPs known as Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (ZK-SNARKs) to provide complete privacy to the user.
These proofs are concise and easy to verify; however, setting up the initial public parameters is a complicated process.
Bringing Zero-Knowledge Privacy to Smart Contract Platforms
The latter include two keys: the proving key and verifying key.
The process requires sampling some random numbers to construct the public parameters.
The issue is that these random numbers, also called toxic waste, must be destroyed after the parameter generation in order to prevent counterfeiting of Zcash.
For this purpose, the Zcash team came up with a multi-party computation protocol to generate the required public parameters collaboratively from independent locations to ensure that toxic waste is not created.
Because these public parameters are required to be created by the Zcash team, it means that the participants in the ceremony are trusted.
This is the reason why the ceremony was very open and conducted by making use of a multi-party computation mechanism.
Why This Matters for Blockchain Technology
This mechanism has a property whereby all of the participants in the ceremony will have to be compromised to compromise the final parameters.
When the ceremony is completed all participants physically destroyed the equipment used for private key generation.
This action eliminates any trace of the participants’ part of the private key on the equipment.
ZK-SNARKs must satisfy the properties for completeness, soundness, succinctness, and non- interactivity.
Key Points to Remember
- This is the first currency that uses a specific type of ZKPs known as Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (ZK-SNARKs) to provide complete privacy to the user.
- These proofs are concise and easy to verify; however, setting up the initial public parameters is a complicated process.
- The latter include two keys: the proving key and verifying key.
- The process requires sampling some random numbers to construct the public parameters.
Going Deeper: Advanced Concepts
Completeness means that there is a definite strategy for a prover to satisfy a verifier that an assertion is true.
On the other hand, soundness means that no prover can convince the verifier that a false statement is true.
Succinctness means that messages passed between the prover and verifier are tiny in size.
Finally, the property non-interactive means that the verification of correctness of an assertion can be carried out without any interaction or very little interaction.
Conclusion
Zcash represents one of the many innovative layers that make blockchain technology so powerful and transformative. As distributed systems continue to evolve, a solid understanding of these core concepts becomes increasingly valuable — not just for developers, but for anyone building, investing in, or working alongside blockchain-powered systems.
Whether you are just starting your blockchain journey or deepening existing expertise, mastering these fundamentals gives you the tools to think clearly about decentralized systems and make smarter decisions in this rapidly evolving space.