Is ZK the endgame? An inventory of 12 hot ZK tracks Alpha that have not issued coins
yet been issued coins | veDAO Research Institute
Recently, Arbitrum has once again made Layer 2 narrative popular due to its airdrop. When the OP Rollup was held, two major tracks, optimization and Arbitrum, were launched one after another, and brought huge wealth effects. Another major L2 narrative mainstay, the ZK track, has become one of the most focused targets in the industry. In fact, from the perspective of implementation prospects, although ZK Rollup is much more difficult than OP Rollup, its development prospects will be broader than OP Rollup.
After all, the development of OP Rollup is only aimed at the ERC category, which inevitably has the limitations of being a dojo in a screw shell. However, ZK Rollup can provide assistance in areas beyond the scope of ERC, and even the implementation of zero-knowledge proof can help prove trust in the entire real society, which is of more practical significance.
On March 24, Matter Labs CEO Gluchowski said in an interview with The Block that zkSync will achieve decentralization of the sequencer (release Token) in about a year.
Due to the experience of OP and ARB infrastructure airdrops, many people believe that zkSync has reserved a one-year 'airdrop' window period for the industry. Therefore, veDAO Research Institute has summarized 12 projects that have not yet issued tokens on the ZK track in the current industry, which may provide some foresight on the 2024 halving cycle and wealth expectations under the explosion of the ZK ecosystem.
Is ZK the endgame?
First, we need to have a simple understanding of zk:
Zero-knowledge proof (English: zero-knowledge proof) or zero-knowledge protocol (zero-knowledge protocol) is a method for one party (the prover) to prove a certain proposition to the other party (the tester). The characteristic is that in the process, except 'the proposition is true' 'No information will be leaked except for the above.' Therefore, it can be understood as 'zero leakage proof'. For example, if you want to prove to others that you possess certain information, you can directly disclose the information, but this will also leak the details; the essence of zero-knowledge proof lies in how to prove that you possess the information without revealing the content of the information. This is also the difficulty of zero-knowledge proof.
for example:
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A house with coded locks on the door and windows. At the gate, Alice wants to enter the room but doesn't know the password;
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After seeing this, Bob told Alice that he knew the code for the door and window, and if Alice needed it, he could sell it to her for $100;
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Alice doubts the authenticity of Bob's password, unless Bob tells Alice the password in advance and it is verified by Alice. After the verification is successful, Alice will pay Bob $100;
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Bob was worried that after the password was shared, his information would no longer be unique and would lose value, so he made a suggestion;
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Alice stands 20 meters outside the door. Bob opens the door first, enters the room and opens the window;
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As long as Alice sees the window open, it proves that the password Bob holds is true and valid;
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And Bob doesn’t have to worry about the password losing value due to sharing it in advance.
Throughout the entire process, neither Bob's verification behavior nor Alice's confirmation behavior caused the password to be leaked.
This logic is the basis of zero-knowledge proof. Zero-knowledge proofs are gaining traction in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world because of the growing demand for privacy and security in digital transactions. With the rise of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, there is an increasing need for a method that can verify transactions without leaking sensitive information, and ZKP can meet this need.
The technology is increasingly important for improving privacy and security in blockchain, cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi). Many DeFi projects have applied ZKP to services such as lending and trading to provide users with better privacy and security. Many Layer 1 blockchains are adding ZKP-based rollups or zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM). As the adoption rate of zero-knowledge proof applications increases, it is expected to play an increasingly important role in the blockchain and Web3 fields. At the 2022 Developers Conference (DevCon), more than 20% of the discussions centered on zero-knowledge proof technology, indicating the popularity of this technology.
ZK prospects:
In fact, with the popularization of the concept of zero-knowledge proof, more and more DeFi products have begun to accept and use this new technology. Especially zk Rollup, together with OP Rollup, has become the preferred second-layer network solution for Ethereum expansion. By using Rollup, users can reduce gas bills by up to 100 times compared to one-tier networks.
Compared with OP Rollup, its advantages are: higher security, stronger transaction confirmation timeliness, TPS and transaction costs are significantly better than OP Rollup; but its disadvantage is that it is not easy to be compatible with EVM.
Currently, zero-knowledge proofs are widely used in the following tracks:
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Identity Authentication: Zero-knowledge proofs can be used to verify a user’s identity without revealing any sensitive personal information.
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Credit record: Users can selectively present their credit records to the other party. On the one hand, they can selectively present record scores that meet the other party's requirements, and at the same time prove the authenticity of the credit record.
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Decentralized storage: Servers can prove to users that their data is being kept securely and not reveal any specific content of the data.
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Anonymous governance: Voters are allowed to vote, which can be verified, but the identity of the voter will not be exposed.
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Transaction confidentiality: By using the encryption currency of ZK technology, the sender and receiver addresses and transaction amounts can be shielded from the public blockchain, improving the privacy of user transactions.
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Compliance: Some countries have strict regulations regarding the collection and sharing of financial information, and decentralized platforms may have difficulty complying with these regulations. Zero-knowledge proofs can be used to share required information with regulators while keeping it confidential from other parties.
The ZK track has always been given a very high expected return on wealth by the market. This is not only because the implementation of Ethereum’s second-layer network will greatly help the industry, but also because global regulations are becoming increasingly stringent, and due to various black swans such as financial crises and bank thunderstorms, users are increasingly concerned about the centralized financial world. A deepening sense of distrust. The concept of a sound and reliable identity and information verification based on decentralized networks is gaining more and more attention. So much so that important products on the ZK track, such as zkSnyc and StarkNet, along with LayerZero, Arbitrum, and SuiNetwork, are called the most popular empty bids in 2023/24.
The following are zk Alpha products specially selected by veDAO Research Institute that have potential wealth effects and are still in the early stages of 'getting on board'.
project
zkSync
Official website:
Twitter:
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/3ec8ac45896ea13bc6929b44f2a9d9e0712057d1201823df5ec764c320054179
zkSync is a 2-chain that uses ZK rollup technology to solve Ethereum's current scalability issues. The chain has been developed by Matter Labs since 2019 and is currently in the Baby alpha stage and undergoing internal mainnet testing.
zkSync stands out through features such as low transaction costs (a few cents per transaction) using ZK SNARK technology, security benefiting from the security of Ethereum, and decentralization. zkSync also offers interoperability thanks to its V2 launch in February 2022, making it the first EVM-compatible ZK-Rollup, an achievement that should have taken several years.
zkSync focuses on 5 main Ethereum-related properties:
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As a universal protocol;
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EVM compatibility;
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Gas fees paid in ETH;
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Open source and decentralized.
Aleo
Official website:
Twitter:
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/29a3341b8d4af3c4f208f627a9cb052a61daae387c2937e611467432b324b1ad
Aleo is the first decentralized open source platform to support private and programmable applications. By opting out of privacy by default, Aleo enables a sustainable and equitable Web3 world that meets the needs of developers, consumers, and enterprises.
Aleo uses zero-knowledge cryptography for privacy and programmability. Zero-knowledge cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs allow third parties to verify the authenticity of a piece of information without us directly revealing it. Aleo uses this as the basis for a system called ZEXE (Zero-Knowledge Execution). In ZEXE, users perform state transitions offline. This process produces a proof, which is bundled into an on-chain transaction. This transaction updates the state of the system by consuming/creating on-chain records. Like Zcash, this system gives us strong privacy guarantees because a transaction only contains the proof, not the inputs that generated it. Like Ethereum, ZEXE can support smart contracts, enabling users to interact or transfer value in predefined ways.
StarkWare
Official website:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/StarkWareLtd
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/b3d1b7b9127814e0a648bb431ed75e8ad46b5a03fa613d5fd53ea0897438f039
StarkWare protects private blockchain data by leveraging concise zero-knowledge proof technology, which can be used for applications ranging from verifiable computing to privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies. The purpose of StarkWare is to bring transparent privacy and scalability to blockchain. StarkWare is working to leverage STARK technology to improve two factors that are crucial in the blockchain world: scalability and privacy. Its role is not only to promote the use of STARK technology, but also to provide 'zero-knowledge, concise, transparent, obvious, and secure' cryptographic proof.
StarkWare will develop a complete verification stack: software and hardware to support the fast and reliable generation and verification of computational integrity proofs for general computing. Its report implements for the first time a transparent ZK system (ZK-STARK) in which verification scales much faster than the database scales.
StarkWare is vigorously promoting the 'zk-starks' blockchain privacy solution developed by the Israel Institute of Technology. This solution uses a zero-knowledge proof protocol to protect blockchain privacy data, verify private information without spending a lot of computing power and deploying and installing software. It can also compress the data into a smaller size, improving efficiency, transparency and safety. Using StarkWare technology, the scalability and privacy of the blockchain can be improved.
Aztec Network
Official website:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/aztecnetwork
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/557b916f01df4f8803a3890fe9a995bc6439712332f9f97c8a7c1e5a7de0423d
Aztec Network is positioned as a private ZK Rollup based on Ethereum, aiming to help users privately and efficiently access Dapps in the Ethereum ecosystem. The project has currently launched two main products, one is the privacy transfer protocol zk.money based on Aztec Rollup, and the other is Aztec Connect, a privacy bridge that links Ethereum Dapps and Aztec Rollup.
Relying on zk.money and Aztec Connect, users can freely transfer money without exposing their own information (address, funds, etc.), and securely access multiple mainstream DeFi protocols such as Lido, Element, Aave, Compound, and Uniswap.
It is worth noting: On March 13 this year, Aztec Network announced that it would gradually shut down its DeFi privacy bridge project Aztec Connect, and would disable depositing funds into Aztec from zk.money and other front-ends (such as zkpay.finance) a week later Connect contract.
The team will focus on two new main products in the future:
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Noir, a general development language that supports zero-knowledge proofs;
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A new privacy-focused blockchain.
Scroll
Official website:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Scroll_ZKP
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/511850511badaa09b4631e41c6dc15537a00673c7e1dbb2aff59b497a41cc354
Scroll is committed to creating a more general zero-knowledge proof expansion solution, and boldly announced that it will decentralize power to the community, allowing nodes, certifiers, developers and users to build the Scroll community together. By building openly with the community and creating a reliable path for on-chain proofing and ordering, Scroll is committed to ensuring decentralization is possible at all levels.
zkLend
Official website:
Twitter:
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/c5e7e5e81786c6e51838bcfdd9d7e1fb27224f075f511d9c5bbeccc4aef748ef
zkLend is a money market protocol that combines zk-rollup scalability, superior transaction speed and cost savings with the security of Ethereum. zkLend is an L2 money market protocol built on StarkNet that combines the scalability of zk-rollup with the security of Ethereum, allowing participants to efficiently earn interest on deposits and seamlessly borrow assets. The zend token issued by Zklen will have three major functions: 1. Preferential borrowing rate; 2. Improve borrowing capacity, and 3. Governance participation.
At present, zkLend has completed a US$5 million seed round of financing, led by Delphi Digital. Other major investors include StarkWare, Three Arrows Capital, Genesis Block Ventures, Alameda Research, CMS, MetaCartel DAO, DCVC, Amber Group, TPS Capital, Ascensive , D3 Web Capital, 4 RC and SkyVision Capital, as well as other angel investors.
Mint Square
Official website:
https://mintsquare.io/starknet
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MintSquareNFT
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/db3b566df62ea3a72fe5fd2245ab1f6da86d844fae44634e04a029e93c5c9de4
Mint Square is an NFT platform on ETH Layer 2 ZK Rollup. Mint Square is an NFT platform on ETH Layer 2 ZK Rollup. It aims to build the best multi-chain ZK Rollup NFT market and integrates the two major platforms of StarkNet and zkSync Era.
ZKEX
Official website:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ZKEX_Official
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/0ad648ce13dfd7b6029f282044d8b3303d5cf37dd0d3403f5ee3cbf24b0e2497
ZKEX is a decentralized L2 multi-chain order book exchange (DEX) built on three ZK-rollups: zkLink, Starkware and zkSync. Users will be able to trade assets from multiple different chains with a Binance or Coinbase-like experience, but ZKEX will be decentralized, trust-minimized and non-custodial, with transactions secured by zero-knowledge proofs.
Iron Fish
Official website:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ironfishcrypto
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/87b34c6af754e2dffa419817b957e36e05a8c987315a88c328d6d075cf16e3c8
Iron Fish is a brand new cryptocurrency that uses zk-SNARKs and the Sapling protocol to protect every transaction. Anyone can run a node and contribute to its codebase.
By using zero-knowledge proofs, Iron Fish can construct private transactions that completely hide the sender, receiver, and amount, while providing proof that the transaction is valid. Every transaction on Iron Fish is private - no one can see the account details unless the owner grants read-only access via a view key.
YellowSubmarine
Official website:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Yellow_Subm
Yellow Submarine is the first and only dApp to offer private transactions for all EVM-compatible chains. It creates a privacy layer that spans any Ethereum ecosystem.
Through YS’s intuitive interface, users can use the MetaMask wallet to deposit a stablecoin, such as USDC, on any EVM-compatible chain and withdraw it in the form of BUSD or USDT from another EVM-compatible chain without any public traceable link. . Future versions of YS will allow users to retain the privacy tokens they hold - users do not need to reveal the type of token they hold and can use it as they wish.
Yellow Submarine also provides a one-stop solution for crypto asset holders who join its liquidity vault to profit from selected DeFi applications across a variety of EVM compatible chains. This is similar to providing liquidity to DeFi applications such as lending pools and receiving additional benefits from cross-chain fee income. By adding liquidity incentives and a pair of utility tokens (CUN) and governance tokens (veCUN), YS's liquidity providers can earn higher yields from multiple sources compared to using regular DeFi applications.
Nulink
Official website:
Twitter:
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/906e2ae183168a72045947ce84de33db7548d1cd140059b87445b0423d616136
Nulink is a privacy-preserving technology platform for distributed applications that allows users to remain anonymous (Daaps). The project will bring enterprise-grade security solutions to developers, startups, small businesses, and enterprises to achieve this goal. As its technical foundation, Nulink technology platform includes blockchain, access control (proxy re-encryption, attribute-based encryption) and secure computing (zero-knowledge proof, secure multi-party computation, fully homomorphic encryption) technology. It provides data exchange and processing capabilities enterprise-wide.
Nulink is building a solid technology foundation by combining best-in-class technologies. The integration of the application layer, cipher layer, storage layer, blockchain layer and Watcher Network is achieved through this matrix. For Nulink users, it is extremely easy to integrate into a single API and access a variety of storage and blockchain solutions. The network integrates NuCypher for key management. Bitcoin miners can earn $NLK by providing decentralized storage facilities, and they can earn $NLK by passing information from ETH to the observer layer.
Starkswap
Official website:
Twitter:
More information:
https://app.vedao.com/projects/29360a5d8a935cdba00c71caa60c5a5a81621c8f8a3816125b596fee13ed2c40
Starkswap is the first AMM DeFi product built on the public ZK-Rollup’s StarkNet; Starkswap is built on the underlying infrastructure and users will enjoy lightning-fast transactions at a cheaper cost (initially gas-free) while still benefiting Based on layer 1 Ethereum security.
Starkswap is a strong contender for the main AMM on Starknet. The team launched the testnet in March and announced that V1 was rebuilt from the ground up to support custom curves.
They also recently launched Iron Fleet with Yearn, a new protocol on Starknet that allows users to pool their assets while interacting with layer-1 DeFi protocols. This allows gas to be shared among users, reducing operating costs for everyone.
Summarize
Purely from the perspective of airdrops, whether it is the previous OP, the current ARB, or the upcoming Aptos, Sui, and next year's zkSync, the infrastructure has always been 'big' and is an important manifestation of the wealth effect.
The transmission of wealth effects often starts with infrastructure such as public chains and middleware, then reaches basic ecological applications, such as stablecoins, lending, exchanges, etc., and finally reaches non-basic applications (social networking, games).
At present, on the eve of the outbreak of the zk track, we need to pay full attention to the infrastructure and basic applications of the zk track.
References:
https://www.odaily.news/post/5184314
About veDAO
veDAO is an investment and financing community dedicated to exploring early potential projects. By gathering public wisdom and professional opinions, we provide community participants, investors, and project parties with a fair, transparent, and democratic project evaluation and investment and financing process, so that all participants can share the dividends of project development.
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