A cryptographic way to demonstrate a claim without revealing the secret information used to establish it.
A zero-knowledge proof can show that a condition holds while keeping the underlying witness private. Some information can still be public, such as the claim being checked. Whether an app protects privacy depends on the whole design, including what it publishes alongside the proof.
IN THE WILD
"I can prove I'm eligible without sending you the private credential that establishes it."
The verifier checks a proof of the batch's execution rather than relying only on a window for fraud challenges. Despite the ZK name, this does not mean every transaction is private. Rollups still publish required data, and the complete design includes sequencing, upgrades, data availability and withdrawal rules.
IN THE WILD
Ethereum's verifier contract checks the batch proof before accepting the rollup's new state commitment.
A succinct, non-interactive argument of knowledge that can demonstrate a claim with a compact zero-knowledge proof.
A prover does the work of constructing a proof, and a verifier checks it without interactive rounds with the prover. Succinctness makes the proof compact relative to the computation being demonstrated. Different SNARK schemes use different setup and security assumptions, so the acronym does not describe one universal implementation.
IN THE WILD
The verifier receives a compact proof that the computation followed its rules, without seeing the private witness or running interactive rounds.
A zero-knowledge form of a scalable, transparent argument of knowledge, typically using hash-based techniques.
Transparent means the setup does not depend on keeping a secret value from a trusted ceremony. STARK systems still need correctly specified computations and sound implementations. Their proof sizes and proving or verification costs differ from many SNARK designs, which matters when deciding where the proof will be checked.
IN THE WILD
The batch's execution is proved with a transparent setup, without a secret trusted-setup ceremony.
The daily pick rotates automatically. Our initial collection was published on October 9, 2026. New words join on their publication date. Every concept includes a reference.