📊 Now LIVE: RWA Report 2024
Coins: 13,533
Exchanges: 1,031
Market Cap: $2.792T 0.5%
24h Vol: $144.499B
Gas: 37 GWEI
Go Ad-free

Zero Knowledge Proof

By CoinGecko | Updated on Feb 14, 2023
A zero-knowledge proof (zk proof) is a cryptographic proof by which a "prover" can prove to a "verifier" whether the prover knows a certain value, without revealing what the value itself was to the verifier. The most famous analogy for explaining how zero-knowledge proof is "The Ali Baba Cave" story which first appeared in a book by cryptographer Jean-Jacques Quisquater and other. The Ali Baba Cave assumes Peggy (the prover), Victor (the verifier) and a Cave akin to the one from the Ali Baba Story (zk proof). In the story, there is a magical cave with a ringed-shaped path with the entrance/exit on one side an a magical door blocking the ringed shaped path in the middle, and the only way to open the door is by uttering a magic phrase. Peggy wants to prove to Victor that she knows the magic phrase to open the door without telling what the phrase is, as Peggy is a private person and fears that Victor may not know the phrase and is secretly trying to steal the knowledge of the phrase from Peggy. They label the left and right paths from the entrance A and B. First, Victor waits outside the cave as Peggy goes in. Peggy takes either path A or B; Victor is not allowed to see which path she takes. Then, Victor enters the cave and shouts the name of the path he wants her to use to return, either A or B, chosen at random. Providing she really does know the magic word, this is easy: she opens the door, if necessary, and returns along the desired path. If Peggy does not know the magic phrase, she has a 50% chance to exit via the path Victor named. However, by repeating the test, Peggy's chances of tricking Victor would become exponentially thin. The only way to guarantee her using the correct path all the time is by knowing the magic phrase.

Related Terms

Gas
A unit of measurement of the computational effort in conducting transactions or smart contracts on Ethereum blockchain.
Solo Staker
A Qtum PoS miner using their own coins for staking. Qtum blockchain launched with Solo Stakers and will continue to have this available after offline staking launches.
IEO
Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) is a spin-off of Initial Coin Offering (ICO), where the sale of tokens are conducted on an exchange rather than by the coin team themselves.
ASIC Resistant
A term used to describe cryptocurrency proof-of-work protocols that are resistant to Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), by packing in various parameters that make it difficult for ASICs to have a competitive edge against consumer hardwares.
Hungry for more knowledge?
Back to Glossary or Subscribe to our newsletter.
coingecko
Continue in app
Track prices in real-time
Open App
Select Currency
Suggested Currencies
USD
US Dollar
IDR
Indonesian Rupiah
TWD
New Taiwan Dollar
EUR
Euro
KRW
South Korean Won
JPY
Japanese Yen
RUB
Russian Ruble
CNY
Chinese Yuan
Fiat Currencies
AED
United Arab Emirates Dirham
ARS
Argentine Peso
AUD
Australian Dollar
BDT
Bangladeshi Taka
BHD
Bahraini Dinar
BMD
Bermudian Dollar
BRL
Brazil Real
CAD
Canadian Dollar
CHF
Swiss Franc
CLP
Chilean Peso
CZK
Czech Koruna
DKK
Danish Krone
GBP
British Pound Sterling
GEL
Georgian Lari
HKD
Hong Kong Dollar
HUF
Hungarian Forint
ILS
Israeli New Shekel
INR
Indian Rupee
KWD
Kuwaiti Dinar
LKR
Sri Lankan Rupee
MMK
Burmese Kyat
MXN
Mexican Peso
MYR
Malaysian Ringgit
NGN
Nigerian Naira
NOK
Norwegian Krone
NZD
New Zealand Dollar
PHP
Philippine Peso
PKR
Pakistani Rupee
PLN
Polish Zloty
SAR
Saudi Riyal
SEK
Swedish Krona
SGD
Singapore Dollar
THB
Thai Baht
TRY
Turkish Lira
UAH
Ukrainian hryvnia
VEF
Venezuelan bolívar fuerte
VND
Vietnamese đồng
ZAR
South African Rand
XDR
IMF Special Drawing Rights
Cryptocurrencies
BTC
Bitcoin
ETH
Ether
LTC
Litecoin
BCH
Bitcoin Cash
BNB
Binance Coin
EOS
EOS
XRP
XRP
XLM
Lumens
LINK
Chainlink
DOT
Polkadot
YFI
Yearn.finance
Bitcoin Units
BITS
Bits
SATS
Satoshi
Commodities
XAG
Silver - Troy Ounce
XAU
Gold - Troy Ounce
Select Language
Popular Languages
EN
English
RU
Русский
DE
Deutsch
PL
język polski
ES
Español
VI
Tiếng việt
FR
Français
PT
Português
All Languages
AR
العربية
BG
български
CS
čeština
DA
dansk
EL
Ελληνικά
FI
suomen kieli
HE
עִבְרִית
HI
हिंदी
HR
hrvatski
HU
Magyar nyelv
ID
Bahasa Indonesia
IT
Italiano
JA
日本語
KO
한국어
LT
lietuvių kalba
NL
Nederlands
NO
norsk
RO
Limba română
SK
slovenský jazyk
SL
slovenski jezik
SV
Svenska
TH
ภาษาไทย
TR
Türkçe
UK
украї́нська мо́ва
ZH
简体中文
ZH-TW
繁體中文
Login to track your favorite coin easily 🚀
By continuing, you agree to CoinGecko Terms of Service and acknowledge you’ve read our Privacy Policy
or
Forgot your password?
Didn't receive confirmation instructions?
Resend confirmation instructions
IT'S FREE! Track your favorite coin easily with CoinGecko 🚀
By continuing, you agree to CoinGecko Terms of Service and acknowledge you’ve read our Privacy Policy
or
Password must contain at least 8 characters including 1 uppercase letter, 1 lowercase letter, 1 number, and 1 special character
Didn't receive confirmation instructions?
Resend confirmation instructions
Forgot your password?
You will receive an email with instructions on how to reset your password in a few minutes.
Resend confirmation instructions
You will receive an email with instructions for how to confirm your email address in a few minutes.
Get the CoinGecko app.
Scan this QR code to download the app now App QR Code Or check it out in the app stores