Ethereum Foundation Announces ZK Grants Round to Enhance Zero-Knowledge Proof Systems
The
Ethereum
Foundation
has
unveiled
a
new
ZK
Grants
Round,
aimed
at
accelerating
the
development
and
adoption
of
zero-knowledge
(ZK)
proof
systems.
This
initiative
seeks
to
foster
innovation
and
address
critical
challenges
within
the
blockchain
ecosystem,
according
to
the
Ethereum
Foundation
Blog.
Key
Projects
and
Objectives
The
ZK
Grants
Round
includes
a
diverse
array
of
projects
focusing
on
various
aspects
of
ZK
technology.
These
projects
are
expected
to
significantly
improve
the
efficiency,
security,
and
scalability
of
ZK
proof
systems.
Highlighted
Projects
Among
the
funded
projects
are:
-
Proof
Carrying
Data
from
folding
GKR
with
protostar:
This
project
aims
to
enhance
current
Interactive
Verifiable
Computation
(IVC)
schemes
by
leveraging
the
Goldwasser-Kalai-Rothblum
(GKR)
accumulation
scheme,
which
will
reduce
witness
size
and
improve
computational
efficiency. -
Zippel:
A
new
language
and
compiler
designed
for
building
succinct
proof
systems,
allowing
developers
to
express
protocols
in
a
high-level
language
while
managing
low-level
details
like
parallelism
and
memory
management. -
Lean
Extraction
of
Circuit
Constraints
from
Halo2:
This
project
focuses
on
developing
a
formal
verification
harness
to
extract
constraints
from
Halo2
circuits
and
reason
about
them
in
the
Lean
4
proof
assistant. -
ZK
Benchmarks:
A
project
to
create
a
comprehensive
repository
of
performance
benchmarks
for
different
types
of
proving
systems,
aiding
developers
and
project
managers
in
making
informed
decisions. -
zkFold
Symbolic:
A
high-level
functional
language
for
writing
zero-knowledge
smart
contracts,
compiled
directly
into
arithmetic
circuits
for
various
ZK
protocols.
Additional
Contributions
The
grants
also
support
projects
aimed
at
improving
developer
tools
and
accessibility.
For
instance,
the
ZK
Treesitter
initiative
will
maintain
agnostic
treesitter
grammars
for
major
ZK
circuits
languages,
enhancing
developer
tooling
and
providing
broader
access
to
resources.
Other
notable
projects
include
Wasm
PLUME,
which
seeks
to
make
cryptographic
PLUME
scheme
implementation
more
accessible
outside
the
Rust
ecosystem,
and
Onboard
users
to
verifiable
KYC,
which
aims
to
create
an
open-source
end-to-end
app
for
verifiable
KYC
using
the
Noir
language.
Impact
on
the
Blockchain
Ecosystem
The
Ethereum
Foundation’s
ZK
Grants
Round
is
poised
to
drive
significant
advancements
in
the
field
of
zero-knowledge
proofs.
By
supporting
a
wide
range
of
innovative
projects,
the
initiative
aims
to
enhance
the
scalability,
security,
and
efficiency
of
blockchain
applications.
These
efforts
are
expected
to
lower
the
barriers
to
entry
for
developers,
enabling
them
to
create
more
efficient
ZK
applications
and
smart
contracts.
Additionally,
the
grants
will
facilitate
the
development
of
new
tools
and
frameworks
that
will
benefit
the
broader
blockchain
community.
For
a
complete
list
of
funded
projects
and
detailed
descriptions,
visit
the
Ethereum
Foundation
Blog.
Image
source:
Shutterstock
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