ZeroSync Association
Three German computer scientists, sponsored by Geometry Reaserch and StarkWare Industries, have created a Swiss non-profit association called ZeroSync Association to bring scalability to Bitcoin using zero-knowledge proofs (zk-proofs).
What is Zero-Knowledge Proofs?
Zero-Knowledge Proofs, commonly referred to as zk-proofs, is a cryptographic technique that uses cryptography to prove the validity of information revealing the information to the public. When fully deployed on Bitcoin ZeroSync will allow verification of transaction of Bitcoin using cryptographic proof instead of trusting honest nodes as suggested by the Bitcoin founder Satoshi.
Working Prototype
At the moment, ZeroSync has already developed a working prototype that allows users to validate who owns what and the transaction history on Bitcoin without having to download the entire chain or using a third party. The prototype can however only verify Bitcoin consensus rules but not transaction signatures. The prototype is also a bit chunky and still needs to be optimized for security and speed.
Limitations
Currently, Bitcoin uses the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism which in a way limits its scalability while Ethereum changed it’s PoW consensus mechanism through Merge Upgrade. This means nodes will take hours and sometimes days to download 500GB data from blockchain. The working prototype developed by ZeroSync Association can only verify Bitcoin consensus rules but not transaction signatures. It also needs more optimization for security and speed.
Conclusion
The three German scientists formed ZeroSync Association with sponsorship from Geometry Reaserch and StarkWare Industries in order bring scalability to Bitcoin using zero-knowledge proofs (zk-proofs). The association has developed a working prototype that allows users to validate who owns what and the transaction history on Bitcoin without having downloading the entire chain or using a third party . However, it still needs more optimization for security and speed before it can be fully implemented on Bitcoin network.