A Survey on the Applications of Zero-Knowledge Proofs

零知识证明（ZKP）代表了计算完整性和隐私技术的革命性进展，使得在不暴露底层私人数据的情况下，信息可以安全和私密地交换。与其他隐私敏感的分布式系统计算方法（如同态加密和安全多方计算）相比，ZKP具有独特的普适性和最小的安全假设优势。它们的应用涉及多个领域，从增强区块链隐私到促进计算任务的机密验证。本文概述了ZKP的技术工作原理，重点介绍了越来越相关的zk-SNARKS子集。虽然之前已经有关于ZKP算法和理论方面的调查，但我们的工作通过提供更广泛的实际应用视角来区分。描述了ZKP在各个领域中许多最近开发的用例。这些应用领域涉及区块链隐私、扩展、存储和互操作性，以及非区块链应用，如投票、身份验证、时间锁和机器学习。本文旨在面向从业人员和研究人员，还涵盖了基础组件和基础设施，如零知识虚拟机（zkVM）、特定领域语言（DSL）、支持库、框架和协议。最后，我们讨论了未来的方向，将ZKP定位为在许多应用中推动加密实践和数字隐私的关键因素。

Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) represent a revolutionary advance in computational integrity and privacy technology, enabling the secure and private exchange of information without revealing underlying private data. This survey aims to provide a broader view of practical aspects and describe many recently-developed use cases of ZKPs across various domains.

The survey provides a high-level overview of the technical workings of ZKPs, with a focus on zk-SNARKS, and covers foundational components and infrastructure such as zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVM), domain-specific languages (DSLs), supporting libraries, frameworks, and protocols. The survey also discusses future directions and positions ZKPs as pivotal in the advancement of cryptographic practices and digital privacy across many applications.

The survey covers various application domains of ZKPs, including blockchain privacy, scaling, storage, and interoperability, as well as non-blockchain applications like voting, authentication, timelocks, and machine learning. The survey also discusses the design of experiments and the use of datasets and open-source code. The survey provides a broader view of practical aspects of ZKPs and positions them as pivotal in the advancement of cryptographic practices and digital privacy across many applications.

There have been prior surveys on the algorithmic and theoretical aspects of ZKPs, but this survey is distinguished by providing a broader view of practical aspects and describing many recently-developed use cases of ZKPs across various domains. Recent related research includes 'Scalable Zero Knowledge via Cycles of Elliptic Curves' and 'Zexe: Enabling Decentralized Private Computation'.