Forge Capsule

Zero-Knowledge Proofs in Distributed Systems

ZK proofs: prover convinces verifier of statement truth without revealing witness. Types: zk-SNARK (succinct, non-interactive: Groth16, PLONK), zk-STARK (transparent, post-quantum). Applications: blockchain privacy (Zcash, Tornado Cash), identity (zk-login, Semaphore), ML model verification. Semaphore: nullifier prevents double-voting without linking to identity. snarkjs: JavaScript ZK toolkit. Circom: circuit compiler. Forge ZK: nullifier-based vote deduplication, sovereignty proofs. Current limitation: snarkjs not configured in production → prove endpoint returns 201 but no actual proof generated.