What Are Zero Knowledge Proofs (Zk Proofs)?

What are Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK-Proofs)?

Imagine you're loading two trucks with cargo.

When loading the first, all the cargo has been pre-checked (everything that is meant to be in each box has been reviewed and verified).

But on the second, that cargo 'pre-check' hasn't been carried out.

Which means you need to open, check, verify, repack, and load every. Single. Box.

In crypto, 'Zero Knowledge Proofs' (ZK Proofs) function like the cargo on truck #1.

Each transaction in the group has been previously verified.

Meaning the computers processing them don't need to check that they're legitimate (zero knowledge is required to prove they're legit).

Without ZK Proofs, the process looks more like truck #2 - a long and arduous computational process where each transaction is checked, one by one.