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The Cardano (ADA) protocol is making a move to go all out on the development of its zero-knowledge (ZK) proof solution, a scaling technology that is peculiar to the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the blockchain start-up responsible for the development of the Cardno protocol, revealed ongoing efforts from one of its offshoots, dubbed ZK-Labs, on the new technology.
ZK-Lab will focus on researching zero-knowledge technology, seen by many as the future of #blockchain confidentiality.
— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) August 27, 2023
This is the second lab that IOG and the University of Edinburgh have partnered on.
Learn more here: https://t.co/MwdSFIoWsu pic.twitter.com/r1pbWmMY2S
The ZK-Labs team is branded as a body at the intersection of core developers from IOHK and the University of Edinburgh, the second of such partnerships between the two entities. With ZK generally regarded as the future of blockchain confidentiality and functionality, industry observers have now started wondering how much the protocol will be integrated into the Cardano blockchain.
As mentioned earlier, ZK is at the heart of the functionalities of the most renowned protocols on Ethereum, including Polygon zkEVM, among others. The broad acclaim that the technology holds in bolstering privacy and decentralization among protocols has also been hailed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
For IOHK, work is in full bloom, a move that shows the Cardano protocol is highly receptive to emerging trends in the fast-paced, evolving digital currency ecosystem.
Is Cardano shifting away from Hydra?
Blockchain development is ever evolving and IOHK, as led by Charles Hoskinson, remains committed to key aspects of the core innovations it is heralding. However, ZK technology is not originally native to Cardano, and the development efforts from the ZK-Labs team might subsume the development of Hydra and other innovations from the blockchain.
Cardano is in a frantic race as an Ethereum killer with a number of strategic innovations being heralded to compete directly with the blockchain protocol. While most of its innovations like Mithril, Project Catalyst and others are still in their infancy, its promise to establish itself as the prominent smart contract hub in the near future remains achievable.
Arman Shirinyan
Alex Dovbnya
