a16z Crypto Updates Jolt zkVM and Questions Industry's Misuse of the "ZK" Concept

Odaily News Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz's A16z Crypto recently published a blog post providing a technical update on its open-source Jolt zkVM, while also pointing out the widespread misuse of the "ZK (Zero-Knowledge)" concept within the current industry.

A16z stated that many so-called zkVMs do not actually possess genuine zero-knowledge properties unless an additional, costly "wrapping" process is applied. This process typically requires recursive proving, verifying the zkVM's proof again within another proof system that truly has zero-knowledge characteristics. This is not only computationally expensive but also often necessitates the introduction of a "trusted setup," thereby sacrificing system transparency.

The article pointed out that in many developer contexts, "zk" has gradually become synonymous with "succinctness"—meaning small proof size and fast verification speed—rather than representing true zero-knowledge privacy protection.

A16z believes that as the industry's demand for privacy protection increases, this conceptual confusion is gradually becoming a problem. Genuine zero-knowledge proofs should primarily ensure the privacy of the prover's sensitive data, not merely provide an efficient verification mechanism.

Simultaneously, A16z also announced the introduction of the NovaBlindFold folding scheme for Jolt zkVM to enhance its privacy capabilities, making the virtual machine more suitable for privacy-focused application scenarios.