Author: o1labs Phil Kelly

Translator: YBB Capital Erin

Introduction

Mina's significant upgrade brings innovative zero-knowledge use cases, introducing the ability to execute smart contracts offline in client environments such as browsers or servers. This article explores the importance of zkApps (applications enabled by zk), their potential impact on Web3, and the key role of Mina's upcoming Berkeley upgrade.

In the rapidly evolving Web3 space, the latest breakthroughs in zero-knowledge have opened a new era. From faster rollups and light clients to bridging technologies, advancements in zk infrastructure have been garnering attention. However, we believe a truly game-changing capability has emerged—the ability to fully execute smart contracts offline in client environments like browsers or servers.

Moving Off-Chain

How is this achieved? The key to this innovation lies in the use of zk application (zkApp) code to create smart contracts. This code ensures tamper-proof execution and can prove the correctness of operations to third parties without introducing new trust assumptions, essentially reflecting the functionality of on-chain smart contracts.

These zk-enabled applications have far-reaching implications. By moving the execution of smart contracts off-chain, many challenges associated with on-chain execution, such as gas costs, data limitations, scalability constraints, and latency, can be overcome. Additionally, zkApps can enhance privacy, allowing for the verification of sensitive information like age without disclosing exact personal details such as birth dates.

The launch of zkApps will spark a wave of innovation, injecting new life into the cyberpunk spirit of Web3 and revitalizing ideas that were once deemed unattainable over the past 5-10 years.

Anchoring On-Chain

Despite the off-chain capabilities of zkApps, anchoring to the chain remains crucial. After more than two years of development, Mina's Berkeley upgrade is in its final preparations. Why do zkApps need a chain? Because off-chain zkApp proofs require validation, and leveraging the chain provides several trustworthy validation advantages:

• Automatic validation by professional neutral validators on the chain itself

• Automatic triggering of subsequent actions based on validation results (e.g., your DeFi account is activated when you prove you are over 18, and the transaction is completed)

• Permanent storage of validation information for future data reference

• Validation that can connect to other chains

The reality is that the validation process between off-chain smart contracts and on-chain verification may sound like a less glamorous step, and if missed, the advantages of off-chain methods can quickly diminish. However, without a chain specifically built for handling zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) like Mina, smart contract validation could become cumbersome, complex, and costly. Thus, Mina was designed from the ground up to handle ZKPs. After the Berkeley upgrade, the Mina blockchain will become an excellent venue for validating proofs of off-chain applications. Why will Mina be an excellent place for validating zkApps?

• No gas costs; regardless of the scale of the off-chain smart contract, the cost of validating proofs on-chain is always low;

• Mina's small state means that in the near future, a full node should be able to run in a user's browser, allowing proof submissions without using third-party remote procedure call (RPC) protocols—ideal for privacy protection;

• Mina's small state also means it can express itself on other chains through state-proof-based bridging (without token hacks), allowing Mina to serve as a modular proof layer for the entire Web3. Among many other features, this enables you to write a zk application once, validate the output on Mina, and then bridge the validation to multiple other chains. This marks the dawn of an instant, multi-chain DApp era.

Validation can occur directly on EVM chains, but in the realm of software applications, we all know that "can" does not equal "should." So theoretically, EVM could also serve as a data availability (DA) layer and decentralized sorter for other chains, but the Web3 world has validated that modularization is the way to achieve these specialized functions, and validating proofs is a highly specialized capability.

The Off-Chain Revolution

Let’s return to the application code and look forward to the remainder of 2024. At o1Labs, we anticipate a surge of application and use case innovations driven by zk off-chain computation, bringing several exciting possibilities:

Gas-free computation: zk off-chain computation allows for arbitrary-sized calculations without gas fees and without trust;

Verifiable privacy: Client-side zk ensures the widespread availability of verifiable privacy;

Utilization of Web2 data: Using multi-party computation (MPC) and ZK for "notarization," making everyday use of Web2 data possible;

Simplified zkApps building: New domain-specific languages (DSLs) like o1js, using TypeScript, enable developers to quickly and easily build zk applications.

o1js: Accessing zk Code Off-Chain

While zk code could be built off-chain in the past, it has always been challenging; o1js makes it simple. By leveraging TypeScript, o1js provides a high-level, intuitive language that makes deployment and maintenance easier. With o1js supporting WebAssembly (WASM) capabilities, your zkApp can also run seamlessly in users' browsers. Additionally, o1js's recursive capabilities allow for the aggregation and compression of multiple proofs from off-chain computations into a single small proof.

o1js has been available since 2022, and it is not only mature but also gaining new capabilities. A recent exciting enhancement to o1js's core functionality enables zk applications to handle a broader range of inputs. Examples include:

• Publishing ECDSA and Keccak processing primitives, allowing you to use Ethereum data sources signed by MetaMask;

• Supporting SHA-256 cryptography, which underpins many data sources in the Web2 world (e.g., passport data);

• Notarization and witnessing primitives, turning information in Web2 sessions into provable data (e.g., your bank account balance). Stay tuned for more updates!

Join the zkApp Revolution

The emergence of zkApps on Mina marks a pivotal moment in the development of Web3, unlocking realms of possibilities once deemed impractical. We look forward to seeing what the ecosystem will build after the Berkeley upgrade. Stay updated on the latest developments regarding Berkeley by following us on Twitter/X and joining the Mina Discord.