The Three Fires of ZK Narrative

If ZK narratives completely explode, they will at least ignite three flames: Privacy → Scaling → General

1.ZK-Privacy

ZK-Privacy achieves transaction anonymity through zero-knowledge proofs, with the core logic being to hide details such as the sender, receiver, and amount in the transaction. This not only addresses long-standing concerns about privacy protection but also demonstrates strong demand in scenarios such as enhanced KYC compliance and the protection of training data for AI large models.

The recent resurgence of Zcash is not only attributed to institutional interest but also to well-known investors endorsing it as the "insurance for Bitcoin." More importantly, Zcash's optional privacy features strike a balance between compliance and anonymity, making it a core representative of the current privacy narrative.

Key observation target: $ZEC $XMR $DASH $XVG $ARRR

2.ZK-Scaling (Expansion)

ZK-Scaling is primarily based on ZK-Rollup technology, providing high throughput and low-cost Layer2 scaling solutions for blockchains like Ethereum. In the past two cycles, the market hype around ZK originated from its "ultimate application" in Layer2 scenarios. However, the current issue is that the general Layer2 infrastructure is already quite sufficient, and whether the ecological development can keep pace is the decisive factor. Starknet has enjoyed a surge in the privacy track during this round, as its founder Eli Ben-Sasson was a core member of the Zcash team in its early years. With the waning interest in privacy, it remains to be seen whether ZK scaling can take over and become the second wave of a major uptrend, which is worth continuous observation.

Key observation targets: $STRK $ZK $LRC $IMX

3.ZK-General

The goal of ZK-General is to generalize zero-knowledge proof technology, enabling it to be embedded in more vertical fields such as cross-chain bridges, privatized smart contracts, identity verification, and AI reasoning. The core direction is to reduce usage costs and promote the large-scale commercialization of ZK technology. Currently, projects like Mina, Aleo, Boundless, and Succinct are actively laying out in this direction. Logically, generalization should be the first wave of the explosion of ZK technology, followed by expansion and privacy transmission. However, the reality is quite the opposite—institutional power and policy guidance seem to have significantly reshaped the rhythm of technology dissemination.

Key observation target: $ZKC $PROVE $MINA $ALEO $AZTEC $VFY $IRON

In addition, there are some projects that exist at the intersection of privacy and scalability. Railgun is committed to building a privacy layer on public chains like Ethereum, providing a complete privacy solution through application protocols; Horizen positions itself as a platform supporting the development of privacy applications, promoting the large-scale implementation of "ZK as a Service." These projects are able to rise in sync with Zcash partly due to having real TVL and usage data at the application layer, and partly because they have a smaller market capitalization and limited recognition, resulting in greater price elasticity.