I'm going hunting a SNARK

... snark ...
noun ...
... an imaginary animal (used to refer to someone or something that is difficult to track down).

Lewis Carroll wrote this about SNARKS in 1874:
"If your Snark be a Snark, that is right:
Fetch it home by all means—you may serve it with greens,
And it’s handy for striking a light.
You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care;
You may hunt it with forks and hope;
You may threaten its life with a railway-share;
You may charm it with smiles and soap—”

However, he wasn't talking about a specific type of modern SNARK -- the zk-SNARK. zk-SNARK stands for “Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge,” and refers to a proof construction where one can prove possession of certain information, e.g. a secret key, without revealing that information, and without any interaction between the prover and verifier.

The possibilities of zk-SNARKs are impressive, you can verify the correctness of computations without having to execute them and you will not even learn what was executed - just that it was done correctly.

When you use zk-SNARKS with blockchain, you have virtual a limitless range of applications that can be exploited. I'd say more, but I have to stop at the patent office first.

(originally appeared as a Linked In post: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-bodnar-57b635133/ )