The rise of cryptocurrency was nothing less than the explosive. At the end of 2024, the global market capitalization of cryptography exceeded 2.5 billions of dollars. However, in parallel with this dazzling increase, there was an equally alarming increase in cryptographic hacks, causing losses to $ 14 billion.
Just in 2025, the industry saw its greatest violation of the renowned crypto Go through was hacked, causing an amazing loss of nearly $ 1.5 billion. Other exchanges have also been compromised, in particular Phemexwhich has undergone losses amounting to nearly $ 85 million, and Infinitywhich has experienced a hack leading to nearly $ 50 million in losses.
Why is the crypto vulnerable to hacks?
The crypto remains vulnerable to various vectors of attack. Targets of great value such as portfolios, exchanges and startups often hieted growth in relation to security, leaving unlikely vulnerabilities. The usable infrastructure, such as the bridges used to transfer the crypto between blockchains, turned out to be weak points, as seen in the $ 190 million Hack Nomad.
In addition, the exploitation of private keys and phishing attacks remain omnipresent; Once a private key is compromised, hackers take full control over the wallets. Unlike traditional financial systems, cryptographic transactions are irreversible. Once the funds are stolen, there is no recovery mechanism, which the crooks operate more through fraudulent recovery services.
ZKPS: A solution to cryptographic hacks?
This is where zero knowledge of knowledge (ZKPS) come into play as a great line of defense. By allowing users to prove their identity or property property without revealing sensitive information such as private keys or personal data, ZKP considerably reduces the risks associated with phishing and identity theft. They also allow private transactions when the sender, the receiver and the transaction amounts remain hidden.
This effectively prevents attackers from targeting high value accounts or using transaction models. In addition, by minimizing the exposure of critical blockchain data, ZKPs are more difficult for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in smart contracts, transverse bridges and Defi protocols.
Beyond safety: other advantages of zkps
Beyond improving confidentiality and security, ZKPs offer other advantages. The scaling remains one of the most important challenges of Blockchain technology. Current networks are fighting with transaction speed and flow due to performance limitations.
ZK-based scaling solutions, such as ZK-Rollups, approach these bottlenecks by transferring calculations out of the chain, reducing congestion on layer 1. This technique involves bringing together several transactions into a single bearing block, generating proof of out chain validity, then subjecting it to the chain for verification. The result is an increase in the efficiency of transactions while maintaining high security on chain.
How does the ZKP take place in the world of cryptography today?
Today, ZKPs are gaining ground in the world of cryptography. The growing demand for Applications based on ZK, or ZKAPPS, is obvious to increase the verification costs and the growing share of ZKAPPS in global transactions. While more and more projects adopt ZK technology, the industry goes from infrastructure to applications, marking ZKApps as the next major trend in blockchain development.
Notable examples include Zcashwhich employs ZK-Snarks to allow armored transactions that preserve financial privacy, and zksyncA solution of layer-2 for Ethereum which considerably reduces gas costs while maintaining safety and decentralization. Software drill is another leader in this space, using ZK-Starks to provide a scalable and secure infrastructure for decentralized applications on Ethereum.
Technological progress makes ZKApps more and more practical. Innovations such as field -specific languages (DSL) and optimized calculation processes, associated with decentralized infrastructure for the generation of evidence, open the way to applications based on scalable and effective ZK. An important step in this trip is the recent version of the ICG of the AE box for Aleo mining on February 7, 2025. As a very first decentralized open source platform using zero knowledge proof, Aleo promises an unlimited calculation and absolute confidentiality.
Evidence of zero knowledge reinforces not only security and confidentiality, but also revolutionized the scalability of blockchain. With the successful implementation of projects like Ae Box, the future of the crypto evolves towards a safer, efficient and decentralized landscape. While industry continues to grow, ZKP technology will likely play a central role in saving digital assets and expanding the potential of blockchain applications.
Charles Yan is the CFO of Intchains Group Limited (NASDAQ: ICG), where it oversees Nasdaq registration, capital market activities, financial operations and commercial risk management. With more than 10 years of experience as a main auditor, he has profound expertise in the capital markets in Hong Kong and the United States. A defender passionate about web3, Charles actively participates in web3 forums and applies his financial knowledge to explore innovative solutions in the web3 space.
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