Bitcoin transactions without internet? ZeroSync and Blockstream enable satellites in space – here’s how

Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream has partnered with the ZeroSync Association, a non-profit organization based in Switzerland, to broadcast Bitcoin zero-knowledge proofs via Blockstream’s satellite.

With the permission of this partnership, Bitcoin nodes will be able to be synchronized from anywhere on earth, including those with poor internet coverage, in fractions of a second instead of hours or days.

“We are excited to announce today that Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, has agreed to partner with ZeroSync to broadcast ZK chain trials via Blockstream Satellite!” ZeroSync so in a recent tweet. “Fast sync from everywhere. Even without [the] Internet.”

In line with recent developments, ZeroSync intends to conduct a test broadcast involving Blockstream’s satellite hardware before the end of the year.

Blockstream’s satellite network provides free global access to Bitcoin by broadcasting the blockchain to the entire planet, including areas with unreliable internet coverage.

Created by three German computer scientists, the ZeroSync Association is a newly formed non-profit organization that aims to help scale Bitcoin using zero-knowledge proofs (zk-proofs), a cryptographic technique that has exploded in popularity on rival chain Ethereum.

“ZeroSync is at the forefront of the development of proof-of-concept systems for Bitcoin,” the company’s website states. “Using cutting-edge cryptography, we are pioneering the future of Bitcoin scalability, interoperability and privacy.”

In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof is a method by which a party can prove to another party that a given statement is true without revealing the statement.

At a high level, a zero-knowledge proof works by having the verifier ask the prover to perform a series of actions that can only be performed accurately if the prover knows the underlying information.

How Zk proof can help Bitcoin increase privacy and security

ZK proof can help Bitcoin become more private and secure as the technology allows transactions to happen in a confidential manner and only the parties involved in the transaction have access to the transaction details.

Furthermore, zk-proofs can improve Bitcoin’s scalability by reducing the amount of data that must be processed and stored on the blockchain. This is achieved through a process called “batching”, where multiple transactions are combined into a single proof, which reduces the computational load on the network. ZeroSync says on its website:

“Swamp zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) promise a paradigm shift in blockchain scalability and privacy. While significant engineering is underway in the Ethereum community to apply this technology, no similar investment has yet been made for the Bitcoin network.”

Specifically, ZeroSync has developed a functional prototype that allows users to authenticate the current state of the Bitcoin blockchain, including ownership data and transaction history, without having to download the chain’s current 500 GB of data.