5 Predictions for SNARKS in 2020 [Part 2]
By Pranay Mohan
Welcome back to the SNARK Age newsletter. So far in our predictions series, we’ve made bets on more protocols harnessing SNARKs at layer 2 (along with new SNARK-native protocols) as well as predicting the technical advancement of decreased proving time.
Today, we share 3 more predictions that round out our 2020 SNARK predictions.
Prediction 3: Tooling around SNARKs will improve
One of the biggest barriers to the adoption of any new technology stack is the quality of the tooling available for it.
In 2019, tooling for software engineers to implement SNARKs took a leap forward with many more options, including ZoKrates, Bellman, snarky, etc. That said, these tools are still highly specialized and require specific domain knowledge, meaning that as a normal software engineer, it is still difficult to work with SNARKs. You have to know how SNARK frontends/backends differ, which construction you want to use, etc.
We predict that 2020 will see major advancements in the tooling for working with SNARKS. The result of this will be that regular software engineers won't be required to learn math and cryptography in order to learn how to use SNARKs in existing applications.
Prediction 4: Large companies will begin experimenting with SNARKs
Big companies continue to flirt with blockchain technology, looking for ways that it can solve problems related to time or money or allow them to do things they might not otherwise be able to.
In that context, we predict that big companies will start to learn about ZKPs as they leak out of the blockchain space and into adjacent technology domains. We think ZKPs will be of particular interest in part because the importance of taking a strong stance on privacy and data protection is increasing. One need look no further than Apple’s pivot to privacy-oriented marketing to validate this point.
As with any new technology, these companies will most likely deploy small, skunkworks-style research and development teams to begin experimenting. Indeed, while we predict that more companies will join in, there is already evidence of the big co interest in SNARKs. See for example E&Y’s experiments here: https://github.com/EYBlockchain/nightfall
Prediction 5: SNARK FUD will rise
This is a less fun but no less important prediction to make. As awareness of SNARKs rises, we believe it is inevitable that FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) will increase commensurately.
Why? Well, first there is the simple fact that SNARKs are a complex, difficult to understand concept. It is highly likely that, despite best efforts, education and easy-to-grok explanations will lag behind the technical innovation itself.
Because of this, we anticipate a trust barrier. SNARKs model a different form of trust that is based in math, and for some people, this will represent a meaningful barrier.
What’s more, the blockchain landscape will only continue to grow more competitive as more actors enter the space. It is likely that at least some protocols will decide that spreading FUD around SNARKs is a legitimate competitive tactic.
If we believe this FUD is inevitable, however, we also feel that truth wins in the end. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.