The Alternatives
As mentioned previously, currently there is no Web2 development tool like OZKi. The alternatives to OZKi are blockchains that support general-purpose privacy protection functionalities. Currently, there are two such blockchains: Mina and Aleo. These blockchains use validators to perform the proof verifications. Once the proof is generated, it will be submitted into the blockchain as transactions where it is waiting to be picked up and processed by the competing validators. This flow is quite different from OZKi, notably the following:
The applications must interact with a blockchain. Proof creation is a blockchain transaction which requires fees.
The proof creation and verification will complete only after the transaction has been finalized. This is typically about 2 to 4 minutes on the Mina or Aleo blockchain.
The proofs are stored in the blockchain
OZKi, on the other hand, is designed as a proof framework and tooling for the traditional Web2 applications which normally do not interact with blockchains. OZKi supports the proof-based authorization to access websites where the proof flow is used to replace the traditional sign-in or login process. Therefore the proof generation and verification must complete quickly, otherwise, it will interrupt the user's experience.
Here is a table that summarizes the similarities and differences between OZKi and its alternatives:
| Features | OZKi | Blockchain-based (Mina/Aleo) |
|---|---|---|
General-purpose privacy | Yes | Yes |
ZKP-based | Yes | Yes |
Requires blockchain | No | Yes |
Supports Web2 app | Yes | Yes (Mina), No (Aleo) |
Fast proof processing (under a few seconds) | Yes | No |
Persisted Proofs | No | Yes (on the blockchain) |
Secure external PII retrieval | Yes | No (Mina zkOracle*), No (Aleo) |
Proof function language | Circom | Typescript, Leo |
Language learning difficulty level | Medium | Easy (Mina), Medium (Aleo) |
*) Mina zkOracle is not available currently. Scheduled for release in next year.
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