SoK: Understanding zk-SNARKs: The Gap Between Research and Practice

Junkai Liang; Daqi Hu; Pengfei Wu; Yunbo Yang; Qingni Shen; Zhonghai Wu

Paper 2025/172

SoK: Understanding zk-SNARKs: The Gap Between Research and Practice

Junkai Liang

, Peking University

Daqi Hu

Pengfei Wu, Singapore Management University

Yunbo Yang, East China Normal University

Qingni Shen, Peking University

Zhonghai Wu, Peking University

Abstract

Zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge (zk-SNARKs) are a powerful tool for proving computation correctness, attracting significant interest from researchers, developers, and users. However, the complexity of zk-SNARKs has created gaps between these groups, hindering progress. Researchers focus on constructing efficient proving systems with stronger security and new properties, while developers and users prioritize toolchains, usability, and compatibility. In this work, we provide a comprehensive study of zk-SNARK, from theory to practice, pinpointing gaps and limitations. We first present a master recipe that unifies the main steps in converting a program into a zk-SNARK. We then classify existing zk-SNARKs according to their key techniques. Our classification addresses the main difference in practically valuable properties between existing zk-SNARK schemes. We survey over 40 zk-SNARKs since 2013 and provide a reference table listing their categories and properties. Following the steps in master recipe, we then survey 11 general-purpose popular used libraries. We elaborate on these libraries' usability, compatibility, efficiency and limitations. Since installing and executing these zk-SNARK systems is challenging, we also provide a completely virtual environment in which to run the compiler for each of them. We identify that the proving system is the primary focus in cryptography academia. In contrast, the constraint system presents a bottleneck in industry. To bridge this gap, we offer recommendations and advocate for the opensource community to enhance documentation, standardization and compatibility.

Note: This paper has been accepted by USENIX Security 2025 symposium. This is the full version of our paper, including library surveys.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF
Category: Implementation
Publication info: Published elsewhere. arXiv
Keywords: zk-SNARK constraint system proving system compiler
Contact author(s): ljknjupku @ gmail com
hudaqi0507 @ gmail com
pfwu @ smu edu sg
yyb9882 @ gmail com
qingnishen @ pku edu cn
wuzh @ pku edu cn
History: 2025-02-07: approved; 2025-02-05: received; See all versions
Short URL: https://ia.cr/2025/172
License: CC BY-NC-ND

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2025/172,
      author = {Junkai Liang and Daqi Hu and Pengfei Wu and Yunbo Yang and Qingni Shen and Zhonghai Wu},
      title = {{SoK}: Understanding zk-{SNARKs}: The Gap Between Research and Practice},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2025/172},
      year = {2025},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2025/172}
}