Systematic review: Comparing zk‐SNARK, zk‐STARK, and bulletproof protocols for privacy‐preserving authentication

Abstract

This systematic literature review examines the implementation and analysis of zk‐SNARK, zk‐STARK, and bulletproof non‐interactive zero‐knowledge proof (NIZKP) protocols in privacy‐preserving applications across diverse sectors. Examining 41 research works obtained through the systematic search queries and filtering criteria published from 2015 to April 2023, we categorized findings into financial, medical, business, general, and other domains. Our analysis highlights significant variations of up to several orders of magnitude in real‐world performance across implementations utilizing NIZKP protocols. However, divergent methodologies in security analyses hindered conclusive comparisons. Addressing research gaps, our future endeavors aim to establish a real‐world benchmark for these protocols.