After recently taking a hit, I went back to review some foundational academic textbooks, especially on number theory and ZK. Comparing them with the various zero-knowledge proof projects on the market today, I realize that the industry has indeed undergone significant changes.

I still remember a few years ago when the mainstream narrative around ZK was very straightforward—performing complex computations off-chain, then just submitting a ZK proof on-chain for verification. Theoretically, this could reduce costs and latency by several orders of magnitude. That logic sounded very elegant.

But looking back now, BNB Chain has shifted towards a ZK-focused approach, and the entire ecosystem’s zero-knowledge proof solutions have long evolved into a complex system. From simple computational verification to now covering state compression, cross-chain interactions, modular scaling, and other multi-dimensional applications, the tech stack is on a completely different level. It’s not just a simple tool upgrade, but an entire conceptual framework that’s iterating.