Cryptography
Dusk uses zero-knowledge proofs and elliptic curve cryptography to enable confidential transactions and selective disclosure. This page is a high-level map of the primitives you’ll see referenced across the docs.
For protocol-level details and formal security arguments, refer to the Dusk whitepaper and the papers listed in Additional Resources.
Primitives used in Dusk
Section titled “Primitives used in Dusk”
At the foundation of Dusk’s architecture are primitives like BLS12-381, JubJub, Schnorr, and Poseidon. Dusk also uses Merkle tree constructions and a PLONK-based proving stack.
BLS12-381
Section titled “BLS12-381”BLS12-381 is a pairing-friendly elliptic curve used in many modern proof systems. In Dusk it appears as part of the zero-knowledge and signature stack.
JubJub
Section titled “JubJub”JubJub is an elliptic curve that’s efficient in SNARK-friendly settings and is commonly used in privacy-preserving designs.
Schnorr Signatures
Section titled “Schnorr Signatures”Schnorr signatures are a signature scheme used for authentication and integrity. In Dusk they are part of the foundation for signing and verifying protocol actions.
Poseidon
Section titled “Poseidon”Poseidon is a hash function designed to be efficient inside zero-knowledge circuits. It is commonly used for commitments and Merkle tree hashing in ZK applications.
dusk-merkle
Section titled “dusk-merkle”Dusk includes a sparse Merkle tree implementation (dusk-merkle). Merkle trees enable efficient membership proofs over large datasets and show up throughout blockchain systems.
PLONK is a proving system used to build zero-knowledge proofs. In Dusk it underpins privacy-preserving transactions and protocols that require succinct, verifiable computation.
With PLONK, developers can define reusable circuits and generate proofs that can be verified on-chain.