It's nice work, to be sure.
Can you provide an example of how you would use it in a practical application? Entirely hypothetical of course, it doesn't have to be you.
Maybe also explain how that application might lead a meaningful increase in the demand for quantities of BTC? [the bullish part]
ELI5 : An Individual can prove the authenticity of a digital item without disclosing the details to insure privacy or prove they actually have the information without giving away information before an agreement or sale is made.
Some applications off the top of my head:
- ZK-payment trustless* mixing without the need for third parties
- Removing many required escrow agents from the sale of digital goods or information
- More secure trustless* and verifiable auditing
- Proof of registered assets or properties that can independently be audited(property titles) without disclosing details (location) that could compromise privacy
- Smart contracts that can independently be audited for veracity but without disclosing the details therein for privacy
Example of use case from article--
"An example application would be the owners of a particular make of e-book reader cooperating to purchase the DRM master keys from a failing manufacturer, so that they could load their own documents on their readers after the vendors servers go offline. This type of sale is inherently irreversible, potentially crosses multiple jurisdictions, and involves parties whose financial stability is uncertainmeaning that both parties either take a great deal of risk or have to make difficult arrangement. Using a ZKCP avoids the significant transactional costs involved in a sale which can otherwise easily go wrong."
* Trustless within the constraints to a secure trust minimized block chain like bitcoin. Nothing is completely trustless.