Zero-knowledge proofs

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Who

Introduced by Shafi Goldwasser (Israeli-American, Jewish), together with Silvio Micali and Charles Rackoff.

When

1985

Where

Massachusetts, United States (MIT)

A zero-knowledge proof lets one party prove a statement is true without revealing any information beyond its truth, a cornerstone of modern cryptography and blockchain privacy. The concept was introduced in a landmark 1985 paper co-authored by Shafi Goldwasser, an Israeli-American computer scientist and later Turing Award laureate.

Sources

Part of “The Gifts of the Jews” — verified Jewish contributions to the world, with sources.