Light Protocol: ZK compression technology reduces the cost of storing compressed token accounts by 5,000 times for developers

Odaily News Solana ecosystem developers Light Protocol and Helius Labs announced a new expansion method for Solana on-chain applications using ZK Compression technology. ZK compression works through the process of state compression, allowing developers to use Solanas cheaper ledger space to store certain types of data. According to the ZK Compression documentation, hashes or fingerprints of off-chain data are stored on the chain for verification using sparse state trees. Light Protocol claims that ZK compression will allow developers to store 100 compressed token accounts (usually costing around 0.2 SOL) at about one-fourth of the price, a 5,000-fold reduction in price. Compressed PDA accounts can be up to 160 times cheaper, according to the document. The protocol uses small zero-knowledge proofs (validity proofs) to guarantee the integrity of the compressed state. (The Block) Yesterday, Solana ecosystem development platform Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz posted on X that the team is introducing ZK compression into Solana, which will be done directly on L1 without L2. This move will greatly improve the scalability of the Solana network, and developers can build and expand anything directly on the chain without leaving the chain; in addition, it can also significantly reduce costs. For example, the current airdrop to 1 million users is expected to cost more than $260,000, and after the introduction of ZK compression, the cost can be reduced to $50, a 5,200-fold reduction.