Cryptography has long been the domain of mathematicians and computer scientists. However, recent advances in zero-knowledge technologies are transforming cryptographic system designs into more accessible and simple programming tasks rather than complex mathematical constructs. This transformative process is known as programmable cryptography and effectively bridges the gap between protocol designs and practical applications. This will have profound implications for our security and privacy both on-chain and online. 😮

The role of programmable cryptography has included circuit-based functional descriptions to solve widespread adoption problems of cryptosystems. Theoretically, if the basic modules of a cryptosystem can emulate a Turing machine, it can be used for general-purpose computational problems. This approach is known to be where cryptosystems are used through circuit descriptions.

The benefits of programmable cryptography are on multiple levels. First, it makes practical applications of cryptography much more flexible and adaptable. Programmability opens applied cryptography from a niche discipline accessible to only a few academics to a global pool of developers able to experiment and innovate.

Author: Felix Xu