dalek-cryptography/zkp

The project is a classic 'dalek-cryptography' experiment. While the dalek ecosystem (including curve25519-dalek and bulletproofs) is the gold standard for Rust-based elliptic curve cryptography, this specific 'zkp' repository is marked as experimental and has shown zero velocity for a significant period. Its primary innovation was using Rust's procedural macro system to provide a high-level syntax for zero-knowledge statements, which then compiled down to efficient cryptographic operations. In the current landscape, the project faces stiff competition from more mature and widely adopted ZK DSLs and frameworks such as Noir (Aztec), Circom, and Arkworks. The defensibility is low (4) because, despite the high-quality pedigree of the authors, the project functions more as a proof-of-concept for a specific DX (Developer Experience) pattern rather than a production-ready ecosystem. Frontier labs (OpenAI/Anthropic) pose almost no risk here as they are not targeting low-level cryptographic primitives. However, market consolidation risk is high because the ZK space is moving toward a few 'audited and trusted' frameworks. The 166 stars and 37 forks are respectable for a niche crypto library but indicate it hasn't achieved the 'infrastructure-grade' status of its sister libraries. It is likely that developers needing this functionality today would look to the 'bulletproofs' crate or 'arkworks' instead.