Glossary
The following terms define the cryptographic and operational components of ZENDEX:
| Term | Cryptographic / Operational Definition |
|---|---|
| ZK Proof | A mathematical proof demonstrating that a state transition is valid without revealing the private inputs used to compute it. |
| UltraPlonk | An advanced ZK proof system built on Plonk that supports custom gates and lookup tables without requiring a per-circuit trusted setup. |
| Noir | A domain-specific language developed by Aztec for writing zero-knowledge circuits compiled down to Barretenberg proof keys. |
| Barretenberg | The backend C++ proving library used to construct and verify UltraPlonk zero-knowledge proofs. |
| Poseidon Hash | A cryptographic hash function optimized for low constraint counts within ZK circuit environments. |
| Commitment | An opaque cryptographic hash representing owned assets: . |
| Nullifier | A unique single-use cryptographic value derived from a commitment to mark it as spent without revealing its identity: . |
| Zendex Key | The key created in the app and stored only in your browser. It owns your private deposits and is separate from your wallet's private key. Back it up from the Account page. |
| Note | A private deposit: a commitment to a token, an amount and a random secret. Only the commitment goes on-chain, and a note is always spent whole. |
| Dust Address | A normal EVM address derived from your Zendex Key that receives withdrawals and leftover amounts from swaps and liquidity actions. It is not your connected wallet. |
| Incremental Merkle Tree | An append-only tree data structure storing active asset commitments. Managed on-chain by TreeOperator. |
| Epoch | A specific state index of the Merkle tree that bounds the validity window of inclusion proofs. |
| Spot Commitment | A private record stored in the tree representing an unexecuted limit order in the order book module. |
| TreeOperator | The non-upgradeable contract responsible for appending commitments and maintaining root history. |
| Boost Manager | The upgradeable contract calculating yield multipliers for users staking $ZKZ governance tokens. |
| Basis Points (bps) | Unit of measure representing hundredths of a percent (). |