Data Structure Commitment

Definition ∞ Data structure commitment is a cryptographic technique enabling a party to cryptographically commit to a specific data structure without revealing its entire content immediately. Subsequently, the party can selectively disclose particular components of the structure and furnish a cryptographic proof of their inclusion, all without exposing the complete data set. This mechanism ensures data integrity and selective disclosure.
Context ∞ Merkle trees serve as a widely adopted example of data structure commitments, utilized extensively in blockchain technology for efficient verification of transaction inclusion within blocks. Zero-knowledge proofs often rely on sophisticated commitment schemes to facilitate privacy-preserving transactions and scalable off-chain computations. News on these advancements highlights improvements in blockchain efficiency and confidentiality.