Definition ∞ An IVC Scheme is a cryptographic construction enabling incrementally verifiable computation. This scheme allows a prover to generate a short proof for a computation, and then later extend that proof to cover additional computation steps. The verification cost remains constant or grows very slowly, regardless of the total computation length. It offers significant efficiency gains for long-running or recursive processes.
Context ∞ IVC schemes represent a frontier in cryptographic research, particularly for blockchain scalability and privacy. Developers are exploring their use in constructing efficient zero-knowledge rollups and other layer-2 solutions that process vast numbers of transactions. News often highlights new research or implementations that improve the practicality and performance of these advanced proof systems.