Verifying Exchange Reserves with zk-STARKs and Merkle Trees

Summary

The article describes OKX’s monthly Proof of Reserves report and explains how customers can check that their balances are included in the reported total. It says customer balances are organized in a Merkle tree and that zk-STARK proofs are used to validate inclusion and support a claim that on-chain assets cover customer liabilities without exposing individual account details. Customers can retrieve their inclusion data and verify it locally with an open-source tool. The report also states that reserve ratios above 100% mean holdings exceed customer obligations for each covered asset.

The document reports a combined on-chain balance for four assets and describes an uninterrupted monthly reporting history. These are claims attributed to the exchange, and the figures and covered assets can change over time. Proof of Reserves is presented as distinct from regulatory authorization: one concerns assets and liabilities, while the other concerns permission to operate. The article is exchange-authored, and its description alone does not establish the completeness of liabilities beyond the stated verification method.

Key ideas

• The report uses Merkle trees to represent customer balances and provide individual inclusion checks.
• The described zk-STARK process lets users verify inclusion locally without disclosing account details publicly.
• A reserve ratio above 100% indicates reported on-chain holdings exceed customer obligations for that asset.
• Proof of Reserves and regulatory authorization address separate questions about an exchange.
• The report reflects the exchange’s stated assets and covered liabilities at a particular time.

Tags

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.