Zero-knowledge protocols and multi-party computation (MPC) protocols are two different types of cryptographic protocols that serve different purposes.

Zero-knowledge protocols are designed to prove the authenticity of a statement or claim without revealing any additional information beyond what is necessary to verify the claim. In a zero-knowledge proof, a prover convinces a verifier that a statement is true without revealing any additional information beyond the fact that the statement is true. Zero-knowledge proofs are often used in authentication and identification protocols, as well as in cryptographic protocols for secure communication and data exchange.

On the other hand, MPC protocols are designed to enable multiple parties to jointly compute a function or perform a computation without revealing their individual inputs or intermediate results to each other. In an MPC protocol, each party holds some private data that is used as input to the computation, and the goal is to compute the result of the function without revealing any party’s private input or intermediate results. MPC protocols are often used in applications where data privacy is important, such as secure computation of financial or medical data.

In summary, while zero-knowledge protocols and MPC protocols both use cryptography to protect the privacy and security of data and computations, they serve different purposes. Zero-knowledge protocols are used to prove the authenticity of a claim without revealing additional information, while MPC protocols are used to enable multiple parties to jointly compute a function without revealing their private inputs.