{
  "type": "question",
  "question": "Do I need a trusted setup?",
  "answer": "Only if your proof system requires a structured reference string. Hash-based systems — STARKs and other FRI-based constructions, Bulletproofs, and IPA-based schemes such as Halo2's original instantiation — need none. Groth16 needs a circuit-specific setup, so a new ceremony is required whenever the circuit changes. PLONK, Marlin and KZG-based Halo2 need a universal, updatable setup that can be reused across circuits, and in practice teams reuse an existing public transcript rather than running their own. See Section 04.",
  "url": "https://zkpick.com/faq/do-i-need-a-trusted-setup/",
  "markdown": "https://zkpick.com/md/faq/do-i-need-a-trusted-setup.md",
  "section": {
    "number": "04",
    "url": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/"
  },
  "updated": "2026-09-12",
  "version": "1.3",
  "canonical": "https://zkpick.com/faq/do-i-need-a-trusted-setup/",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "authors": [
    "MarketComp"
  ]
}