Merkle proof

A short cryptographic path showing that one record belongs to a set, without revealing the rest of the set.

Records are hashed and combined in pairs, repeatedly, until a single value remains: the Merkle root. A proof is the handful of sibling hashes needed to recompute that root from one record.

Two properties make it useful here. It is compact — a proof stays small no matter how large the set. And it is private — you can prove your record was included without disclosing anyone else’s.

For a supplier this is the difference between proving a figure and handing over a customer list. The recipient recomputes the root themselves; nothing needs to be taken on trust, and nothing else needs to be shown.

Commitment hash A hash over the exact inputs, factors and result of a calculation, so the same inputs always produce the same value.
Anchoring Publishing a hash to an independent, append-only ledger so that a record can later be shown to have existed unchanged.
Verifiable, not verified A record anyone can check for themselves is not the same as one an accredited body has audited. Both are useful; they are not interchangeable.