diff --git a/zk/go.mod b/zk/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae2774b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zk/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// A separate module on purpose: go.attesto.eu/sdk has no dependencies at all,
+// and a consumer who never opens a private numeric should not inherit a curve
+// library to keep it that way.
+module go.attesto.eu/sdk/zk
+
+go 1.24
+
+require github.com/gtank/ristretto255 v0.1.2
diff --git a/zk/go.sum b/zk/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbcb494
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zk/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+github.com/gtank/ristretto255 v0.1.2 h1:JEqUCPA1NvLq5DwYtuzigd7ss8fwbYay9fi4/5uMzcc=
+github.com/gtank/ristretto255 v0.1.2/go.mod h1:Ph5OpO6c7xKUGROZfWVLiJf9icMDwUeIvY4OmlYW69o=
diff --git a/zk/pedersen.go b/zk/pedersen.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..379bcb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zk/pedersen.go
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// Package zk verifies Pedersen openings for Attesto private numeric claims.
+//
+// It is a separate module from go.attesto.eu/sdk because that package carries no
+// dependencies at all, and most verification is SHA-256 and Merkle work. A
+// consumer who never opens a private numeric should not inherit a curve library.
+//
+// This package does not verify range proofs. That needs a full bulletproofs
+// implementation, not curve arithmetic, and remains the Rust core's job.
+package zk
+
+import (
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
+	"math/big"
+
+	"github.com/gtank/ristretto255"
+)
+
+// The frozen v1 generator pair, from docs/protocol/zk-generator-registry.md. The
+// registry defines what Attesto means by these; a dependency's word "default" is
+// not the protocol definition, so they are pinned here.
+const (
+	GeneratorSetID = "attesto-ristretto255-pedersen-v1"
+	GeneratorBHex  = "e2f2ae0a6abc4e71a884a961c500515f58e30b6aa582dd8db6a65945e08d2d76"
+	GeneratorHHex  = "8c9240b456a9e6dc65c377a1048d745f94a08cdb7f44cbcd7b46f34048871134"
+)
+
+func decodePoint(value string) (*ristretto255.Element, error) {
+	raw, err := hex.DecodeString(value)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("point is not hex")
+	}
+	element := ristretto255.NewElement()
+	if err := element.Decode(raw); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("point is not a valid ristretto element")
+	}
+	return element, nil
+}
+
+func scalarFromUint(value uint64) *ristretto255.Scalar {
+	// Canonical 32-byte little-endian, which is what the core commits under.
+	var wide [64]byte
+	big.NewInt(0).SetUint64(value).FillBytes(wide[:8])
+	// FillBytes writes big-endian into the slice; reverse into little-endian.
+	var canonical [32]byte
+	for index := 0; index < 8; index++ {
+		canonical[index] = wide[7-index]
+	}
+	scalar := ristretto255.NewScalar()
+	// SetCanonicalBytes cannot fail for a value below 2^64.
+	if err := scalar.Decode(canonical[:]); err != nil {
+		panic("a value below 2^64 is always a canonical scalar: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	return scalar
+}
+
+// VerifyOpening recomputes v·B + r·H and requires it to equal the committed C,
+// byte for byte.
+//
+// This is the last link of the exact-opening chain: v + r -> C -> claim leaf ->
+// capsule root. The descriptor must already have opened its claim leaf; only
+// then is the commitment checked here the committed one. Verifying against a
+// descriptor a holder merely supplied would let a matching pair be fabricated
+// whole.
+func VerifyOpening(descriptor map[string]any, encodedValue uint64, blindingScalar string) (bool, error) {
+	pedersen, _ := descriptor["pedersen"].(map[string]any)
+	if pedersen["generator_set_id"] != GeneratorSetID {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("descriptor names a different generator set")
+	}
+	committed, ok := pedersen["commitment"].(string)
+	if !ok || len(committed) != 64 {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("descriptor carries no commitment to open")
+	}
+
+	raw, err := hex.DecodeString(blindingScalar)
+	if err != nil || len(raw) != 32 {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("opening blinding is not 32 hex-encoded bytes")
+	}
+	blinding := ristretto255.NewScalar()
+	if err := blinding.Decode(raw); err != nil {
+		// A non-canonical encoding decodes to the same scalar as a canonical one
+		// and would let two opening records open the same commitment.
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("opening blinding is not a canonical scalar")
+	}
+
+	base, err := decodePoint(GeneratorBHex)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	blindingBase, err := decodePoint(GeneratorHHex)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	value := ristretto255.NewElement().ScalarMult(scalarFromUint(encodedValue), base)
+	mask := ristretto255.NewElement().ScalarMult(blinding, blindingBase)
+	recomputed := ristretto255.NewElement().Add(value, mask)
+	return hex.EncodeToString(recomputed.Encode(nil)) == committed, nil
+}
diff --git a/zk/pedersen_test.go b/zk/pedersen_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59a5a6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zk/pedersen_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+package zk
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// Go parity on the Pedersen opening vectors.
+//
+// These were a declared boundary: verifying them needs ristretto255 scalar
+// arithmetic the dependency-free SDK does not carry. This module carries it, so
+// a consumer who needs exact-opening verification can have it without imposing a
+// curve library on everyone else.
+
+func loadVector(t *testing.T, name string) map[string]any {
+	t.Helper()
+	path := filepath.Join("..", "..", "..", "golden-vectors", "provenance-v0.1-dev", name+".json")
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read %s: %v", name, err)
+	}
+	var vector map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &vector); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse %s: %v", name, err)
+	}
+	return vector
+}
+
+func openingFrom(t *testing.T, vector map[string]any) (map[string]any, uint64, string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	descriptor := vector["descriptor"].(map[string]any)
+	value := uint64(vector["encoded_value"].(float64))
+	return descriptor, value, vector["blinding_scalar"].(string)
+}
+
+func TestGeneratorPairMatchesTheFrozenRegistry(t *testing.T) {
+	// Constants that drifted would commit under a different pair than the
+	// protocol declares, and every commitment would be unopenable elsewhere.
+	raw, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join("..", "..", "..", "docs", "protocol", "zk-generator-registry.md"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read registry: %v", err)
+	}
+	registry := string(raw)
+	for _, pinned := range []string{GeneratorSetID, GeneratorBHex, GeneratorHHex} {
+		if !strings.Contains(registry, pinned) {
+			t.Fatalf("registry no longer carries %s", pinned)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAValidOpeningReproducesTheRustCommitment(t *testing.T) {
+	vector := loadVector(t, "provenance-private-numeric-opening-valid")
+	descriptor, value, blinding := openingFrom(t, vector)
+	ok, err := VerifyOpening(descriptor, value, blinding)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("verify: %v", err)
+	}
+	if ok != vector["expected_valid"].(bool) {
+		t.Fatalf("got %v want %v", ok, vector["expected_valid"])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAWrongOpeningDoesNotReproduceTheCommitment(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, name := range []string{
+		"provenance-private-numeric-opening-wrong-value",
+		"provenance-private-numeric-opening-wrong-blinding",
+	} {
+		vector := loadVector(t, name)
+		descriptor, value, blinding := openingFrom(t, vector)
+		ok, err := VerifyOpening(descriptor, value, blinding)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: verify: %v", name, err)
+		}
+		if ok != vector["expected_valid"].(bool) {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: got %v want %v", name, ok, vector["expected_valid"])
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheCommittedCommitmentIsWhatAValidOpeningProduces(t *testing.T) {
+	// Reads the commitment back out, so a check that always returned true fails.
+	vector := loadVector(t, "provenance-private-numeric-commitment-valid")
+	descriptor := vector["descriptor"].(map[string]any)
+	value := uint64(vector["expected_encoded_value"].(float64))
+	blinding := vector["blinding_scalar"].(string)
+
+	ok, err := VerifyOpening(descriptor, value, blinding)
+	if err != nil || !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("a valid opening did not verify: ok=%v err=%v", ok, err)
+	}
+
+	pedersen := descriptor["pedersen"].(map[string]any)
+	pedersen["commitment"] = strings.Repeat("00", 32)
+	ok, err = VerifyOpening(descriptor, value, blinding)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("verify: %v", err)
+	}
+	if ok {
+		t.Fatal("a tampered commitment still verified")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheSameMeasurementUnderTwoBlindingsIsUnlinkable(t *testing.T) {
+	vector := loadVector(t, "provenance-private-numeric-commitment-randomized")
+	if vector["first_commitment"] == vector["second_commitment"] {
+		t.Fatal("two blindings produced the same commitment")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestADescriptorNamingAnotherGeneratorSetIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	// "rejected" is not "invalid": the input is refused before any check runs.
+	vector := loadVector(t, "provenance-private-numeric-wrong-generator-set")
+	descriptor, value, blinding := openingFrom(t, vector)
+	if _, err := VerifyOpening(descriptor, value, blinding); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a foreign generator set was accepted")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAWidenedEncodingDomainIsNotTheCurveChecksBusiness(t *testing.T) {
+	// A claim about semantics is refused by whoever validates the profile. The
+	// commitment still opens, and saying otherwise would blame the wrong layer.
+	vector := loadVector(t, "provenance-private-numeric-encoding-mismatch")
+	descriptor, value, blinding := openingFrom(t, vector)
+	ok, err := VerifyOpening(descriptor, value, blinding)
+	if err != nil || !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("the commitment should still open: ok=%v err=%v", ok, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAMalformedOpeningIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	vector := loadVector(t, "provenance-private-numeric-opening-valid")
+	descriptor, value, _ := openingFrom(t, vector)
+	for _, blinding := range []string{"nothex", strings.Repeat("ab", 31), "", strings.Repeat("ff", 32)} {
+		if _, err := VerifyOpening(descriptor, value, blinding); err == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("a malformed blinding %q was accepted", blinding)
+		}
+	}
+}