Merkle trees, yes! That was just an example of a technique that can be well hidden vs in the user's face.
Newer techniques like Verkle trees, SNARKs, STARKs, &c are.... well, new.
Newer techniques like Verkle trees, SNARKs, STARKs, &c are.... well, new.
It's kind of like ride-share services: They didn't invent cars or databases or dispatching systems or phone-apps, and while their investment might have spurred some new tools/libraries/algorithms they use, the broader usefulness of those inventions doesn't flow backward to mean they have a good/sustainable business.
There are even cases like "private blockchain" where the fad-marketing is getting used to mislabel what is actually just a regular old distributed database of yesteryear.
Can we really call the car an "invention"? After all, both the wheel and the steam engine already existed.
Those techniques were already invented and in-use long beforehand.