Valida vs RISC0 benchmarks

The following post introduces my results on benchmarking ZKVMs from RISC0 and Valida. Valida caught my eye because of the declarations of the fastest existing ZKVM (but still not fully constrained haha). Here we go with my results:

1. Evaluation of the 46th Fibonacci element:

   • RISC0 9.102s (prove + verify)
   • Valida 1.41s (1.075s prove + 0.266s verify)

2. Evaluating Pedersen commitment with Rust k256 library:

  let private_key = Scalar::from(12345678909876554321u128);
  let amount = Scalar::from(12345u64);
  let g = k256::ProjectivePoint::GENERATOR;
  let h = g.mul(k256::Scalar::from(12345u32));
  let commitment = g.mul(private_key).add(h.mul(amount));

• RISC0 24m18.388s (prove + 0.5s verify)
• Valida 15m31.673s (prove + 0.379s verify)

In conclusion, we can see that Valida is probably faster, but only 9 times for Fibonacci and 1.6 times for k256 library. Also, RISC0 can successfully generate proofs using only 20GB RAM while Valida requires 120GB RAM for k256 benchmark.

The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto

A specter is haunting the modern world, the specter of crypto anarchy.

by Timothy C. May

Private coins extension with VE [paper]

One of the existing problems of non-SNARK confidential assets protocols based on Pedersen commitments is the disability for coins receiver to decrypt an amount in the received payment. To achieve private decommitment, sender has to share the amount in a secure way with the receiver that often is not a part of a protocol. I’ve made some research and described the option to use private payments in a couple with verifiable encryption, that allows sender to share amount securely with receiver and convince the receiver that this amount corresponds to the committed one.

Check my article for more: Private coins extension with verifiable encryption

ZK-STARK explained [paper]

Still continuing my series of articles on advanced cryptographic protocols explained in simple words. Here is a paper about ZK-STARK protocol.

Enjoy! ZK-STARKs explained

RingCT explained [paper]

Sharing with you my paper with high-level overview of RingCT transactions in Monero. It covers the Pedersen commitments, Confidential assets, stealth addresses, ring signatures and the form of RingCT transaction.

Enjoy: RingCT explained