We are thrilled to announce that the first set of benchmarks in Proof Arena is now live! This marks a significant milestone in our journey to revolutionize the world of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and empower developers to build more secure and efficient ZK applications.
What is Proof Arena?
Proof Arena is an innovative benchmarking platform designed to evaluate and compare different zero-knowledge provers. It provides a structured environment where developers can submit their prover implementations, which are then rigorously tested against a series of predefined problems. Problems are specific computational challenges that applications frequently encounter and utilize zero-knowledge to solve. The platform measures key performance metrics, including setup time, witness generation time, proof generation time, verification time, peak memory usage, and proof size.
The importance of each factor varies based on the application:
- For real-time applications, proof generation time may be the most critical because processing speed heavily impacts user experience.
- In high-throughput systems, verification time could take precedence due to the need for quick verification of numerous proofs.
- For resource-constrained environments, peak memory usage is paramount as developers need to ensure limited resources are being effectively allocated.
- In data-intensive applications, proof size may be the key consideration to ensure scalability.
By offering a transparent and competitive space for prover evaluation, Proof Arena aims to foster collaboration and innovation within the zero-knowledge community. Developers can gain insights into the performance of their solutions, identify areas for improvement, and contribute to the advancement of ZKP technology.
Proof Arena Adoption
Over the past two months, the response to the release of Proof Arena has been tremendous. Within the web3 space, the teams from Polygon, Linea, and StarkWare have contributed to the platform to ensure that their proof systems, Plonky3, GNARK, and Halo2 respectively, are represented fairly and accurately.
In academia, Proof Arena has drawn the attention of some of the foremost experts in zero-knowledge cryptography including Professor Dawn Song, co-Director of the UC Berkeley Center on Responsible Decentralized Intelligence, and Professor Dan Boneh, head of the applied cryptography group at Stanford.
“Proof Arena provides a long-awaited tool to compare different ZK provers on different tasks,” Professor Boneh shared. “Proof Arena updates every time a new prover version is released, and moreover, new provers can be easily added. This keeps the comparison current and up-to-date with the latest developments in the field.”
Results from the First Live Problem
We are excited to share the results from the initial set of problems that were evaluated with Proof Arena. The data collected provides valuable insights into the performance of various provers, showcasing their strengths and weaknesses. Determining the most important factors to consider depends on the specific application and context in which the proof system is being used. Here’s a breakdown of each factor’s significance:
- Proof Generation Time: This is crucial in scenarios where real-time performance is essential, such as in blockchain transactions or interactive applications. If the proof generation time is too long, it can lead to delays in processing transactions or responses, negatively impacting user experience.
- Verification Time: This is particularly important in systems where many proofs need to be verified quickly, such as in batch processing or when multiple users are interacting with a system simultaneously. Faster verification times can enhance the overall throughput of the system.
- Peak Memory: In environments with limited resources, such as IoT devices or mobile applications, peak memory usage can be a critical factor. High memory consumption can lead to performance degradation or even system crashes, making it essential to optimize memory usage.
- Proof Size: Smaller proof sizes are beneficial for storage and transmission efficiency, especially in bandwidth-constrained environments. In blockchain applications, smaller proofs can reduce the amount of data that needs to be stored and transmitted, which is vital for scalability.
In general, the performance of these four metrics will take precedence over setup time and witness generation time.
Deep Dive: Keccak256 Hashes
Keccak256 hashes, a member of the SHA-3 family, play a pivotal role in blockchain development due to their robust security and efficiency. As a cryptographic hash function, Keccak256 generates a fixed-size 256-bit output from input data of any length, ensuring that even the slightest change in the input results in a drastically different hash. This property is crucial for maintaining data integrity and authenticity on the blockchain, as it helps prevent tampering and ensures that transactions are securely linked to their corresponding data. Additionally, Keccak256’s resistance to collision and pre-image attacks makes it a reliable choice for various blockchain applications, including smart contracts and zero-knowledge proofs. By leveraging Keccak256, developers can enhance the security of their decentralized applications, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected while still enabling efficient verification processes.
Given the significance of keccak256 hashes in blockchain development, it is fitting that this is the first problem with performance metrics generated across a wide variety of provers. As you can see from the results below, the Expander prover is significantly faster in terms of proof generation time and peak memory, Plonky3 achieves stellar performance in terms of setup and verification time, and GNARK has the smallest proof size.
In use cases like bridging assets, where near real-time execution is critical, proof generation time is the primary consideration, which is why we developed Expander while building zkBridge.
The complete results for this problem as well as others can be viewed on the Proof Arena website here.
Diving deeper into the data we can see that the range for proof generation time is quite large. Expander leads the pack with about 16,700 proofs per second followed by Plonky3 at 1,368 and then GNARK and Halo2 at 4.5 and less than 1 respectively.
On the other hand, the spread between verification times is much less. Expander verifies about 928 proofs per second whereas Plonky3 verifies 1,368.5 proofs per second.
While both proof generation time and verification time are important, there are specific contexts where proof generation time should take precedence, especially given the variance in proof generation performance. Real-time applications, high-volume transaction environments, and resource-constrained systems should seriously consider proof generation time when selecting the best prover for their use case.
Why This is Significant for Teams Utilizing Zero-Knowledge
The launch of Proof Arena and the results from the first live problems hold significant implications for teams leveraging zero-knowledge technology:
- Informed Decision-Making: With access to comprehensive performance data, developers can make informed decisions about which prover to use for their applications. This empowers teams to optimize their solutions based on real-world performance metrics.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Proof Arena fosters a collaborative environment where developers can share insights, learn from each other, and collectively advance the state of zero-knowledge proofs. This community-driven approach accelerates innovation and encourages best practices.
- Improved User Experience: By selecting the most efficient provers, teams can enhance the user experience of their dApps. Faster verification times and smaller proof sizes lead to quicker transactions and lower costs, ultimately benefiting end-users.
- Driving Adoption: As more developers engage with Proof Arena and contribute their solutions, we anticipate a surge in the adoption of zero-knowledge technology across various industries. This will pave the way for more secure, scalable, and private applications, aligning with the core values of the Web3 movement.
Join Us on This Journey!
We invite all developers and teams interested in zero-knowledge proofs to explore Proof Arena, submit their provers, and participate in this exciting benchmarking initiative. Together, we can push the boundaries of what is possible with zero-knowledge technology and create a more secure and decentralized future.
Source: Proof Arena