PLONK is the zero-knowledge proof system used by Dusk Network. Beyond privacy, ZKPs also fundamentally extends the design space for applications. Today, we release the PLONK Release Candidate Library, and share our most recent benchmarks.
This week we deliver the Release Candidate Library for PLONK, the zero-knowledge proof system.
Zero-Knowledge Proof systems
In Dusk Network a large part of its R&D comes from the advances in cryptography, the field that the term ‘cryptocurrency’ is derived from. Cryptography is essentially the study of creating and reading mathematical secrets. Zero-knowledge cryptography is a sub-field of cryptography and enables a prover to make mathematical statements to a verifier without revealing the underlying information about that statement. But it's about more than just confidentiality!
PLONK
Since 2017, the field of zero-knowledge cryptography has been catapulted forward, with its application reaching far beyond preserving privacy. Zk-Proofs also fundamentally extend the design space for applications. A good example is our partnership with Harmony, where PLONK is used to create an Ultra Light Client, a blazingly fast method of syncing to the latest state of the blockchain. Only the latest proof needs to be downloaded and verified, greatly speeding up the syncing procedure, and reducing the costs related to its execution. There is a whole world of new applications to be discovered.
PLONK features an updatable reference string, and concise (proofs are ~1kb), and also constant verification times that are fast, very fast. This brings various advantages to the Dusk Network, most of which are involved with security and speed.
So, let’s dive into the most recent benchmarks!
Performance
Benchmarks taken on Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900X CPU @ 3.50GHz For a circuit-size of 2^16 constraints/gates:
- Proving time:
5.46s - Verification time:
9.34ms. (This time will not vary depending on the circuit-size.)
👉 Continue reading about PLONK RC here.
The E2E RC Release schedule
The End-to-End Release Candidate is a feature-freeze, and signals the version of the blockchain protocol that we want to go live with. The Release Candidate includes various libraries, which together form the E2E Release Candidate.
👉 You can find the full Schedule here.
Previously we released: