Aiken ZKP Standards Library

A standards-compliant Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) library for Cardano smart contracts, implemented in Aiken. This library enables efficient on-chain verification while maintaining robust security guarantees.

Project Overview

The Aiken ZKP Standards Library takes a pragmatic approach to implementing zero-knowledge proof systems on Cardano. We distinguish between committed features (current targets) and aspirational features (planned for future development).

This implementation is designed for Plutus v3, leveraging its built-in BLS12-381 curve functions to ensure efficient and secure verification of ZKPs. It emphasizes clarity and maintainability, making it suitable for educational/demonstrative purposes without sacrificing security.

Targeted Features

Groth16

Status: Complete

The Groth16 implementation is largely based on Modulo-P's ak-381, with some ideas taken from zarassh's implementation and an emphasis on explicitness and clarity. This should make this implementation ideal for learning, or for further modification.

Currently, the Groth16 module includes:

• Generic Groth16 proof verifier system
• Onchain verification tests

Wishlist:

• Integration examples with circom and SnarkJS
• Integration into a merkelized validator

Plonk

Status: Optimizing

The Plonk implementation is loosely based on perturbing's plutus-plonk, with several optimizations and restructuring done around point compression to improve performance and clarity.

The Plonk module currently includes:

• Generic Plonk proof verifier system
• Onchain verification tests

Wishlist:

• Optimize further to fit within Plutus resource limits
• Integration examples with circom and SnarkJS
• Integration into a merkelized validator

Bulletproofs

Status: Early Development

The Bulletproofs implementation is in the early stages, with a focus on building out the necessary field arithmetic and point operations required for Bulletproofs.

Helper Functions

• Affine point operations - conversion to/from native types
• Field arithmetic utilities

Aspirational ZKP Systems

• Marlin: Preprocessing zkSNARKs with Universal and Updatable SRS
• Plonky2: Advanced recursive proof composition

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for:

• Development guidelines
• Submission process
• Testing requirements

Prerequisites

• Aiken development environment
• Familiarity with ZKP systems
• Understanding of Cardano smart contracts