Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Evaluating the Efficiency of zk-SNARK, zk-STARK, and Bulletproof in Real-World Scenarios: A Benchmark Study

  • Mohammed El-Hajj*
  • , Bjorn Oude Roelink
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

413 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study builds on our previous systematic literature review (SLR) that assessed the applications and performance of zk-SNARK, zk-STARK, and Bulletproof non-interactive zero-knowledge proof (NIZKP) protocols. To address the identified research gaps, we designed and implemented a benchmark comparing these three protocols using a dynamic minimized multiplicative complexity (MiMC) hash application. We evaluated performance across four general-purpose programming libraries and two programming languages. Our results show that zk-SNARK produced the smallest proofs, while zk-STARK generated the largest. In terms of proof generation and verification times, zk-STARK was the fastest, and Bulletproof was the slowest. Interestingly, zk-SNARK proofs verified marginally faster than zk-STARK, contrary to other findings. These insights enhance our understanding of the functionality, security, and performance of NIZKP protocols, providing valuable guidance for selecting the most suitable protocol for specific applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number463
Number of pages43
JournalInformation (Switzerland)
Volume15
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024

Keywords

  • Authentication performance
  • Bulletproof
  • Non-interactive zero-knowledge proof
  • Privacy-preserving
  • zk-SNARK
  • zk-STARK

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evaluating the Efficiency of zk-SNARK, zk-STARK, and Bulletproof in Real-World Scenarios: A Benchmark Study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this