Microsoft says Magnetar speeds up proofs of program execution

Microsoft Research says its Magnetar system proves program execution 10 to 39 times faster on average than the fastest comparable systems across 15 benchmark programs. The system produces cryptographic proofs that let recipients check a computation without rerunning it or seeing private inputs. Magnetar proves execution of the RISC-V processor architecture, allowing developers to compile programs written in Rust, Go or C without rewriting them as cryptographic circuits. Microsoft reports 7.2 to 8.7 million processor instructions per second on a laptop, with proofs verified in about 12 milliseconds. Its security relies on standard hash functions rather than elliptic curves or a trusted setup. The performance comparisons cover the benchmark programs on the same machine.