SNARKtor Development Update: Expanding Milestone 1 for Enhanced Efficiency and Functionality

In a strategic move to streamline development and align more closely with the final vision for SNARKtor, we have incorporated several activities from Milestone 2 into Milestone 1. This expanded milestone aims to deliver a more comprehensive and robust foundation while optimizing the overall development process.

Why We’re Expanding Milestone 1

Through careful evaluation, we identified that advancing certain elements originally planned for Milestone 2 into Milestone 1 would:

• Improve the efficiency of subsequent phases by addressing interdependencies early.
• Provide a stronger architectural basis for scaling and modularization.
• Accelerate the testing and validation of critical components.

New Additions to Milestone 1

In addition to the originally planned features, Milestone 1 will now include:

1. Enhanced Aggregator Modularization
   • Separation of roles into distinct Scheduler, Submitter, and Prover binaries, each exposing RPC interfaces.
   • Implemented multi-machine proof aggregation to enable scalability.
2. First Version of P2P Integration
   • A preliminary implementation of the P2P network to improve communication between Schedulers and Submitters.
   • This feature goes into the direction of the final version’s structure, enabling more accurate scheduling and submission interactions.
3. Advanced State Tracking
   • A new data structure to manage pending proofs, user balances, and submission readiness, ensuring real-time updates and efficient state management.
4. Plonky2 GoldiBear 
   • Now SNARKtor leverages the new Plonky2 GoldiBear, allowing fast recursion also over the BabyBear field making the aggregation of protocols like Risc0 much more efficient.

Delivery Timeline

We are committed to delivering this significantly expanded Milestone 1 within the month of December. The inclusion of these additional features reflects our focus on quality and readiness while maintaining a swift development pace.

Why This Matters

The expanded milestone brings multiple benefits to the project:

• Scalability: Multi-machine aggregation and modularization enhance the protocol’s ability to handle higher throughputs.
• Improved Architecture: Early P2P integration provides a more realistic communication model, aligning with the final protocol structure.
• Efficiency: Consolidating key activities reduces redundancies and facilitates smoother progression to future milestones.
• Readiness: Incorporating critical components sooner allows for advanced testing and faster deployment readiness.

Looking Ahead

This expanded milestone lays a solid groundwork for the next phases of SNARKtor’s development. 

We are excited to deliver this milestone and demonstrate the growing potential of SNARKtor. The addition of P2P capabilities and other critical features reinforces our commitment to building a scalable, efficient, and privacy-focused protocol. Stay tuned for updates as we complete this significant phase!