How ICICLE Helps Grow the zkWASM Ecosystem

Published on:

Oct 31, 2024

Introduction and Background

DelphinusLab, the team behind zkWASM, has a mission to bridge Web2 and Web3, providing a streamlined toolset for developers to integrate trustless, privacy-preserving capabilities into their applications. Originally, WebAssembly (WASM) served as a reliable choice for high-performance browser applications, while Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) were rapidly gaining traction as a powerful method for enabling verifiable computations off-chain.

In 2022, DelphinusLab launched the zkWASM reference implementation, which allowed WASM applications to leverage the privacy and security benefits of ZKPs. By running on a virtual machine constructed with zkSNARK circuits, this solution offered a way to implement trustless operations within existing applications. Early implementations, however, faced performance bottlenecks due to the inherent computational load of SNARKs on CPUs, even when supported by GPU-based provers using legacy CUDA kernels like NTT and MSM.

As the zkWASM ecosystem matured in 2023, demand grew for faster, commercially-viable provers that could handle more complex operations with efficiency and speed. DelphinusLab recognized the potential of ICICLE, Ingonyama’s high-performance, multi-platform acceleration library for Zero-Knowledge Proofs, and decided to integrate it into the zkWASM stack. The integration of ICICLE allowed zkWASM to improve its performance capabilities, making privacy-preserving, verifiable computation feasible in domains like blockchain and decentralized cloud services.

‍

**ZK-WASM: A web assembly virtual machine that emulates web assembly and generates a ZKSNARK proof for the emulation so that the execution result can be synchronized to layer1 blockchains**

Motivation Behind Integrating ICICLE

To understand the choice to incorporate ICICLE, it’s essential to consider the operational needs of zkWASM. DelphinusLab’s team focuses on abstracting circuits and optimizing the proving pipeline. Precise micro-benchmarks of operations are essential for them to maximize efficiency and push the boundaries of what zkWASM can achieve.

‍

This focus on stability and optimization required an implementation of core kernels that could meet the demands of enterprise clients and their commercial-grade zkWASM version. Additionally, cloud integration in the zkWASM Hub necessitated solutions that would reduce both time and cost. ICICLE, with its multi-platform design and comprehensive performance-boosting capabilities, proved to be a perfect fit for zkWASM’s needs, addressing critical pain points around stability and benchmark precision, and enhancing their circuit optimization efforts.

‍

Benchmark comparing ICICLE with Halo2 native. It is 11s for 1M instructions (even faster than Risc0’s last version) which means ICICLE can make KZG comparable with Stark optimization in GPU

‍

Ingonyama’s Support and Resources During Integration

Throughout the integration process, Ingonyama provided close support to the DelphinusLab team. With near real-time communication, the ICICLE team facilitated a smooth implementation by promptly addressing technical inquiries and providing guidance on kernel stability. This support enabled the zkWASM team to meet their performance benchmarks efficiently, allowing a seamless transition to ICICLE while maximizing the proving capabilities of the zkWASM Hub.