Lattice Jolt introduces faster zkVM with post-quantum security

The zero-knowledge proof world just got a meaningful upgrade. A16z crypto has released Lattice Jolt, an overhauled version of its open-source zkVM that ditches elliptic-curve cryptography in favor of a lattice-based architecture designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers. The result: proving times that are 2 to 3 times faster than the previous version, proof sizes between 65 and 80 KB, and memory usage cut roughly in half. What Lattice Jolt actually does differently At its core, the upgrade replaces the cryptographic plumbing. The original Jolt, launched in April 2024, relied on Dory, a polynomial commitment scheme built on elliptic-curve math. Lattice Jolt swaps Dory for a new polynomial commitment scheme called Akita. Think of a polynomial commitment scheme as the mechanism that lets a prover convince a verifier that a computation was done correctly, without revealing the underlying data. Akita does this using lattice-based math, which operates under the Module-SIS assumption with 128-bit security strength, aligned with NIST’s post-quantum standards. Akita was developed collaboratively by LayerZero, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Southern California. ...