This week, Lita announced the alpha release of its Valida zkVM and Valida C Compiler Toolchain, enabling faster and more efficient zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) generation. The Valida C Compiler Toolchain comprises the Valida C Compiler, enabling C programs to be converted to Valida-compatible code; and the Valida zk-VM, a virtual machine for executing and verifying Valida programs.
Lita’s STARK-based VM Valida aims to provide the fastest, most efficient generation of succinct and zero-knowledge proofs of program execution (ZKPs) – enhancing the scalability and usability of blockchain networks by reducing computational overhead and transaction times, while also significantly reducing the cost of generating ZKPs.
Valida’s compatibility with LLVM opens the door to a host of conventional programming languages, enabling developers to easily transition into the world of decentralized systems. Lita has also released benchmarks for Valida’s performance capabilities, in which single-core Valida proving was carried out with a speed ranging from 1.19 to 54 times faster than multi-core RISC Zero proving, and between 19 to 1,600 times more efficient, greatly reducing CPU time and energy expended on computing the proof.
By making cryptographic computation universally useful and practical, Lita said it ensures that computations can be independently verified, enhancing transparency and trust in decentralized systems. This is particularly crucial in scenarios where sensitive or confidential data is involved, as it enables users to validate the correctness of computations without revealing the underlying data. Lita also aims to reduce the complexity and cost associated with building decentralized applications, providing developers with the tools and infrastructure needed to create robust and efficient solutions that meet the evolving demands of users.
The C release represents an alpha-version technical preview of Valida’s software stack. By Compiling C, Lita now has a compiler backend ready, which is one of the most fundamental components. In the future, Lita will be supporting many libc functions, which will be used in other programming languages.
Lita’s team is composed of founding engineers and CTOs of projects in the ZK space such as Anoma, zkSync and Nexus, including Morgan Thomas, Marty Stumpf, Hadas Zeilberger, Alan Li and Dan Dore. Additionally, the Lita team includes core researchers at Delendum and core contributors to LLVM foundation, with academic backgrounds including Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Duke, University of Connecticut and University of Victoria.
“Our benchmarks demonstrate the elite-grade performance metrics of Valida, particularly in terms of speed and efficiency,” Lita co-founder Ventali Tan said. “Releasing the support on baremetal C provides an early glimpse of Valida’s strength, but we are just getting started. One of the prevailing narratives in developer circles is that C is on the way out, while programming languages such as Rust are in the ascendancy. However, for us, supporting C is the first step in our expansive roadmap, and we’ll be adding Rust, debugger support, and the entire suite of SDK, allowing developers to seamlessly transition to Valida.”
