Welcome to the world of Tachyon, a powerful modular ZK (Zero-Knowledge) backend powered by GPU! In this blog, we’ll take you step-by-step through setting it up and explore its design goals, features, and roadmap.

Overview of Tachyon

Tachyon serves as a general-purpose ZK library aimed at simplifying the implementation of diverse proving schemes. With an emphasis on speed and GPU interoperability, Tachyon is engineered to boost developer productivity and foster widespread adoption.

Design Goals of Tachyon

• General Purpose: A versatile ZK library for minimal effort in implementing various proving schemes.
• Easy to Use: Supports multiple programming languages and runtimes for widespread adoption.
• Blazing Fast: Delivers exceptional performance on both CPU and GPU platforms.
• GPU Interoperability: Designed to be usable on both CPU and GPU in most scenarios.

Features at a Glance

Tachyon supports a range of features across various categories, working seamlessly across CPU and GPU platforms. Here’s a quick overview:

Finite Fields:
- BabyBear      :heavy_check_mark: 
- BinaryFields  :heavy_check_mark: 
- Goldilocks    :heavy_check_mark: 
- Mersenne-31   :heavy_check_mark: 
- KoalaBear     :heavy_check_mark: 

Elliptic Curves:
- BN254      :heavy_check_mark: 
- BLS12-381  :heavy_check_mark: 
- Secp256k1  :heavy_check_mark: 
- Pallas     :heavy_check_mark: 
- Vesta      :heavy_check_mark: 

Commitment Schemes:
- GWC       :heavy_check_mark: 
- SHPlonk   :heavy_check_mark: 
- Pedersen  :heavy_check_mark: 

Hashes:
- Poseidon   :heavy_check_mark: 
- Poseidon2  :heavy_check_mark: 

FFT:
- Radix2FFT      :heavy_check_mark: 
- MixedRadixFFT  :heavy_check_mark: 

Lookups:
- Halo2  :heavy_check_mark: 

SNARKs:
- Groth16  :heavy_check_mark: 
- Halo2    :heavy_check_mark: 

Frontends:
- Circom(groth16)  :heavy_check_mark: 
- Halo2            :heavy_check_mark:

Understanding the feature list is like navigating a vast library. Each section (like Finite Fields and Elliptic Curves) represents different genres of books. You can dive into the shelves and pick any book (feature) you are interested in, knowing that every choice supports both CPU and GPU architectures, making your research more versatile.

Roadmap to the Future

Tachyon has exciting plans for the future:

• [x] 2024Q1 – Enable producing the zkEVM proof.
• [x] 2024Q2 – Replace Halo2 with Tachyon in Kroma mainnet.
• [ ] 2024Q3a – Implement and optimize Plonky3 in Tachyon.
• [ ] 2024Q3b – Replace zkEVM with SP1 zkVM in Kroma mainnet.

Getting Started: Prerequisites and Installation

Before diving in, you need to have a few prerequisites set up:

For Bazel

Please follow the instructions here.

For Ubuntu

sudo apt install libgmp-dev libomp-dev

For macOS

brew install gmp libomp

Getting Started with Building Tachyon

To build Tachyon, use the following command:

bazel build --config os ...

Running Tests

To ensure everything works smoothly, run the tests with this command:

bazel test --config os ...

Check How To Build for more information.

Troubleshooting Your Installation

If you encounter any issues while setting up Tachyon, here are some troubleshooting tips:

• Make sure all prerequisites are installed correctly.
• Double-check the commands you entered for syntax errors.
• Ensure your Bazel version matches the requirements specified in the documentation.
• Consider reaching out in our developer community on Telegram for specific inquiries.

For more insights, updates, or to collaborate on AI development projects, stay connected with fxis.ai.

Conclusion

At fxis.ai, we believe that such advancements are crucial for the future of AI, as they enable more comprehensive and effective solutions. Our team is continually exploring new methodologies to push the envelope in artificial intelligence, ensuring that our clients benefit from the latest technological innovations.