Crypto Gloss

SP1 (Succinct)

Definition:

SP1 is Succinct Labs’ open-source general-purpose zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) that proves the correct execution of any Rust (or RISC-V-compatible) program using the Plonky3 proof system — providing a fast, developer-friendly path to ZK proofs for arbitrary off-chain computation with ZK-verified on-chain results, competing directly with RISC Zero as the leading general-purpose zkVM as of 2024–2025. SP1 is notable for its performance optimizations (GPU and multi-threaded proving), its precompile system for accelerating common cryptographic operations, and its Succinct Prover Network for decentralized proof generation.

Background: Succinct Labs

Succinct Labs built Telepathy, an early ZK light client for Ethereum, before pivoting to SP1 as their flagship product. SP1 was announced in early 2024 and gained rapid adoption due to its developer experience and performance. Succinct raised $55M in a Series B in 2024 to scale the proving network.

Core Architecture

RISC-V Instruction Set:

SP1 implements the RISC-V RV32IM instruction set (the same as RISC Zero), meaning any code that compiles to RISC-V can run inside SP1. The Rust-to-RISC-V compilation toolchain (via LLVM) is well-supported.

Proof System — Plonky3:

SP1 uses Plonky3 as its underlying proving framework:

  • Plonky3 is a successor to Plonky2, developed by Polygon (but open-sourced and used by Succinct independently)
  • Uses FRI (Fast Reed-Solomon Interactive Oracle Proofs) — a STARK-based polynomial commitment scheme
  • Provides fast proving without a trusted setup
  • Final proofs can be wrapped in Groth16 or PLONK SNARKs for cheap Ethereum on-chain verification

Precompile System:

SP1 provides ZK-accelerated precompiles for common operations that would otherwise be slow to prove in a generic RISC-V circuit:

  • sha2-256, keccak256 — fast hash operations
  • secp256k1 — Ethereum signature verification
  • ed25519 — Solana/Cosmos signature verification
  • bn254 pairing — for verifying other ZK proofs recursively
  • bls12-381 — Ethereum beacon chain signatures

These precompiles make SP1 practical for ZK-proving Ethereum-adjacent computation.

Developer Experience

Writing SP1 programs:

“`rust

// SP1 guest program (runs inside zkVM)

#![no_main]

sp1_zkvm::entrypoint!(main);

fn main() {

let n = sp1_zkvm::io::read::();

// compute fibonacci(n)

let result = fibonacci(n);

sp1_zkvm::io::commit(&result);

}

“`

Generating a proof (host):

“`rust

let client = ProverClient::new();

let (pk, vk) = client.setup(ELF); // ELF = compiled RISC-V binary

let (proof, public_values) = client.prove(&pk, stdin).run().unwrap();

client.verify(&proof, &vk).unwrap();

“`

The split between guest (proven) and host (prover runner) is similar to RISC Zero’s model.

Succinct Prover Network

The Succinct Prover Network is a decentralized network of GPU-equipped provers that:

  • Accept proof requests from SP1 users
  • Compete to generate proofs fastest (for rewards)
  • Return verified proofs to the requesting application

This allows applications to outsource heavy proving without relying on a centralized server — a key differentiator from Bonsai (RISC Zero’s centralized proving API). The network launched in testnet in 2024 with mainnet planned for 2025.

Ethereum Integration

  • Groth16 verifier contract — On-chain EVM contract for verifying SP1 proofs
  • SP1ICS07 (ICS-07 light client) — An Ethereum light client proving Cosmos IBC headers with SP1, demonstrating cross-ecosystem ZK bridging
  • SP1 Helios — SP1-based proof of the Ethereum consensus layer (Helios light client proved with SP1)
  • Optimism/Base integrations — Optimism explored SP1 for fault proof / ZK proof systems

Performance vs. RISC Zero

SP1 and RISC Zero have conducted benchmark competitions. As of 2024:

  • Both support GPU acceleration for proving
  • SP1 tends to perform better on programs that heavily use the precompile system (cryptographic operations)
  • RISC Zero performs competitively on pure compute tasks
  • Both are in active development with frequent performance improvements

Adoption Examples

Project Use of SP1
Succinct Telepathy ZK Ethereum light client proofs
Polygon zkEVM Explored SP1 for recursive proof aggregation
zkSync SP1 used in prover benchmarks
Across Protocol Exploring ZK proof of cross-chain message validity

Related Terms

Sources

Last updated: 2026-04