Aleo: A Blockchain Project Balancing Privacy and Scalability

Aleo is a blockchain project focused on privacy protection, utilizing zero-knowledge proof technology (ZKP) to achieve higher levels of privacy and scalability. The core idea of the project is to enable users to authenticate and process data while protecting personal information.

Project Overview

Privacy

The core of Aleo is zero-knowledge proofs ( ZKPs ) technology, which allows transactions and the execution of smart contracts to be conducted under the premise of protecting privacy. The details of users' transactions are hidden by default, while allowing for selective disclosure when necessary. The main components include:

1. Leo programming language: A language specifically designed for developing zero-knowledge applications ( ZKApps ).

2. snarkVM and snarkOS: snarkVM allows off-chain execution of computations, with only the results being validated on-chain; snarkOS ensures the security of data and computations.

3. zkCloud: Provides a secure and private off-chain computing environment.

Aleo also provides an IDE and SDK, supporting developers to quickly write and publish applications. Developers can directly deploy applications in Aleo's program registry.

Scalability

Aleo uses an off-chain processing method, where transactions are first computed on the user's device to generate proofs, and then only the verification results are uploaded to the Blockchain. This significantly improves transaction processing speed and system scalability.

Consensus Mechanism

Aleo introduces AleoBFT, a hybrid architecture consensus mechanism that combines the immediate finality of validators with the computational power of provers. AleoBFT enhances the level of decentralization of the network, improving performance and security.

1. Block rapid finality: Ensure that each block is confirmed immediately after it is generated.

2. Decentralized Assurance: Separate block production from coinbase generation.

3. Incentive Mechanism: Validators and provers share block rewards.

Aleo allows developers to create applications that are not subject to gas limits, suitable for applications that require long runtimes.

Latest Developments

1. ARC-100 vote passed: The proposal involving compliance and security measures has been approved.

2. Validator Incentive Program: Launched on July 1st, running until July 15th, distributing 1 million Aleo points as rewards.

3. Token Supply: Initial supply of 1.5 billion, initial circulation about 10%.

4. Testnet Beta Reset: This is the final network reset, adding ARC-41 and new puzzle features.

5. Code freeze: Completed a week ago.

6. Verification Node Expansion Plan: Initially 15, aiming to increase to 50 within the year, ultimately reaching 500.

Synthesis Puzzle Algorithm Analysis

Aleo recently updated the puzzle algorithm, shifting focus from generating zk proofs to generating witnesses. The core of the new algorithm is called Synthesis Puzzle, and the main steps are as follows:

1. A common EpochProgram is generated for each epoch.

2. Use nonce as a random number seed to generate the input for EpochProgram.

3. Aggregate the R1CS and input corresponding to EpochProgram, and calculate the witness.

4. Convert the witness to a Merkle tree leaf node.

5. Calculate the Merkle root and convert it to proof_target.

6. Verify whether proof_target meets the requirements of the current epoch.

7. Submit the solution and broadcast if the requirements are met.

This update ensures that puzzle calculations remain consistent within each epoch, but there are significant differences between different epochs. With the removal of MSM and NTT calculations, and the introduction of some dependencies for serial execution, new challenges have arisen for GPU optimization and parallelization implementation.