On September 9, a16z crypto together with the LayerZero team introduced Lattice Jolt – a new version of the open-source zkVM (zero-knowledge virtual machine) with built-in protection against quantum attacks. The system is based on mathematical lattices instead of traditional elliptic curves and allows verifying the correctness of program execution using compact cryptographic proofs. According to the developers, proof generation and verification have accelerated 2–3x compared to the previous version.
At the core of the update is Akita – a new polynomial commitment scheme developed by the team behind the omnichain protocol LayerZero, with contributions from researchers at Carnegie – Mellon and the University of Southern California, as well as specialists from a16z crypto. Akita replaces the Dory component, which was built on elliptic curves. The transition to lattice-based cryptography reduced the size of numbers in computations from 256 to 128 bits and accelerated operations. The new component provides a 128-bit security level, including protection against quantum attacks. The mathematical approach used in Akita is similar to the ML-KEM and ML-DSA standards approved by NIST in 2024 for key establishment and digital signatures. LayerZero called the release of Akita the first major step toward quantum protection of its Zero blockchain, adding that work on full post-quantum protection of the infrastructure will continue as the mainnet launch approaches and beyond.
The performance of Lattice Jolt has grown significantly: on a MacBook, the previous version generated proofs at approximately 1 million RISC-V cycles per second on CPU, while the new version exceeds 2 million cycles on the processor and reaches 10 million cycles when a GPU is connected via Apple Metal. The proof size is under 100 KB, with Akita reducing proof sizes by 2–8x relative to existing post-quantum alternatives depending on the application. The developers plan to describe zero-knowledge support for Lattice Jolt in a separate paper – a feature required for hiding sensitive data. The project's GitHub repository notes that Jolt is in an alpha stage and is not yet intended for production use.