Microsoft releases zero-knowledge proof system Magnetar
What happened
On 16 October 2026, Microsoft Research released Magnetar, a zero-knowledge virtual machine that it says can prove the execution of RISC-V programs written in Rust, Go or C. According to the release, Magnetar can prove 7.2 million to 8.7 million processor instructions per second on a laptop, is on average 10 to 39 times faster than the fastest existing zkVMs across 15 benchmark programs, and takes about 12 milliseconds to verify a proof. So far this is the only first-hand report on the matter, with no follow-up developments or conflicting claims.
Written by AI from the reports · updated 13 h ago
Timeline
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- Microsoft ResearchSelectedProof-based general-purpose computing with Magnetar
Zero-knowledge proofs can verify computing results without rerunning workloads or exposing sensitive data. Magnetar helps bring them into the mainstream with support for standard programming languages, major speed gains, and quantum-resistant security.
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