Cairo – a Turing-complete language for efficient scaling of blockchains
Lior Goldberg, Shahar Papini, Michael Riabzev
Abstract
This paper introduces Cairo, a specialized programming language designed for writing provable programs that can be executed on a STARK-based verifiable computation system. Cairo enables developers to create complex, Turing-complete logic that is then converted into a proof by a prover and verified by a verifier. This is a foundational step for ZK-Rollups, as it allows for the off-chain execution of smart contracts with on-chain verification, significantly reducing computational overhead. The paper details the Cairo CPU architecture, the instruction set, and the methodology for proving non-deterministic computational tasks. Its contribution is pivotal for the Web3 ecosystem, as it provides a practical pathway toward scaling Ethereum through computational integrity proofs rather than merely relying on data availability, facilitating highly complex, scalable decentralized applications.
Key Findings
- 1Introduced a Turing-complete language designed for zero-knowledge proofs.
- 2Developed a prover-verifier architecture to ensure computational integrity.
- 3Facilitated highly efficient on-chain verification of off-chain computations.
- 4Enabled the development of complex, programmable L2 environments.
Topics
Citation
BibTeX
@misc{cairoa2021,
title = {Cairo – a Turing-complete language for efficient scaling of blockchains},
author = {Lior Goldberg and Shahar Papini and Michael Riabzev},
year = {2021},
howpublished = {\url{https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/1063.pdf}},
}Knowledge Explorer
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