Succinct Labs: What is the difference between SP1 and SPN?

Demystifying SP1 and the Succinct Prover Network (SPN) and understanding when to use what.

Part I. SP1 zkVM

1. What is SP1?

• SP1 zkVM stands for "Succinct Processor 1 Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machine."

• Think of it as a special computer that not only runs your program but also creates mathematical proof that it ran correctly.

2. Before SP1:

• Want a ZK proof? Write complex cryptographic circuits manually (like doing calculus by hand)

• Want to verify someone's computation? Re-run their entire program yourself (slow & expensive)

• No trust without verification: either trust blindly or waste resources re-computing

3. After SP1:

• Just write normal code, SP1 handles the cryptography

• Get mathematical proof of correctness, no need for others to re-run anything

• Verify proofs in milliseconds instead of re-running hours/days of computation

• Enables any developer to create real-world ZKP applications by writing code in Rust

• Makes ZK accessible to regular developers, not just cryptography PhDs

4. How SP1 Works

• Write code in Rust → compiles it into RISC-V instructions

• Program Table is created → a fixed recipe of all instructions

• Execution Phase → CPU runs the program step by step, checking each instruction with special tables (ADD, MUL, memory, etc.)

• Proof Generation → all tables are turned into math constraints to build a STARK proof that the execution was valid.

• Final Compression → for long programs, proofs are combined and compressed into a tiny SNARK proof that blockchains can verify.

5. Key Innovations

• Lookup-centric architecture: Tables specialize and cross-verify each other

• Precompiles: 10-50x speedup for crypto operations (Ethereum blocks: 10B cycles → 200M cycles)

• Efficient recursion: Combines multiple proofs into one final proof

• STARK to SNARK: Compresses large proofs (STARK) into tiny ones (SNARK) Ethereum can verify

6. Use Cases

• ZK Rollups: Turn optimistic rollups into zk rollups with faster withdrawals (~1 hour vs 7 days).

• ZK Light Clients: Build blockchain bridges that rely on proofs of consensus, not multisigs.

• DeFi Solvency Proofs: Exchanges prove assets ≥ liabilities without revealing balances.

• Identity Proofs: Prove properties like “over 18” without sharing private data.

• General Compute: Off-chain tasks, machine learning inference, or data validation with zk proofs.

7. Live Use Cases

• OP Succinct, built on SP1 zkVM, cuts Optimistic Rollup finality from 7 days to ~1 hour.

• Mantle is the first OP Stack L2 to launch as a ZK Validity Rollup with 1-hour finality, 12-hour withdrawals.

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Part II. Difference between SP1 and SPN.

1. What is Succinct Prover Network (SPN)?

• A decentralized network that proves software using zk proofs.

• Think of it as a marketplace: apps (like rollups, bridges, AI agents) need proofs — Provers (people with GPUs, data centers, or even home hardware) generate those proofs.

2. What's the actualy difference between SP1 and SPN?

• SP1 solves the software side of proving: you write normal Rust code, it compiles to RISC-V, and SP1 produces the ZK proof.

• Running SP1 on your laptop would be slow and costly.

• For that, there is Succinct Prover Network solves this by coordinating a global cluster of provers, datacenters, GPU farms, and even home GPUs, to deliver proofs faster and cheaper.

3. Actors Involved

• Requesters: rollups, blockchains, bridges, AI agents, games

• Provers: teams with GPUs, servers, or specialized hardware to generate proofs

• Delegators: Regular users who don’t run hardware but can stake their $PROVE

• Auctioneer: service that coordinates requests and provers

• Ethereum settlement contracts: hold all funds, check the Auctioneer’s proofs, pay out provers and delegators, and slash provers if they fail.

4. System Workflow

• A requester deposits $PROVE on Ethereum and submits a proof request.

• The Auctioneer runs an auction among provers.

• Provers place bids.

• The winning prover runs SP1 zkVM and generates the proof.

• The proof is sent to the Auctioneer, which records it in its database.

• The Auctioneer proves its database state with SP1 and posts that proof to Ethereum.

• Ethereum verifies the update and pays the prover (and any delegators who backed them).

Status today (Stage 2.5 testnet): reverse auction system (the lowest bid wins).

5. What Changes at Mainnet

• PROVE goes live → payments, staking, and slashing have real economic weight.

• Proof contests (probabilistic inclusion) → instead of one winner, several provers can submit.

• Delegation opens fully → anyone can back a prover, helping them qualify for jobs and earning part of the rewards.

• Bigger scale → Data centers, ASIC/FPGA teams, and proving pools of home GPUs join, making SPN the largest proving cluster in the world.