New Cryptography Schemes

Q4 2026 • Solana Foundation

Solana is expanding the cryptography it supports natively at the protocol level. Two proposals, SIMD-0302 and SIMD-0388, add new elliptic curve operations as syscalls, making modern zero-knowledge proof systems and signature schemes dramatically cheaper to run onchain.

Today, programs that need curve operations beyond what the runtime provides have to implement them in BPF, which is slow and burns through compute budget. Native syscalls move that work into the validator, where it runs as optimized native code. SIMD-0302 estimates a 10-20x reduction in compute units compared to pure-BPF implementations.

Technical Details

BN254 G2 Arithmetic

Solana already provides syscalls for basic G1 group operations and pairing checks on the BN254 curve (also known as alt_bn128), the curve used by most Groth16 proofs today. SIMD-0302 extends the existing sol_alt_bn128_group_op syscall with addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication on G2 points.

Native G2 arithmetic enables:

• Batch Groth16 verification - multiple ZK proofs aggregated into a single verification call
• KZG polynomial commitments - efficient multi-point opening proofs and batch verification
• More advanced ZK systems that need G2 math for batch or direct verification

BLS12-381 Support

SIMD-0388 introduces a new family of syscalls for the BLS12-381 curve, covering group operations in G1 and G2, point validation, pairings, and point decompression.

BLS12-381 is the modern standard for pairing-friendly curves. It achieves a 128-bit security level, making it the right foundation for high-security protocols. It is already widely adopted across the industry, allowing Solana to be more composable with the rest of the crypto world.

Supporting Alpenglow

BLS12-381 support also matters for Alpenglow, Solana's upcoming consensus upgrade. Alpenglow votes are BLS signatures, and while the votes themselves are processed outside the normal transaction pipeline, validators register their BLS public keys with a regular onchain transaction. That registration must include a Proof of Possession, a cryptographic proof that prevents rogue-key attacks against aggregate signatures. When the vote program eventually moves to BPF, these syscalls are what will let it verify Proofs of Possession efficiently.

About This Upgrade

Zero-knowledge cryptography is moving from research into production across the industry, powering private payments, identity, scaling, and interoperability. This upgrade makes Solana a first-class platform for that work. Proof systems that were previously too expensive to verify onchain now become practical, and developers get access to the best and most modern curves used across the broader cryptography ecosystem.

It also lays protocol groundwork: the BLS12-381 syscalls directly support the key registration flow for Alpenglow, Solana's next-generation consensus.

Together, these changes mean cheaper ZK verification, stronger security levels, and a runtime that keeps pace with the state of the art in applied cryptography.

Learn more: Solana Upgrades