A Standard Proving Unit is the contractual unit for one cryptographic proof of stated type, circuit size, and latency. Proving networks list raw hardware capacity. Routing agents acquire SPUs on the fly to anonymize payloads. Each fill mints a Tre’gent receipt — Ed25519, offline-verifiable, SHOD-gated.
Zero-knowledge proving is the engine that guarantees authenticity and privacy without revealing inputs. Running it is math-heavy and requires dedicated GPU/ASIC clusters. As regulated payment rails, identity proofs, and policy attestations scale, demand for proof generation behaves exactly like demand for electricity — bursty, latency-sensitive, settled at the unit. The SPU is the unit. The proving network is the producer. The agent is the buyer.
GPU and ASIC fleets running Groth16, PlonK, Halo2, and successor proof systems. Listed by the operator. Settled per fill.
Routing, payment, identity, and policy-attested workflows. Each call buys exactly the proof type its trust envelope requires.
Spot price moves with utilization, circuit complexity, and latency SLA. Forward curve emerges as fleets list capacity windows.
Every fill mints a Tre’gent receipt — the agent has cryptographic proof the proof was generated to spec, no provider trust required.
Just as crude oil trades as light sweet and heavy sour, SPU trades as distinct technical specs. Two sub-symbols are listed today on the Manuka Exchange.
One Groth16 proof, BN254 curve, circuit size up to 2 ∘ 20 constraints, generated within a 5-second p99 latency SLA. The default proving unit for transaction-level privacy on Base and EVM L2s. Routing agents anonymize payment payloads at the unit cost of one SPU-GROTH16-BASE.
| Symbol | SPU-GROTH16-BASE |
|---|---|
| Proof system | Groth16, BN254 curve |
| Circuit ceiling | 2^20 constraints |
| Latency SLA | p99 ≤ 5,000 ms |
| Verification cost | ~3 pairings, fixed-time |
| Unit | 1 SPU = 1 valid proof meeting spec |
| Receipt | Tre’gent · Ed25519 · offline-verifiable |
One PlonK-family proof, universal trusted setup, generated on hardware-accelerated provers tuned for the Aleo and ZK-EVM substrate. Higher prover cost than Groth16, no per-circuit ceremony, suited for general-purpose private compute. Routing agents buy SPU-PLONK-ALEO when payload structure varies or when audit substrates demand universal setup.
| Symbol | SPU-PLONK-ALEO |
|---|---|
| Proof system | PlonK-family, universal setup |
| Circuit ceiling | 2^22 constraints |
| Latency SLA | p99 ≤ 12,000 ms |
| Verification cost | Constant in proof size, succinct |
| Unit | 1 SPU = 1 valid proof meeting spec |
| Receipt | Tre’gent · Ed25519 · offline-verifiable |
A proving operator lists capacity for a window. A routing agent submits a payload requiring a named proof type. The exchange matches. The operator generates the proof. The proof is hashed and bound to a Tre’gent receipt. SHOD’s six gates check the operator (allowlist, daily cap, recipient cap, price window, trust tier, anomaly). If all six agree, the receipt is signed and the SIU-equivalent USDC settles atomically. If any gate disagrees, the receipt does not sign and no settlement happens. The buyer holds a receipt that can be verified offline in seconds against the published issuer key.