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Our modular, high-performance Merkle Tree library for Rust

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141 points bibiver | 4 comments | 21 Oct 25 12:58 UTC | HN request time: 0.501s | source
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bibiver ◴[21 Oct 25 12:58 UTC] No.45655191[source]▶
We've just released rs-merkle-tree, a Merkle tree crate designed with performance and modularity in mind. It comes with the following key features:

* Fixed depth: All proofs have a constant size equal to the depth of the tree. The depth can be configured via a const generic.

* Append-only: Leaves are added sequentially starting from index 0. Once added, a leaf cannot be modified.

* Optimized for Merkle proof retrieval: Intermediate nodes are stored so that proofs can be fetched directly from storage without recomputation, resulting in very fast retrieval times.

* Configurable storage and hash functions: Currently supports Keccak and Poseidon hashers, and in-memory, Sled, RocksDB, and SQLite stores.

The Rust ecosystem already offers several Merkle tree implementations, but rs-merkle-tree is built for a specific use case: append-only data structures such as blockchains, distributed ledgers, audit logs, or certificate transparency logs. It’s particularly optimized for proof retrieval, storing intermediate nodes in a configurable and extensible storage backend so they don’t need to be recomputed when requested.

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1. NoahZuniga ◴[21 Oct 25 16:11 UTC] No.45657554[source]▶
Blockchains are an alternative way to make an append only data structure, so it's not clear why you would want to use a merkle tree to create a block chain.
replies(4): >>45657765 #>>45657866 #>>45658416 #>>45658753 #
2. infogulch ◴[21 Oct 25 16:35 UTC] No.45657866[source]▶
Yes, the term block chain does has a specific technical meaning: a sequence of hashed values where each contains the hash of the previous, similar to the way a git commit includes the hash of its parent commit. But the term blockchain has also taken on a broader colloquial meaning of "log with certain cryptographic properties", which both block chain and merkle tree implementations can satisfy with various advantages and disadvantages. I think it's fair to allow usage of the broader definition.
3. dafelst ◴[21 Oct 25 17:13 UTC] No.45658416[source]▶
Doesn't bitcoin use merkle-trees internally to create its blockchain?
4. tromp ◴[21 Oct 25 17:32 UTC] No.45658753[source]▶
A blockchain can use Merkle trees in several ways. First, the block header usually contains the Merkle root of all transactions. This makes the header, and in turn the Proof-of-Work, commit to all txs, which helps make the chain immutable. Second, the header can also directly commit to the UTXO set, simplifying the design of light clients (sadly, Bitcoin doesn't do this).