SoK: Demystifying the multiverse of MPC protocols

TL;DR

This paper systematically analyzes the performance of Multi-Party Computation protocols, providing insights into their efficiency, practical trade-offs, and guidance for real-world application choices.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive experimental study and analysis that connect MPC theory with practical deployment considerations, highlighting key trade-offs and open challenges.

Findings

Identifies parameters affecting MPC efficiency

Provides benchmarks across diverse workloads

Highlights best techniques for specific scenarios

Abstract

This paper systematizes knowledge on the performance of Multi-Party Computation (MPC) protocols. Despite strong privacy and correctness guarantees, MPC adoption in real-world applications remains limited by high costs (especially in the malicious setting) and lack of guidance on choosing suitable protocols for concrete workloads. We identify the theoretical and practical parameters that shape MPC efficiency and conduct an extensive experimental study across diverse benchmarks. Our analysis discusses the trade-offs between protocols, and highlights which techniques align best with different application scenarios and needs. By providing actionable guidance for developers and outlining open challenges for researchers, this work seeks to narrow the gap between MPC theory and practice.