Deciphering the RISC Zero product matrix: How to help Ethereum move towards a ZK future?

At the recent Devcon conference, Justin Drake, a core member of the Ethereum Foundation, proposed the Beam Chain proposal, planning to upgrade the Ethereum consensus layer through zkSNARK and zkVM technology to improve the scalability, security, and efficiency of the network. This vision also highlights the importance of zkVM once again. As a general-purpose zero-knowledge Virtual Machine, zkVM can handle complex calculations in a more flexible and efficient manner, while eliminating reliance on traditional Smart Contract logic.

Under this trend, projects such as RISC Zero, Succinct, and Cysic are considered important participants driving innovation in the field. Among them, RISC Zero, with its zkVM based on the RISC-V architecture, has developed a series of open-source tools including Zeth, Kailua, and Bonsai, which not only improve the performance of block validation and Rollup, but also provide technical support for the ZK upgrade of Ethereum.

RISC zkVM ecosystem product matrix: from core technology to scenario applications

RISC Zero is a zkVM implementation based on the RISC-V instruction set architecture. As a general-purpose zero-knowledge computing platform, it supports multiple mainstream programming languages such as Rust and C++, and can run almost any computational task. Compared with other zero-knowledge technology platforms, the provers and verifiers of RISC Zero are completely open source, and developers can generate and verify proofs locally. In addition, RISC Zero’s verifier is compatible with multiple platforms, and can be adapted to different blockchain ecosystems, simplifying the development process of decentralized applications.

In June of this year, RISC Zero released zkVM 1.0. zkVM 1.0 not only supports multiple languages and complex computing tasks, but also uses Continuations technology to divide large-scale computations into smaller segments, achieving efficient parallel computation and verification. According to the roadmap, RISC Zero plans to achieve a 20-fold improvement in zkVM performance and cost by the end of 2024. Optimization measures include fully migrating the proof process to the GPU (80% completed), introducing a new type of RISC-V v2 circuit design, and specialized optimization for recursive circuits. At the same time, RISC Zero is integrating a series of acceleration modules for RSA, Keccak, ECDSA, and other algorithms to improve the performance of ETH-related tasks and cryptographic operations.

Around the core capabilities of zkVM, RISC Zero has also developed a series of open source tools and products. For example, through the Bonsai network, proof services can be provided, allowing developers to generate zero-knowledge proofs without the need for dedicated hardware; through the Steel tool, complex EVM calculations can be moved to the off-chain environment for execution while maintaining verifiable results, reducing on-chain execution costs; and Blobstream Zero bridges the Celestia data availability layer, providing more possibilities for data sharing and verification in modular blockchain ecosystems.

Zeth: Prove that the entire Ethereum block is properly constructed

Zeth is an open-source Zero-Knowledge Proof (zkVM) based Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) developed by RISC Zero, which can verify the validity of Ethereum blocks through zero-knowledge proofs without relying on traditional validators or sync committees. RISC Zero defines Zeth as a Type-0 zkEVM, which is fully compatible with the Ethereum protocol and improves development efficiency through code reuse.

Co-founder of ETH Buterin, Vitalik Buterin, in the article ‘Different types of zk-EVMs’ divides zkEVM into four types, among which Type-1 strives to be fully and uncompromisingly equivalent to ETH; Type-2 is dedicated to being completely equivalent to EVM, but not completely equivalent to ETH; Type-3 is nearly equivalent to EVM; Type-4 is completely incompatible with ETH.

Thanks to the high performance of RISC Zero zkVM, Zeth can complete the verification of ETH blocks in minutes. Test data shows that Zeth can generate block proofs at a speed of 1.1 MHz, and extend the speed to 4.7 MHz to 6.3 MHz by the ‘continuations’ feature to expand GPU clusters. This performance optimization also reduces the cost of proof generation. According to tests, the cost of proof generation for a block containing 182 transactions is only $21.72, with a cost of approximately $0.11 per transaction.

In the process of developing Zeth, the RISC Zero team fully utilized components of the Rust ecosystem, such as revm, ethers, and alloy, allowing developers to quickly implement block proofing functionality and apply it to different scenarios. This design provides developers with more flexibility to adjust block construction logic and adapt to future ETH blockchain improvement proposals as needed.

At the application layer, Zeth provides efficient solutions for zk Rollup, light clients, and cross-chain bridges. The construction of traditional zk Rollup and zkEVM requires a lot of time and capital, which discourages small teams. However, Zeth, based on the modular zkVM architecture, allows developers to easily customize block verification logic. For example:

• zk Rollup: Zeth can quickly achieve block proof, shorten the development cycle of ZK Rollup, and reduce capital investment.
• Light client: Verify block validity without rebuilding blocks, reducing operating costs.
• Cross-chain bridge: Zeth can verify the correctness of cross-chain data without leaking sensitive information on the chain through ZKP, which reduces reliance on third parties and lowers the risk of cross-chain attacks.

In May of this year, Zeth successfully expanded to support extracting Optimism block data from the ETH mainnet, generating ZKP to verify the correctness of the blocks, and supporting on-chain verification. In other words, with Zeth, Optimism can verify transactions more efficiently and resolve transaction disputes.

Bonsai: Allows developers to generate proofs without using their own hardware

Bonsai is a remote proof service designed specifically for zkVM applications, which allows developers to generate proofs without using their own hardware, thus solving the contradiction between limited on-chain computing resources and high costs. Through Bonsai, developers only need to define the zkVM application to be executed and input data, and Bonsai can run the computation in the background and generate the corresponding zero-knowledge proof. This process does not require developers to deploy additional hardware. At the same time, Bonsai utilizes a large number of GPU clusters to support parallel processing of multiple computing tasks. In addition, Bonsai provides a simple and easy-to-use API and SDK interface, which enables developers to easily integrate it into existing systems, further reducing the development difficulty.

Based on this remote attestation service, RISC Zero has launched the open-source tool Bonsai Pay, which combines OAuth2.0 authentication and ZKP technology, allowing users to send or receive tokens on the Ethereum network using their Google account. For example, when Alice wants to transfer funds to Bob, Alice can enter Bob’s Google email and the transfer amount through Bonsai Pay. Bob can then log in to Bonsai Pay, enter the email address, and complete the Google account authentication. Bonsai Pay will use OAuth 2.0 to generate authorization tokens, proving that Bob is indeed the owner of that email address. Bonsai Pay then calls the Bonsai attestation service to generate a zero-knowledge proof, proving that Bob’s Google account is associated with the wallet address. After the smart contract verifies the proof, the funds will be unlocked and transferred to Bob’s wallet address.

Throughout the process, Bonsai Pay verified the fact that ‘Bob’s Google account is associated with the wallet address’ through ZKP technology, while avoiding the disclosure of any specific information about the Google account.

Another important application of Bonsai is the Bonsai ZK co-processor (ZK Co-processor). It uses zero-knowledge proof technology to move complex computing tasks off-chain and generates tamper-proof proofs to ensure the correctness of the results. Meanwhile, the deployment of Bonsai co-processor is also very simple. Developers only need to write a zkVM application to handle the logic and call Bonsai through a simple Solidity contract to run the computation and verify the results. Throughout the process, the Bonsai proof service is responsible for generating zero-knowledge proofs of off-chain computations, which can be verified on-chain.

The Bonsai ZK co-processor is suitable for on-chain applications that require high performance and low cost. For example, in DAO governance, it can offload complex voting calculations off-chain, significantly reducing on-chain gas fees. With the co-processor, the Bonsai DAO Governor has reduced the gas cost per vote by over 50%, effectively improving governance efficiency and lowering participation barriers.

Boundless: Verifiable Computing Layer

In a traditional blockchain architecture, in order to ensure the validity of a transaction, all nodes need to perform all calculations for each transaction repeatedly. While this “global re-execution” model ensures security and consistency, it also comes with extremely high computational costs. To solve this problem, RISC Zero introduced Boundless, which allows a single node to generate a verifiable zero-knowledge proof after completing a computation, and other nodes only need to verify the proof to confirm the result, without having to repeat the computation.

Boundless simplifies the verification process through recursive composition technology. It combines multiple small zero-knowledge proofs into one overall proof, allowing verifiers to only check one aggregated proof instead of individually verifying proofs from each stage. To further optimize the efficiency of zero-knowledge proof generation, Boundless incorporates dedicated cryptographic acceleration circuits to improve the efficiency of common tasks such as hash calculations and digital signature verification.

In addition, developers using Boundless do not need to have a deep understanding of zero-knowledge technology. They only need to write applications in familiar programming languages such as Rust or Solidity. Currently, Boundless is freely accessible to developers. Developers can quickly build and deploy zero-knowledge applications on any blockchain using the proving service provided by Boundless without migrating existing systems or updating verification contracts.

Blobstream Zero: Simplifying Cross-chain Data Verification with zkVM Cross-chain Bridge

Blobstream Zero is a cross-chain bridge based on zkVM launched by RISC Zero and Celestia, aiming to seamlessly connect Celestia’s data availability layer to the existing modular blockchain ecosystem. By sharing and validating data on Celestia, Blobstream Zero achieves more convenient data transmission and verification between chains.

As a fully open-source public product, Blobstream Zero allows any project or developer to run local instances and generate zero-knowledge proofs. In addition, Blobstream Zero also supports ZK co-processors. ZK co-processors are essentially off-chain computing tools that require reliable data to perform computations. Blobstream Zero can retrieve data from blockchains like Celestia and prove the reliability of the transmitted data by generating ZK proofs.

Steel: A New Paradigm of Smart Contracts with Off-chain Execution and On-chain Verification

Steel is an open-source tool launched by RISC Zero that utilizes zkVM technology to achieve off-chain verifiable execution of Smart Contracts. With Steel, developers can move EVM operations from on-chain to off-chain execution, while generating zero-knowledge proofs to ensure the authenticity and verifiability of the computation results.

Traditional smart contracts require full execution of all logic on the chain, which not only incurs high gas costs but also limits the development of complex applications. The off-chain calculation and on-chain verification mechanism of Steel solve this problem. For example, in a simple smart contract that checks whether the ERC20 balance of an account is greater than 1 and increments a counter variable, the traditional method requires full execution of the logic on the chain, while Steel performs the calculation off-chain and generates zero-knowledge proofs. The on-chain only needs to verify the proof without repeating the execution of the contract logic.

Currently, RISC Zero has released Steel 1.0, and partners have already used this tool to develop applications. For example, in a contract call that handles about 400,000 SLOAD operations, the computation is offloaded to off-chain execution using Steel, and then the generated zero-knowledge proof is verified on-chain. The cost of proof generation is less than $10, and the on-chain verification cost is less than 300,000 Gas.

Kailua: A Hybrid ZK Solution to Drive Rollup Architecture Innovation

After releasing Zeth, RISC Zero has introduced Kailua, which aims to provide a hybrid upgrade solution for optimistic Rollup by combining ZK Rollup. Traditional optimistic Rollups usually require a 7-day challenge period, resulting in slower finality of transactions, while ZK Rollup, although achieving finality quickly, incurs high costs in continuously generating zero-knowledge proofs. Kailua combines the advantages of both by achieving a balance between cost and efficiency through a hybrid architecture. As an extension of the Optimism Kona framework, Kailua not only supports unmodified Kona running on zkVM but also introduces innovative dispute resolution mechanisms, reducing staking requirements and minimizing finality delays, thereby enhancing the efficiency and availability of the system.

In Kailua’s architecture, the dispute mechanism adopts a new design. First, its dispute resolution mechanism eliminates time limits, allowing validators to generate proofs with sufficient time in case of special situations such as network interruption, thereby enhancing the system’s resilience. Even in extreme cases, the extended architecture of RISC Zero zkVM can complete the proof within an hour. In addition, Kailua’s on-demand verification function allows developers to flexibly configure verification frequency to gradually transition to fully verified Rollup mode at lower cost.

Unlike ZK Rollup, Kailua does not require continuous generation of proofs. For low-frequency empty blocks or Rollups with special contract requirements, Kailua provides a more cost-effective option. At the same time, Kailua significantly reduces the staking cost requirements of the Rollup. The staking amount of traditional Optimistic Rollup increases linearly with longer finality periods, while Kailua’s optimized design fixes the staking requirements, allowing the system to maintain security and liveliness at a lower cost even in long periods.

Currently, Kailua is fully open source. Developers can use its command-line tool to deploy a local Optimism test network and quickly upgrade to a network that supports ZK fault proofs. Kailua also supports simulating fault proposals to help developers understand how validators challenge erroneous states through zkVM, thus gaining a deeper understanding of its dispute resolution mechanism. In the future, Kailua will further optimize costs and performance, and expand to support more Rollup frameworks.

Summary

From the above text, it can be seen that the zkVM product matrix of RISC Zero is driving the development of zero-knowledge proof technology in multiple fields. Zeth and Kailua focus on optimizing the Rollup architecture, improving block verification efficiency and dispute resolution speed. Bonsai provides remote proof services, reducing hardware dependencies and operational costs, enabling developers to build applications more efficiently. Blobstream Zero efficiently verifies cross-chain data, providing reliable support for modular blockchain ecosystems. In addition, Steel reduces the Gas cost of Smart Contract execution through the pattern of off-chain computation and on-chain verification.

Of course, while continuously improving the zkVM product matrix, RISC Zero is also continuously promoting the innovation of zkVM’s underlying technology. Recently, RISC Zero zkVM released version 1.2, introducing a new pre-compile method that allows developers to deploy pre-compile logic with the application without embedding it in zkVM itself. This means that developers can add new pre-compile logic without modifying the on-chain verification contracts or coordinating the configuration of the provers, and without forking or making major changes to zkVM to achieve performance optimization. In addition, by applying defined pre-compilation, the computational cost of proof generation can also be reduced. For example, after the integration of RSA pre-compilation by Automata, the execution cycles were reduced from 39 million to 217,000, reducing the cost by about 180 times.

With the continuous optimization of zkVM technology, its development potential will gradually be reflected in multiple application scenarios. However, to better unleash this potential, it still relies on the actual performance of ecological collaboration and technological implementation.

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