Author: Yue Xiaoyu
Ethereum is ZK-ing, and the ZK verifier requires hardware acceleration, just like BTCMining has hardware dependencies, so ZKMining may become a new type of PoW.
The economic model of Ethereum may eventually become a new “hybrid Consensus” mode with both PoS and PoW coexisting.
Next, let’s take a closer look at the underlying logic of the above idea.
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1、Ethereum is ZKifying
The basic principle of ZK (Zero-Knowledge Proof) is that one party can prove to another party that a statement is true without providing any other information.
This is a very promising technology.
ZK technology is currently mainly used for scaling in the blockchain field.
Vitalik Buterin has been promoting ZK technology. Due to Vitalik Buterin’s intentions and preferences, the Ethereum Foundation has also invested in various ZK projects.
However, projects like ZK have a longer infrastructure cycle, so what ordinary users can currently directly perceive are various ZK Rollups, which are Layer2 solutions of the ETH network in the ZK series.
Typical representatives include zkSync, Starknet, Polygon zkEVM, Scroll, Linea, etc.
These are all combinations of ZK technology at the execution layer of Ethereum.
And ETH itself is also gradually ZKizing.
(1) Consensus layer ZK transformation (such as the Beam Chain proposal): By ZK-transforming the verification process of Consensus operations, the Consensus process can be simplified and accelerated.
（2）Data layer ZK-rollup: Only store proofs without storing all transaction data, which can significantly reduce on-chain storage requirements.
By these means, the Ethereum can significantly improve the performance of its network, including transaction processing speed, cost, and privacy protection while maintaining its Decentralization and security.
The introduction of ZK technology is seen as part of the Ethereum ecosystem’s long-term expansion strategy, which can address higher user demand and application complexity.
**2. Why does ZK need to be combined with hardware?
The above mentioned the many advantages of ZK, but the biggest obstacle facing ZK at present is the performance issue of generating ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proofs).
The operation mechanism of ZK is to make validators merge multiple transactions into a single, concise proof, and then submit the transactions to the Mainnet, ultimately achieving Mainnet scalability.
However, ZK also has limitations because the process of generating proofs is very resource-intensive in terms of time and energy.
Proof creation is often slowed down due to the need for many complex mathematical operations, such as exponentiation, inversion, and bilinear pairing calculation.
Pure software optimization alone cannot further improve performance, so it needs to be combined with hardware. By using dedicated hardware for acceleration, the speed of proof generation can be increased from hours to seconds, which will be a huge improvement.
Therefore, ZK has hardware dependencies and requires dedicated chips.
With the increasing application of ZKP technology in privacy computing, blockchain scaling, and other fields, the generation speed and efficiency of ZKP have become bottlenecks, and the market’s demand for hardware is also growing stronger.
3. How does PoS combine with ZKMining?
If ZK hardware acceleration is used, hardware Mining can be achieved, which creates a new economic model.
What is ZKMining?
Traditional PoW (Proof of Work) mining relies on solving complex mathematical problems, while ZK hardware mining is the ability to quickly generate ZKP.
Similar to PoW Mining, participants can compete to generate the speed and efficiency of ZKP, and the first participant to generate a valid proof receives a reward.
How are PoS and ZK specifically combined?
In the PoS system, validators (i.e. stakers) are responsible for validating transactions and proposing new Blocks. ZK proof can be used to prove the correctness of a Block or a series of transactions, enhancing security and lowering validation costs.
Validators generate ZKP as additional proof of their work while performing their PoS duties. Validators who successfully generate and submit valid ZKP can receive additional rewards beyond the existing Block reward.
This can be ETH or some form of reward within the network (such as a specific Token or part of Gas fees).
Mainnet Block rewards can be divided into two parts, forming a layered reward system: one part of the reward is used for traditional PoS verification, and the other part is allocated based on the contribution of Nodes in ZK proof generation.
From this we can see that ZK can enhance PoS verification, and ZK Mining can serve as an extension of PoS stake.
In addition to staking ETH to receive PoS rewards, stakers can also earn additional rewards by participating in ZK-related work. For example, stakers can run a ZK proof generation Node, providing computational resources to support the application of ZK technology.
But this is just a possibility. If you want to integrate ZK technology into the existing PoS mechanism of Ethereum, you need to modify or extend the current PoS protocol to accommodate the role of ZK proof.
And a fair incentive model must be designed to ensure that it does not weaken the incentive effect of PoS while promoting the application of ZK technology.
4. Will ZKMining introduce new positive externalities?
After Ethereum switched from PoW to PoS, the most criticized point is that no externality is introduced into this ‘closed’ economic system.
PoW has externalities, requiring energy, hardware, thus extending the economic activities of the Block chain to outside the Block chain, affecting the real world.
In the PoS system, the qualification to validate Blocks is mainly based on the amount of Tokens held (i.e. stake), with economic activities more focused on stake and internal network transactions, rather than external industries such as widespread Mining Rig production and the electricity market as in PoW.
Like PoW Mining Rig, ZK acceleration hardware also requires dedicated hardware, but the issue of ‘inefficient power consumption’ will be dropped, because PoW competes for the right to generate blocks by solving mathematical problems, while ZK Mining generates valid proofs to verify transactions, without the need for different Nodes to perform repetitive inefficient work.
5、AI and ZK share Computing Power
Furthermore, there will be a ZK Computing Power market, and even the sharing of AI Computing Power and ZK Computing Power can be achieved.
There may be a comprehensive computing service integration platform on the market that supports AI and ZK task computing needs.
Users can process AI tasks that require high-performance computing and tasks that require ZK proof generation on the same platform.
Integration can also be done at the protocol level: creating Smart Contracts or protocols, so that AI Computing Power providers can also participate in the generation of ZK proofs, or use ZK technology to verify the results of AI computation.
Computing Power can also be dynamically allocated: Computing Power resources can be dynamically allocated according to task requirements. For example, when AI tasks have low requirements, these resources can be used for generating ZK proofs, and vice versa.
6. ZK Hardware Acceleration’s Top Player
Currently, Cysic is the leading project in the ZK hardware acceleration track.
Cysic focuses on designing and manufacturing Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and GPU acceleration solutions to accelerate the generation process of ZKP.
Cysic has designed two hardware products:
(1) ZK Air: A lightweight ZK device, with a size close to a laptop power adapter, computing power equivalent to 10 RTX 4090 GPUs, suitable for individual users.
(2) ZK Pro: More powerful equipment, performance equivalent to 50 RTX 4090 GPUs, designed for large-scale ZK projects such as zkRollup and zkML.
In addition to hardware, Cysic also provides a trap CUDA library that supports various ZKP systems such as Plonky2, Gnark, Halo2, RapidSnark, etc. These libraries can greatly improve performance, at least 50% higher than Open Source frameworks.
At the same time, Cysic has an ecosystem, Cysic Network, mainly to integrate and manage community computing resources, connect ZK project party, computing power providers, and community validators, forming a reliable computing power network.
In simple terms, Cysic Network is a ZKMining Pool and SaaS platform.
Currently, Cysic has collaborated with multiple zkRollup projects, demonstrating the practicality and market demand for its products.
In addition to Cysic, there is another very distinctive project to mention: Scroll
Unexpectedly, “infamous” Scroll is very advanced in ZK hardware acceleration in the face of “alienation by the crowd”.
Compared with other ZK Rollup projects, Scroll can be said to have taken a different approach, starting from hardware, developing dedicated ZK acceleration hardware GUP, and forming its own competitive barrier, which is also Scroll’s biggest differentiating competitive advantage.
Just by looking at this point, Scroll is indeed a pretty hardcore project.
However, the positioning of Scroll and Cysic is different: for Scroll, hardware acceleration is part of its Layer2 overall solution; whereas Cysic is dedicated to providing hardware acceleration services for the entire ZKP ecosystem.
7. Summary
Finally, to summarize the content of this article:
(1) Ethereum is being ZK-ized: Ethereum is implementing scalability and privacy improvements by introducing Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZK) technology, which has been applied in the consensus layer and Data Layer to enhance network performance.
(2) ZK requires hardware acceleration: Due to the high computational cost of generating Zero-Knowledge Proofs, hardware acceleration (such as ASIC, FPGA) is considered a necessary means to improve efficiency.
(3) The combination of PoS and ZKMining: a new economic model is proposed, which takes ZKMining as an extension of PoS. Stakers obtain additional rewards by providing ZK computational power, forming a coexistence of PoS and PoW.
(4) ZKMining introduces a new positive externality: compared to PoW, ZKMining may reduce wasted energy consumption, but still requires specialized hardware, providing incentives for hardware production and technological innovation.
（5）AI and ZKComputing Power sharing: AI and ZK computing tasks may share hardware resources to form a comprehensive computing service market.
(6) Market-leading projects: Cysic and Scroll are leaders in the ZK hardware acceleration field, with the former focusing on providing hardware for the ZK ecosystem, and the latter incorporating it as part of its Layer2 solution.
Finally, the ZK hardware acceleration track has begun to take shape. With the further ZKification of Ethereum, ZK hardware acceleration will become more important and may even change Ethereum’s economic model. It is worth our continued attention to this track.
