Written by: KarenZ, Foresight News
This week, the supercomputer project Nexus launched a new testnet. Nexus founder and CEO Daniel Marin stated that just two hours after the release of the new testnet, it attracted active participation from 10,000 users.
So, what kind of project is Nexus? What is its operating mechanism and how can one participate?
What is Nexus?
The inspiration for Nexus comes from large-scale projects such as SETI@home developed by the University of California, Berkeley (which utilizes a globally networked computer to search for extraterrestrial civilizations (SETI)) and Folding@home from Stanford University (a distributed computing project aimed at helping scientists develop new therapies for various diseases by simulating protein dynamics). It envisions building an internet based on verifiable computation that connects computing devices scattered around the world (such as large GPU farms, computers, mobile phones, etc.) to collectively form a supercomputer.
Additionally, by utilizing Nexus zkVM, Nexus connects computational supply with proof demand, allowing anyone to connect their devices to the network, not only to participate in computing but also to earn corresponding rewards.
Nexus founder and CEO Daniel Marin graduated from Stanford University with a degree in computer science and has won two awards at the International Physics Olympiad. Chief Scientist Jens Groth is the inventor of the paired zkSNARK and has served as the research director at DFINITY and a professor of cryptography at University College London.
Nexus's engineering and research team also gathers numerous experts with rich experience in the fields of cryptography and computer science. Additionally, the advisors listed on the Nexus website include 8 individuals, such as Yevgeniy Dodis, the director of the cryptography department at NYU, Chelsea Komlo, chief scientist at Zcash, Zhenfei Zhang, an Ethereum cryptographer, Giuseppe Persiano, a cryptographer at Google, Daniel Vogel, co-founder and CEO of Bitso, and Gengmo Qi, a partner at Dragonfly.
In terms of financing, Nexus Labs completed a $25 million Series A funding round in June 2024, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Pantera Capital, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, Faction Ventures, and Blockchain Builders Fund.
How does Nexus operate?
As previously mentioned, Nexus Network, as a large-scale parallel proof network, closely connects computing devices around the world to form a supercomputer. The Nexus zkVM serves as the core of this network, capable of proving any computation. zkVM is a virtual machine that uses zero-knowledge cryptography to determine whether a computation has been correctly executed without accessing any private or personal information.
According to the official description, Nexus zkVM is a modular, scalable, open-source, highly parallel, prover-optimized, contributor-friendly zkVM, written in Rust and focused on performance and security. The core components of Nexus zkVM include: Nexus Prover, Nexus Virtual Machine (NVM), and Nexus Proof Compression Mechanism (proof compression sequences of recursive SNARK). Since Nexus zkVM is designed to support a large number of parallel computations, it significantly improves proof generation speed.
Specifically, Nexus Network operates by arranging a set of prover clients, each of which can access Nexus zkVM. Each connected prover is assigned a work unit, which is the program to be proven. The prover client continuously reports progress to Nexus throughout the proof process and continues to wait for new task assignments after completing the proof.
Is Nexus secure?
In terms of security, according to the Nexus Q&A documentation, Nexus network programs cannot access files on the user's computer and network. The proof environment, the program to be proven, and the program input are always communicated through an encrypted secure network connection. Moreover, proofs use virtual machines to prevent programs from directly accessing your files, devices, peripherals, etc. When communicating with the Nexus network, the web version of the prover executes the virtual machine in a sandboxed browser environment that cannot access other applications, files, or data on the system.
What information does Nexus collect? Nexus's terms of service and data privacy page state that, in addition to the email address connected to the user account, Nexus may collect and track usage data of user machines, geographical location, bandwidth, clock speed, hash rate, throughput, and/or other measurement data (collectively referred to as telemetry data).
How to participate?
The new testnet for Nexus has added point and account features. This means that contributors can currently compete for rankings on the leaderboard. The current testnet will continue until December 14 at 01:00.
Currently, users can participate in Nexus Network in two ways: one is to directly contribute computing resources through the web interface (supporting both desktop and mobile); the other is to provide computing resources to the network via the command line tool Nexus Network CLI. Connecting to the network using CLI can achieve better performance and provides the opportunity to submit one's programs for others to prove.
1. Contributing computing resources directly through the web interface does not require any technical knowledge. The specific steps are as follows:
1. Visit beta.nexus.xyz;
2. Click 'Connect' to connect;
3. Enter your email to connect ProverID and create a Nexus account (email confirmation required, but the author has not yet received the confirmation email).
Alternatively, you can add an email in the Profile section at the bottom left corner, and then track NEXUS points here. Users can also connect multiple devices to one email.
Please note: If you close the webpage, points will not accumulate. Additionally, clearing the cache will generate a new ProverID, and the user will not be able to access previous points. Moreover, the ProverID displayed here is not complete, only the first few digits or letters. If you want to see the complete ProverID, you can check the localId field in developer mode.
2. Provide computing resources to the network via the Nexus Network CLI. Nexus states that connecting to the network using the CLI can achieve better performance and allows users to submit their programs for others to prove.
The operating system supports Linux, macOS, and Windows, and users can use VPS servers for remote operation. Specific processes can be referenced in the official documentation.