Article Source: Yue Xiaoyu.
Written by: Yue Xiaoyu.
Web3Caff founder Gootor has put forward a very important viewpoint, sharing some further thoughts here:
Ethereum is becoming ZK-integrated, and ZK provers need hardware acceleration, similar to Bitcoin mining's hardware dependency, making ZK mining potentially a new type of PoW.
Ethereum's economic model may eventually evolve into a coexistence of PoS and PoW, forming a new 'hybrid consensus' model.
Next, let's specifically look at the underlying logic of the above assumptions.
1. Ethereum is becoming ZK-integrated.
The basic principle of ZK (zero-knowledge proof) is: one party can prove to another party that a statement is true, without revealing any additional information.
This is a very promising technology.
ZK technology is currently mainly applied in the blockchain field for scaling.
Vitalik has been actively promoting ZK technology. Due to his willingness and inclination, the Ethereum Foundation has also invested in various ZK projects.
However, the infrastructure cycle of ZK projects is relatively long, so what ordinary users can currently directly perceive are various ZK Rollups, which are Ethereum Layer2 solutions of the ZK system.
Typical representatives include zkSync, Starknet, Polygon zkEVM, Scroll, Linea, etc.
These are the ZK technologies integrated into Ethereum's execution layer.
Meanwhile, Ethereum itself is gradually becoming ZK-integrated.
Consensus Layer ZK Integration (e.g., Beam Chain proposal): By ZK-integrating the verification process of consensus operations, the consensus process can be simplified and accelerated.
Data layer ZK integration: storing only proofs instead of all transaction data can significantly reduce on-chain storage requirements.
Through these means, Ethereum can significantly enhance its network performance, including transaction processing speed, cost, and privacy protection, while maintaining its decentralization and security.
The introduction of ZK technology is seen as part of Ethereum's long-term expansion strategy, which can respond to higher user demands and application complexities.
2. Why does ZK need to combine with hardware?
The above mentioned many advantages of ZK, but the biggest obstacle currently faced by ZK is the performance issue of generating ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proofs).
The operational mechanism of ZK is to enable validators to merge multiple transactions into a single, succinct proof and then submit the transactions to the mainnet, ultimately achieving scalability for the mainnet.
However, ZK also has limitations because the process of generating proofs is resource-intensive in terms of time and effort.
Due to the need for many complex mathematical operations, such as exponentiation, inversion, and bilinear pairing calculations, the creation of proofs often slows down.
Simply relying on software optimization cannot further improve performance, so it is necessary to combine hardware. By using specialized hardware for acceleration, the proof generation speed can be improved from hours to seconds, which will be a huge enhancement.
Therefore, ZK has hardware dependencies and requires specialized chips.
As the application of ZKP technology in privacy computing, blockchain scaling, and other fields increases, the speed and efficiency of generating ZKP have become bottlenecks, and the market demand for hardware is also growing stronger.
3. How do PoS and ZK mining combine?
If ZK hardware acceleration is adopted, hardware mining can be realized, leading to a new economic model.
What is ZK mining?
Traditional PoW (Proof of Work) mining relies on solving complex mathematical problems, while ZK hardware mining is about the ability to quickly generate ZKP.
Similar to PoW mining, participants can compete for the speed and efficiency of generating ZKP, with the first participant to generate a valid proof receiving rewards.
How do PoS and ZK combine?
In a PoS system, validators (i.e., stakers) are responsible for verifying transactions and proposing new blocks. ZK proofs can be used to prove the correctness of a block or a series of transactions, enhancing security and reducing verification costs.
Validators generate ZKP as an 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 rewards.
This could be ETH or some form of internal rewards in the network (such as a portion of specific tokens or gas fees).
Mainnet block rewards can be divided into two parts, forming a layered reward system: one part of the rewards is used for traditional PoS verification, while the other part is allocated based on the contribution of nodes in ZK proof generation.
Thus, it can be seen that ZK can serve as an enhancement to PoS verification, while ZK mining can act as an expansion of PoS staking.
Stakers can earn additional rewards by participating in ZK-related work in addition to staking ETH for PoS rewards. For example, stakers can run ZK proof generation nodes and provide computing resources to support the application of ZK technology.
However, this is just a proposed possibility. If Ethereum's existing PoS mechanism is to be integrated with ZK technology, modifications or extensions to the current PoS protocol will be needed to accommodate the role of ZK proofs.
Moreover, a fair incentive model must be designed to ensure that it neither undermines the incentive effect of PoS nor promotes the application of ZK technology.
4. Will ZK mining introduce new positive externalities?
After Ethereum transitioned from PoW to PoS, the most criticized point is that no externalities have been introduced into this 'closed' economic system.
PoW has externalities, requiring energy and hardware, thereby extending the economic activities of the blockchain beyond the blockchain itself, affecting the real world.
In PoS systems, the eligibility to validate blocks is primarily based on the number of tokens held (i.e., staking), and economic activities are more concentrated on staking and transactions within the network, rather than involving a wide range of mining production, electricity markets, and other external industries like PoW.
ZK acceleration hardware, like PoW mining machines, requires specialized hardware, but the issue of 'ineffective power consumption' will be reduced because PoW involves solving mathematical problems to compete for block rights, while ZK mining involves generating valid proofs to verify transactions without requiring different nodes to perform repetitive, ineffective labor.
5. AI and ZK shared computing power.
Further, a ZK computing power market may emerge, and even AI computing power and ZK computing power can be shared.
The market may see the emergence of integrated platforms that offer comprehensive computing services, supporting the computing needs of AI and ZK tasks.
Users can handle AI tasks that require high-performance computing and tasks that require ZK proof generation on the same platform.
Integrations can also be done at the protocol level: creating smart contracts or protocols that allow AI computing power providers to participate in ZK proof generation or utilize ZK technology to verify AI computation results.
Computing power can also be dynamically allocated: dynamically allocating computing resources based on task requirements. For example, when AI task demand is low, these resources can be used for generating ZK proofs, and vice versa.
6. Leading players in ZK hardware acceleration.
Currently, the leading project in the ZK hardware acceleration track is Cysic.
Cysic focuses on designing and producing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and GPU acceleration solutions to accelerate the ZKP generation process.
Cysic has designed two hardware products:
ZK Air: A lightweight ZK device, approximately the size of a laptop power adapter, with computing power equivalent to 10 RTX 4090 GPUs, suitable for individual users.
ZK Pro: A more powerful device with performance equivalent to 50 RTX 4090 GPUs, designed for large ZK projects such as zkRollup and zkML.
In addition to hardware, Cysic also provides a set of CUDA libraries that support various ZKP systems such as Plonky2, Gnark, Halo2, RapidSnark, etc. These libraries can significantly improve performance, increasing it by at least 50% compared to open-source frameworks.
At the same time, Cysic has an ecosystem, Cysic Network, mainly to integrate and manage community computing resources, connecting ZK project parties, computing power providers, and community validators to form a reliable computing power network.
In simple terms, Cysic Network is a ZK mining pool and SaaS platform.
Currently, Cysic has already collaborated with multiple zkRollup projects, demonstrating the practicality and market demand of its products.
In addition to Cysic, there is another very distinctive project to mention: Scroll.
Unexpectedly, the 'infamous' Scroll is very advanced in ZK hardware acceleration.
Compared to other ZK Rollup projects, Scroll can be said to have taken a different path, starting from hardware, developing specialized ZK acceleration hardware GUP, creating its own competitive barrier, which is also Scroll's biggest differentiated competitive advantage.
Looking at this alone, Scroll is indeed a quite hardcore project.
However, Scroll and Cysic have different positions: For Scroll, hardware acceleration is part of its Layer2 overall solution; while Cysic is dedicated to providing hardware acceleration services for the entire ZKP ecosystem.
7. Summary.
Finally, let's summarize the content of this article:
Ethereum is becoming ZK-integrated: Ethereum is implementing scaling and improving privacy by introducing zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology, and has applied ZK technology at both the consensus layer and data layer to enhance network performance.
ZK requires hardware acceleration: Since generating zero-knowledge proofs consumes a lot of computational resources, hardware acceleration (such as ASICs, FPGAs) is regarded as a necessary means to improve efficiency.
The combination of PoS and ZK mining: proposes a new economic model by extending ZK mining as an extension of PoS, where stakers earn additional rewards by providing ZK computing power, forming a coexistence of PoS and PoW.
ZK mining introduces new positive externalities: Compared to PoW, ZK mining may reduce ineffective energy consumption but still requires specialized hardware, providing incentives for hardware production and technological innovation.
AI and ZK computing power sharing: AI and ZK computing tasks may share hardware resources, forming a comprehensive computing service market.
Market-leading projects: Cysic and Scroll are leaders in the ZK hardware acceleration field. The former focuses on providing hardware for the ZK ecosystem, while the latter incorporates it as part of its Layer2 solution.
Finally, the ZK hardware acceleration track has begun to take shape. With Ethereum's further ZK integration, ZK hardware acceleration will become even more important and may even reverse the economic model of Ethereum, which is worth our continuous attention to this track.
