ZKM CEO: How does universal zkVM achieve network effects?
Written by Kevin Liu, ZKM Co-Founder and CEO
Compiled by Coolman, Foresight News
Andrew Chen (a16z) defines network effect in his book The Cold Start Problem as the phenomenon where the value of a product is positively correlated with the number of users. As the founder of an infrastructure project, we are working to build a universal zkVM to connectBlockchainI am also constantly thinking about how to achieve network effects for underlying infrastructure projects.
2B or 2C?
Many investors have asked me the same question - how does a zkVM capture value? Given that there are many different types of zkVMs on the market and all code will eventually be open source, it makes sense for an infrastructure project to explore this question.
Like its peers such as RISC Zero, SP1, and Jolt, ZKM has made great progress over the past year with ever-improving performance benchmarks. One of the biggest differences is that while RISC Zero and SP1 were primarily targeted at Rust, ZKM provides native support for Golang. For a project, especially an infrastructure project, choosing between Rust and Golang is always a dilemma for developers. Many application chains have identified Golang as their preferred language due to its developer-friendliness and thriving ecosystem. For example, Optimism's mini-geth and Cosmos SDK are among the two most widely used toolkits written in Golang.
ZKM chose Golang as its first front-end language, allowing developers to use the original Golang compiler to compile their code into MIPS instructions, and then ensure its correct execution through ZKM's proof network. According to the current CPU benchmark, a single prover in the network can prove 5.4K instructions per second. Using a GPU, it can be accelerated by 3-5 times.
Rust is known for its strict type system and memorySafetyDesign is being adopted by more and more infrastructure projects, and the MIPS instruction size of the same logic generated by Rust is about 6-8 times that of Golang. Having said that, ZKM's roadmap also includes future support for Rust.
Due to its reliance on a strong technology stack, many partners have shown their need and interest in working with zkVM. However, to achieve network effects, a project needs more than just excellent technology. It must also continue to interact with potential partners in terms of business development and encourage them to build projects on the technology stack. The success of our zkVM will depend on its usage and adoption. In short, the success of any project depends on the strength of its entire ecosystem.
Nevertheless, the key to realizing network value for infrastructure projects is differentiation. If many participants are using similar strategies, how can a project differentiate itself and capture its own value?
Opsimism has set a precedent that can be studied. If you study the success path of the OP technology stack, you will find that the OP technology stack was not perfect from the beginning - and SuperChain adoption was not achieved overnight. On the contrary, it was Optimism that L2 The success of OP has driven the adoption of the OP technology stack and attracted many project parties to choose SuperChain to build projects for future value capture. In the Web3 world, you need to first build a killer use case. This killer use case not only becomes a powerful demonstration of your technology, but also a product-market fit,CommunityEngagement, marketing strategy,TokenA combination of factors, including economics, determines the success or failure of a project.
In this highly competitive market, I don’t think there is a way to prevent competitors from taking market share. On the contrary, competition is always dynamic, and the key to success lies in the flexibility and adaptability of the technology stack.
Therefore, ZKM always insists on putting "flexibility" and "adaptability" at the core of the project, and chooses to establish unique use cases to promote the adoption of the technology stack.
Where to start?
ZKM has released the Entangled Rollup LightPaper, which details ZKM’s use for UnicomBlockchainInteroperability mechanism for fragmented flows. So far, the Entangled Rollup architecture has successfully supported verification between Ethereum Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks. So which network should be connected next?
This network should be able to provide a lot of value and have a strong demand for connecting with other ecosystems. For a mature and highly influential network, there are more plus points.
Considering the above criteria, the answer to the question is obvious: Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin network does have a major challenge in that it does not support smartcontractBut ZKM's Entangled Rollup aims toXiaobai NavigationThe state is aggregated to the ZKM network, and the proof state is relayed to other ecosystems - we will also use the same method to promote the expansion of the Bitcoin network. From the perspective of Bitcoin, in this initial stage, the role of the ZKM network is similar to Bitcoin Layer2.
What is the difference between zkVM-driven BTC Layer2?
according to L2.watch 报告，已经有超过 100 个 BTC L2 已经上线或即将发布。那么我们的方案又将如何脱颖而出呢？
Since the entire Entangled Rollup framework and the entire zkVM layer will provide support for BTC Layer2, we can provide nativeSafetyand sustainable profitability as key characteristics of the network.
1. NativeSafetysex
当我同比特币持有者和矿工交谈时，几乎所有人都会问我相同的问题：如何保证我的财产Safety?
BTC Layer2 的Safety保障可以由两个因素决定。首先，Layer 1 资产应该由 BTC 原生多重签名脚本控制，只要还存在一个活跃的诚实方，任何作恶者便无从解锁他们抵押或存入的资产。其次，Layer 2 的最终的交易确认需要继承 BTC 的安全标准，即要求排序器去中心化，并且 L2 交易执行可以由 BTC 脚本进行验证。
ZKM introduces a mechanism called Optimistic Challenge Process (OCP) to achieve the above security requirements. When a user's assets are deposited into L2, they will be locked in a pre-signed n-of-n multi-signature script. The signer can be any authorized neutral third party or auditor. The script will be activated after the challenge period ends. The challenge phase is initiated by the signer sending assets to the target user in advance.
During the challenge phase, the signer needs to pre-sign a transaction containing the challenge script and the asset script. Subsequently, the challenger needs to pay UTXO to initiate the challenge, and at the same time require the operator to provide transaction calculation tracking to try to enable commitment and activate the asset script.
If the commitment cannot be successfully enabled, the validator will receive all assets after the challenge period ends, otherwise the signer will receive the assets.
Tracking execution is implemented through TapTree - each leaf node of TapTree represents an intermediate value, and each intermediate value uses a signature calculation once with the previous value as input. In this way, BTC scripts can directly perform signature calculations and complete on-chain asset verification.
Therefore, OCP is able to provide native security for any off-chain computation, for example, ensuring that Layer 2 transactions are always within the sorter network.
2. Sustainable income
In terms of returns, most Bitcoin holders prefer to seek continuous and stable returns rather than short-term points or airdrop rewards. For ZKM BTC L2, introducing a decentralized sorter into the framework to batch L2 transactions provides inherent native security. Therefore, these sorter nodes (with BTC whitelist) should be rewarded for their contributions.
ZKM reserves itsTokenThe supplied 40% is specifically used for sorter node mining and liquidityStaking Miningand proof-of-stake network mining, thus ensuring that the sorter nodes not only receive gas revenue from transaction processing, but also receive continuous and stable income from the mining pool. In addition, since the sorter nodes are the fastest entities processing Layer2 batch transactions, there are potential MEV opportunities. Therefore, the income and benefits of ZKM BTC L2 belong to all network participants such as node operators, stakers and users. In addition, BTC L1 miners will also benefit from Layer2 transactions submitted to Layer1.
About the Future
Our ultimate goal is to unify the fragmented liquidity of multiple ecosystems. First, we will connect the Ethereum and Bitcoin networks, and the next goal will include other major networks such as Cosmos and TON.
I think ZKM explores the fundamental thinking and operation mode of a low-level infrastructure project. There may be some "growing pains" along the way, but we will learn from experience and provide the best guidance within our capabilities.
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