Ethereum is advancing its long-term scalability strategy with a substantial technical shift to integrating Zero Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines (ZKEVMs) into the Layer 1 blockchain.
On July 10, Sophia Gold, developer of the Ethereum Foundation, said the foundation aims to ship L1 ZKEVMs within a year, indicating a significant evolution in Ethereum’s pursuit of efficient and censorship-resistant scaling.
Zero-Knowledge (ZK) encryption allows you to verify your claims without revealing the underlying data. This encryption method has already seen widespread adoption across Ethereum Layer 2 solutions. Currently, EF is preparing to make ZKEVM’s functionality a core part of the Ethereum chain itself.
Gold explained that it is building towards a design where the foundation can choose to validate ZK proofs instead of rerunning the block. This approach involves verifying multiple ZK proofs generated by separate ZKVMs, each representing a different EVM implementation.
Gold expressed confidence in November that L1 Zkevm could live before Devconnect Argentina, citing rapid advances in proof of efficiency and hardware design.
“Real-time Proof”
The main goal of the upcoming ZKEVM rollout is to enable “real-time proof,” a process in which block verification takes place within a 12-second slot time in the network.
The ZKEVM team defines in real time as the ability to generate and verify 99% of the proofs of the mainnet block within 10 seconds, with outliers being processed by future hard forks.
Critically, the foundation hopes to make this process accessible to solo stakers by supporting “home proof.” The idea is to allow individuals running validators from home or office to participate in the generation of ZK proofs without relying on expensive or intensive infrastructure.
EF has established a clear technical benchmark to achieve this goal. These include proof latency of less than 10 seconds, capital expenditures of more than $100,000, power consumption below 10kW, and proof sizes below 300KIB.
Additionally, all code is open source and the system must meet the minimum security level of 128 bits.
Ecosystem development
The Ethereum Foundation has launched a new Ecosystem Development (ECODEV) team alongside its technical roadmap. The initiative is designed to enhance accessibility and encourage wider adoption across the network.
The ECODEV team will focus on four key areas: growth in the developer community, improving relationships with application builders and companies, supporting research, and founder success.
The team focused on providing a dedicated Launchpad for grants, funding programs and early stage projects.
According to EF, the ultimate goal is to expand Ethereum’s user base and enhance technical resilience and social infrastructure.