Original author: Hugo

TL;DR

1. A dual-layer zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) economic model has been proposed, in which the shared ZKP proof accelerator pool (Prover Pool) and the universal modular proof accelerator (Universal Modular Prover) are key components of the ZKP ecosystem.

2. ZKP proof accelerator represents the next generation of blockchain computing infrastructure.

3. There is a fundamental difference between Proof of Work (PoW) miners and Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) proof accelerators.

4. The design of the ZK-rollup proof-of-economics model faces the "impossible triangle" challenge: balancing performance, cost, and decentralization.

5. This article analyzes several ZKP proof economic models, using Taiko's solution as an example.

1. Introduction

In recent years, zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology has made significant progress. It is becoming increasingly popular in projects that require computing scalability or privacy protection.

ZKP, especially the SNARK (Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge) protocol, has been widely recognized in the direction of Ethereum's expansion. Ethereum's roadmap includes the goal of "Snark Everything", and Vitalik Buterin claims that "zK-SNARKs will be as important as blockchain in the next 10 years".

Vitalik's statement on zK-SNARK

However, generating zero-knowledge proofs is much more complex than the computation itself.

For example, in Ethereum, the calculation time of a block with 10M Gas is less than 1 second, as shown in the following figure.

EVM Performance

However, for the circuits in ZKEVM, generating proofs for blocks on a 128-core CPU may take more than 1700 seconds. Please refer to the benchmark results of the PSE team.

ZKEVM Benchmark Test

Even with the use of GPUs, ZKEVM still takes hundreds of seconds to generate proofs. This means that the cost of using ZKP to verify EVM calculations is more than 1000 times higher than the cost of the original computation.

There will be a huge demand for ZKP computation in the future, as there will be many ZKP projects, including zkSync, Scroll, Taiko, Polygon, Linea, and Aztec, among other L2 projects, as well as Aleo, Mina, and Risc Zero, among other L1 projects. There will also be other privacy, identity, and gaming-related projects that require ZKP computation.

MESSARI's ZKP ecosystem display diagram

We believe that trusted computing will be equally important as computing itself in the future digital world, and ZKP acceleration will become the core of the next generation of blockchain computing power.

2. ZKP requires a different economic model from POW

Proof of Work (PoW) is an algorithm used for distributed consensus. In a PoW system, participants (miners) must perform computationally intensive work to prove that they have invested a certain amount of computing resources. The goal of these algorithms is to ensure network security. Miners compete to find a hash value that meets specific conditions in order to receive block rewards and transaction fees.

However, the purpose and characteristics of ZKP are very different.

Here is a comparison between POW mining machines and ZKP proof accelerators.

Comparison between POW mining machines and ZKP proof accelerators.

Some ZKP projects, such as Aleo, still use mechanisms similar to POW, but they are not mainstream. The success of Ethereum through POS has proven that POW is not the only viable solution to achieve decentralization of blockchain. Therefore, more projects may choose non-POW proof systems to reduce energy consumption and overall costs.

In the ZKP calculation paradigm, it is necessary to design different proof accelerators and economic models.

3. ZKP Proof of the Impossible Triangle Challenge in Economic Models

Against this backdrop, "proof of economic model" refers to the incentive mechanism in decentralized zero-knowledge proof systems. The three key indicators of a zero-knowledge proof network are cost, performance, and decentralization. A well-designed proof of economic model should meet all three requirements.

First of all, cost is a key factor in ZKP projects, especially for ZK-rollups. This is because their mission is to scale Ethereum and reduce transaction costs for users. Proof cost is a part of the total cost of ZK-rollups and other ZKP projects.

In order to provide a better user experience for verifying second-layer transactions and achieving finality, the ZK proof accelerator requires high-performance machines. Using GPUs, FPGAs, or ASICs for parallel computing can help alleviate bottlenecks. That's why we use GPU proof for zkEVM, which only takes 10 minutes, while using CPU may take several hours.

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With the increasing popularity of ZKP in the long run, there will be millions of ZK proof accelerators in the market. At that time, low-cost ZK ASIC chips can meet the requirements of low cost and high performance at the same time. However, since we are still in the early stage of ZKP and have not yet reached such a huge market size, the unit cost of ZK ASIC chips is relatively high.

High. Therefore, achieving cost-effectiveness and performance at this stage is still a challenge.

Secondly, decentralization often requires proving the redundancy of the accelerator, thereby increasing the cost of the entire proof system.

For example, if the ZK-rollup project creates an L2 block within 1 second and generates its proof using high-performance GPUs, it would take about 10 minutes. Approximately 600 proof accelerators would be needed to meet the demand.

If we deploy 600 GPU proof accelerators for the ZK-rollup project, the computing power will be sufficient to meet its throughput. However, if some proof accelerators fail to complete tasks on time due to network failures or occasional shutdowns, other proof accelerators need to generate proofs. Increasing the number of backup proof accelerators and decentralizing ZK proof accelerators will increase the total cost of the proof system. This is also why POW is not popular in ZKP projects.

The third challenge is that the ultimate pursuit of proving the performance of the accelerator may lead to the proof network being monopolized by the fastest proof accelerator. This conflicts with the goal of decentralization.

From an economic perspective, establishing a profitable and active economic system that ensures the proof accelerator in the ZKP system is a challenging task. This is the challenge of the proof accelerator economic model.

4. ZKP Proof Economic Model Evolution

Taiko is a decentralized ZK-rollup project, equivalent to Ethereum, and uses Type 1 zkEVM technology. In the early stages of the Taiko project, the focus was on designing a decentralized sequencer and proof accelerator. This is the first ZK-rollup project to actively promote decentralized sequencers and proof accelerators.

Taiko introduced its economic model design principles in its document, which mentioned similar measurement standards:

1. Efficient use of proof resources.

2. The cost of proof is prioritized over the speed of proof.

3. Proof of redundancy/decentralization of accelerator

The Taiko project has explored various solutions to the impossible triangle of proof ZKP proof economic model, and is still evolving. The following is the history of the Taiko Testnet and its proof economic model:

1. On December 28, 2022, Alpha-1: Proof Accelerator was not open.

2. On March 23, 2023, Alpha-2: Proof accelerators are unlicensed, and the fastest proof accelerator wins without an economic model.

3. On June 7th, 2023, Alpha-3: Proof Accelerator is unauthorized and has a dynamic reward economic accelerator.

4. June 2023: Batch auction-style economic accelerator is proposed and discussed.

5. On July 18th, 2023, Alpha-4: Proof Accelerator is unlicensed and has a staking-based economic accelerator.

6. A new proposal is currently underway.

Different ZKP proof accelerators comparison.

4.1 Dynamic Reward Proof Economic Model (Taiko A3)

- The fastest proof accelerator to submit proof wins.

- With the acceleration of proof submission by the proof accelerator, the rewards are gradually decreasing.

Therefore, once the accelerator is proven to be the fastest, the best strategy is to only submit proof slightly faster than the competitors and wait for a period of time to obtain higher rewards and maintain greater profits.

Next, let's take a look at some of the phenomena observed in Taiko A3.

1. Gas War

Currently, the number of active proof accelerators in A3 is gradually decreasing, showing a trend towards centralization.

A3 Testing the trend of daily active proof accelerator on the Internet

The reason for the above trend is that some high-performance proof accelerators can submit their proofs within 24 seconds, which is very fast. According to the design of Ethereum, if multiple proof accelerators submit proofs within the same time window, the proof accelerator with higher Gas fees will be accepted. On the Sepolia test network, gas fees are not real ETH and are very cheap.

Therefore, there is a gas war among these high-performance proof accelerators. They submit proofs at extremely high gas prices, sometimes up to 2000 Gwei. Some proof accelerators with very high gas costs dominate proof tasks.

Another strategy is to optimize performance by submitting proofs within 12 seconds. However, it is difficult to submit all proofs within 12 seconds because according to the A3 design, faster speeds result in fewer rewards.

A3 test online proof accelerator gas fee trend.

A3 test high gas fees online.

2. Competition for Computing Resources

Another phenomenon in A3 is the increase in the number of failed submissions. This is because each block only allows one winner to submit proof, even if they generate valid proof, all other submissions will be rejected.

A3 failure rate (transactions highlighted in red box)

4.2 Proof-of-Stake-based Economic Model (Taiko A4)

In A4, Taiko adopts a proof-of-stake economic model, which offers several advantages.

1. Eliminate excessive competition for computing resources by selecting only one proof accelerator to generate proofs. If not selected, other proof accelerators do not need to calculate.

2. By giving higher weight to incentivize low-cost, high-performance proof accelerators, winning cannot be guaranteed.

3. Compared to auction-based solutions, the design is relatively simple.

Why do we need to pledge? The reason is that once a proof accelerator is selected, it needs to submit proof honestly and timely. If the selected proof accelerator fails to complete this task, it will be punished.

One important phenomenon in A4 is that the probability of punishment for ZKP proof accelerators is high, especially when the network is congested. Here is an example.

A4 test punishment history record on the internet.

Next, we can discuss possible solutions.

5. Further Improvement of Economic Model

According to our analysis, the expected economic model of zero-knowledge proof should meet the following requirements:

The entire ZKPool will move towards decentralization and promote a healthy ZKP ecosystem.

ZKPool Architecture Overview

ZKPool's design principles:

Transparency: Maintain transparency in income distribution.

Not only ZKP, but also artificial intelligence and spatial computing will require accelerated computing resources in the deployment of web3. ZKPool can ultimately share all accelerated computing resources throughout Web3, which we can call the acceleration layer of Web3.

we3's acceleration layer

7. Conclusion

Exploring the ZKP proof economic model is a long and rewarding journey. Through our research, we have identified cost, performance, and decentralization as key indicators of the ZKP proof economic model. Implementing a dual-layer ZKP proof economic model can benefit the entire system. In addition, the shared universal proof accelerator pool is crucial to the ZKP ecosystem.

Below, we need to address and solve these challenges in order to fully complete this ecosystem. Important tasks include building standard inputs for ZKP proof accelerators and reducing hardware requirements. These are the areas we focus on and strive for.

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