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Version: 0.21

Use Cases

Verifiable computation is a game changer for the resilience and economics of operating the computing infrastructure we all rely on. It creates a number of emergent use cases which we are excited to enable. Key among these are:

  • ZK Coprocessors, which enable blockchain applications to reduce gas costs by moving the expensive part of their application logic off-chain
  • Optimistic rollups with ZK fraud proofs, including our work with Optimism

The RISC Zero zkVM can prove the correct execution of arbitrary code, allowing developers to build ZK applications in mature languages like Rust and C++. The release of the RISC Zero zkVM marked a major breakthrough in enabling ZK software development: the zkVM made it possible to build a ZK application without having to build a circuit and without writing in a custom language.

By allowing developers to build in Rust and leverage the maturity of the Rust ecosystem, the zkVM has made it possible for developers to quickly build meaningful ZK applications, with no background in advanced mathematics or cryptography.

We've built a number of applications and primitives showcasing these capabilities, including:

  • Zeth: prove the correct construction of an entire Ethereum block or an entire Optimism block
  • Bonsai Pay: send Ethereum to someone's gmail address
  • JSON: prove the contents of some entry in a JSON file, while keeping the rest of the data private
  • Where's Waldo: prove that Waldo appears in a JPG file, while keeping the rest of the image private
  • ZK Checkmate: prove that you see a mate-in-one, without revealing the winning move
  • ZK Proof of Exploit: prove that you could exploit an Ethereum account, without revealing the exploit
  • ECDSA signature verification: prove the validity of an ECDSA signature

These examples are all made possible by leveraging a mature software ecosystem: over 70% of the top 1000 Rust crates work out-of-the-box in the zkVM. Being able to import Rust crates is a game changer for the ZK software world: projects that would take months or years to build on other platforms can be solved trivially on our platform.

In addition to being far easier to build on, we're also delivering on performance. The zkVM has GPU acceleration for CUDA and Metal, and with continuations we've enabled parallel proving of large programs.

Ready to start building?
Check out our Getting Started page.