Ethereum Foundation Invests ‘Tens Of Millions’ Into This New Technology

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As a seasoned crypto investor with a penchant for staying abreast of technological advancements in the blockchain space, I find the Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) recent investment of tens of millions into zero-knowledge Virtual Machines (zkVMs) an exciting development. With years of experience under my belt, I can attest to the importance of scalability and security within any cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) recently revealed a significant monetary pledge, earmarking “many millions” of dollars towards progress in Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machines (zkVMs), an innovative tech expected to boost both scalability and security within the Ethereum network.

Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, disclosed their investment by posting on X: “The Ethereum Foundation is putting tens of millions into zkVMs: verified-zkevm.org—formal verification of zkRISC-V can be found at poseidon-initiative.info—cryptanalysis of Poseidon is available at ethproofs.org—L2beat for zkVMs will soon be ready. If you’re interested in contributing to the public goods related to zkVMs, feel free to message me!

Ethereum Foundation Invests Millions In zkEVM Research

At the heart of this investment lies the zkEVM Formal Verification Project, which is fully explained on verified-zkevm.org. This project aims to incorporate formal verification techniques into zkEVMs, thereby enhancing their trustworthiness and security. As per the project summary, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) strives to create “defect-free” zkEVMs by granting funds and rewards over an 18-24 month duration, spanning various stages.

The project focuses on educating people about the implementation of verification techniques in zkEVMs, recording their usage, and encouraging more adoption. Furthermore, it seeks to improve collaboration among various teams within the network, create tools and standards for management and expansion, and explore ways to incorporate formal verification methods seamlessly into software development and maintenance workflows.

RISC-V zkVM Project: Concentrates on validating the authentic implementation of a RISC-V CPU, arithmetic operations, and circuit designs. It prioritizes maintaining that circuits are neither too loose nor too strict in their constraints and that computations are precise. Formal verification of precompiled code is also incorporated.

EVM Verification Track: Intends to show that an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functioning on the RISC-V architecture follows the EVM specifications. Contenders for verification must provide efficient and compilable EVM implementations compatible with RISC-V zkVMs, like revm/Reth.

Cryptography Field: Aims at validating the particulars, mathematical proofs, and practical applications of fundamental cryptographic components and procedures, such as FRI and Circle STARKs, that are applied in zkVMs, emphasizing their integration processes.

The project underscores adaptability in strategies to capitalize on community knowledge and make it simpler to assess diverse techniques. In other words, we will encourage and accommodate various methods when feasible, so as to maximize the wealth of knowledge within our community. Furthermore, effective methodologies could potentially be given preference in future phases.

At the moment, we’re accepting applications for Stage 1, which involve creating robust and scalable structures. Your submissions should contain comprehensive outlines, technical strategies, project organization details, and team compositions.

One important aspect of the EF’s investment involves the Poseidon Initiative, detailed on poseidon-initiative.info. The Poseidon and Poseidon2 are optimized hash functions, particularly developed for verifiable computation procedures. They are designed to reduce circuit size over prime fields. These specialized hash functions play a crucial role in various Ethereum applications that rely on zero-knowledge proofs.

This project focuses on improving the security assessment of Poseidon instances, assessing their compatibility for critical applications within Ethereum. The first phase of this undertaking continues until December 2025, while the second phase is expected to start mid-2025 and conclude in December 2026. The Ethereum Foundation Poseidon Group (EFPG), led by professionals like George Kadianakis, Dmitry Khovratovich, and Antonio Sanso, oversees the project. An advisory board made up of prominent figures such as Eli Ben-Sasson from StarkNet and Daira-Emma Hopwood from ZCash provides guidance for this initiative.

One significant aspect of the Poseidon Initiative is its extensive rewards program, which provides a combined sum of $130,000 for groundbreaking achievements in cryptanalysis. These rewards are distributed across different security tiers within multiple Poseidon platforms, motivating researchers to uncover weaknesses or confirm security hypotheses. For instance, successfully tackling a 32-bit preimage attack on Poseidon-256 could win a researcher $10,000, while higher security levels provide potential rewards of up to $15,000.

Moreover, this initiative encourages events like workshops, conferences, and educational institutions centered around the study of Poseidon encryption. These gatherings promote teamwork and information exchange within the cryptography field. Additionally, short-term research grants worth between $20,000 and $40,000 are offered to tackle urgent security issues concerning Poseidon variations, Groebner basis attacks, and novel attack methods.

Until ethproofs.org completes its development phase, it’s anticipated that it will function as a hub for seamless integration of L2beat with zero-knowledge Virtual Machines (zkVMs). This integration is expected to boost transparency and accountability in the performance and security aspects of zkVM operations.

At press time, ETH traded at $3,590.

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2024-11-30 03:12