ZK-EVMs are rollups used to increase the scalability of the Ethereum network while supporting its blockchain infrastructure.
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin has shared his thoughts on the pivotal role ZK-EVMs will play in the future of the blockchain.
Buterin noted that in addition to significantly increasing Ethereum's scalability, solutions based on zero-knowledge (ZK) technology will transform the way in which validation is carried out on the chain, so it is important to analyze its impact within the network.
In a post titled “How will Ethereum's multi-client philosophy interact with ZK-EVMs?”Buterin discusses how ZK-EVMs will influence blockchain decentralization and security.
The creator of Ethereum indicated that these scaling solutions have been in development for years and have now begun to be actively implemented in second-layer protocols, such as Polygon Network and zkSync, which recently launched their fully EVM-compatible zk rollups. Both zero-knowledge-based solutions are live on mainnet, with more to come soon, Buterin said.
Given this scenario, Buterin indicated that the ZK-EVMs will not only be rollups to scale the network, but also will be used to speed up the verification process in the base layer Ethereum, and once this happens, ZK-EVMs will become a third type of client for the blockchain network.
ZK-EVMs and Ethereum’s multi-client philosophy
Buterin reports that Ethereum has maintained a multi-client philosophy in order to ensure the security and decentralization of its protocol. Thus, instead of using a reference client that all nodes run, the blockchain has a managed specification of which there are various implementations, known as clients. The latter are the ones run by the nodes of the network.
At present, Ethereum has two types of clients, consensus and execution.. However, the creator of Ethereum wants to maintain the fundamentals of blockchain decentralization, while taking advantage of the benefits offered by ZK-EVMs to scale Ethereum to a higher level, so the integration of ZK-EVMs as a third type of client will allow the network to be lighter and speed up the verification of transactions at the base layer, as these solutions group transactions and process them off-chain, saving space and gas fees.
So, to take advantage of ZK-EVM scaling without compromising Ethereum's decentralization or security, Buterin proposes several options. One of them, and the one the developer agrees with the most, is Create an open ZK-EVM ecosystem, instead of a single ZK-EVM to verify blocks in the chain.
Building on open multi ZK-EVM ecosystem is the best option
An open multi ZK-EVM ecosystem, where different customers have different implementations of a ZK-EVM, It has its challenges but it wouldn't be too difficultButerin noted. “You could have a p2p subnet for each type of proof, and a client using a type of proof would listen on the corresponding subnet and wait until it received a proof that its verifier recognized as valid.”
The main challenges of this proposal are related to latency and data inefficiency. However, Buterin also explains that these challenges seem small and are not difficult to address.
Continue reading: Vitalik Buterin made the first transaction on Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta
