Ethereum Foundation will integrate ZK technology into the underlying blockchain

What’s new? Ethereum Foundation has announced the full integration of zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology into the Ethereum underlying blockchain at all levels of the stack, from consensus-level signature aggregation to client-side privacy. The first step will be the launch of a ZK-enabled Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) at the mainnet level.

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ZK is a cryptographic technology that allows one party to a transaction to verify information from another party without disclosing that information.

It is gaining traction amid growing demand for privacy and security in digital transactions and is already being actively used in lending and trading decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, as well as for identity verification without disclosing personal data.

What else is known? The Foundation intends to release zkEVM for the Layer 1 (L1) blockchain during 2025 to move towards efficient scaling that is resistant to censorship.

This cryptographic method has already been widely deployed in Ethereum-based L2 networks, and now the foundation is preparing to introduce zkEVM capabilities to the mainnet.

The main goal of the upcoming zkEVM implementation is to provide “real-time proof-of-stake,” a process where block validation occurs within a 12-second interval.

The team defines real-time proof as the ability to generate and validate proofs for 99% of the blocks in the mainnet within 10 seconds.

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The Ethereum Foundation wants to make this process available to individual stakers as well. The idea is to allow users running validators from home to participate in generating zk proofs without relying on expensive or centralized infrastructure.

The foundation has established clear technical criteria to achieve this goal. These include proof latency of less than 10 seconds, capital expenditure of $100 000 or less, power consumption of less than 10 kW, and proof size of less than 300 KB.

Initially, the initiative will initially launch optional zkEVM L1 client software, but it may later become mandatory.

Earlier, the foundation formed a new EcoDev team that will focus on expanding Ethereum’s user base, strengthening its technical sustainability, and social infrastructure.

Among other things, the team will provide financial and technical support to early-stage projects, as well as foster relationships with app developers and facilitate research.